Musk's fortune surpasses $850 billion for the first time since the deal between SpaceX and xAI - Forbes

The fortune of Tesla CEO and the world's richest businessman Elon Musk has exceeded $850 billion for the first time, according to the Forbes Real-Time rating, which is updated in real time depending on the quotes. As of February 4, before the opening of stock exchanges in the U.S., Musk's fortune was estimated at $852.5 billion. For comparison, the fortune of second-place Google co-founder Larry Page, according to the rating, is exactly three times less - $277.9 billion.

Musk's fortune is now larger than the market capitalization of companies such as Visa, Exxon Mobil or Johnson & Johnson, and only slightly behind the capitalization of JPMorgan Chase, the largest U.S. bank by assets. In total, 12 companies in the US have a market value greater than Musk's fortune.

Musk only needs to increase his fortune by $147.5 billion to become the first trillionaire in history.

According to Forbes, Musk's capital increased by $84 billion immediately after the announcement of the purchase of the artificial intelligence startup xAI by the private space company SpaceX. Both businesses are run by Musk. As part of the deal, the combined company is valued at $1.25 trillion.

Prior to the deal, Musk owned about 42% of SpaceX worth $336 billion, based on a December 2025 stock offering that valued the space company at $800 billion. He also owned about 49% in xAI worth $122 billion, based on an investment round in January that valued the startup at $250 billion. Forbes estimates Musk owns 43% in the combined company, which is worth $542 billion.

Thus, it is SpaceX that becomes Musk's most valuable asset, not Tesla, in which the billionaire owns 12% worth $178 billion and stock options for another $124 billion, Forbes writes. That doesn't include the record bonus that Tesla shareholders approved in November, which involves paying Musk up to $1 trillion in stock if the company achieves set goals, including increasing its market capitalization more than eightfold over the next 10 years.

SpaceX announced its merger with xAI on February 2. The financial terms were not disclosed.Bloomberg sources said that after the deal the valuation of the combined company will be about $1.25 trillion, and shares of the new structure will be worth $526.59.

Musk is obsessed with the idea that SpaceX could be the first in the world to deploy data centers in space, sources told The Wall Street Journal. It was this goal, they said, that prompted Musk to accelerate preparations for SpaceX's IPO. According to the Financial Times and Reuters, SpaceX could list as early as this year.

After SpaceX's merger with xAI, there is a possibility that Tesla will be merged with SpaceX next, suggested Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, one of the main bulls on Tesla.

"Musk is seeking to increasingly control the artificial intelligence ecosystem. He may gradually come to merge SpaceX and Tesla - in one form or another - over the next 12-18 months to bring together two key technologies that claim to lead the AI revolution," Barron's quoted Ives' commentary as saying.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor