NEW YORK, United States — Elon Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla and SpaceX, has suffered the biggest loss of personal wealth ever recorded after a sharp decline in the value of SpaceX erased about $350 billion from his fortune in one week.
According to Forbes, Musk’s net worth fell from $1.45 trillion to just under $1.1 trillion following a nearly 30 percent drop in SpaceX’s share price from its peak on June 16. The decline is worth more than the entire wealth of the world’s second-richest man, Larry Page, whose fortune stands at just over $299 billion.
SpaceX shares had surged by as much as 67 percent during the first three days of trading after the company’s record-breaking initial public offering (IPO), which valued it at more than $1.8 trillion. However, the stock has since declined for three consecutive trading sessions, wiping out roughly $928 billion in market value from a peak of $2.9 trillion to about $2 trillion.
Musk’s fortune is largely tied to his 38 percent stake in SpaceX, in addition to his 11 percent holding in Tesla and investments in several other ventures. Monday’s drop alone wiped out more than $152 billion from his net worth, according to Forbes estimates.
SpaceX recorded its steepest one-day decline as a publicly listed company on Monday, falling 16.4 percent after unveiling plans for its first investment-grade bond offering aimed at raising at least $20 billion to support its artificial intelligence expansion. The stock closed at $154 on Monday, still above the company’s IPO price of $135 on June 12.
The selloff has been driven by growing investor concern over SpaceX’s lofty post-IPO valuation, with some analysts raising questions about the company’s governance structure and Musk’s outsized voting control relative to other shareholders. Sentiment took a further hit after MSCI reportedly assigned SpaceX a CCC rating, the lowest on its seven-tier sustainability scale.
Musk became the world’s first trillionaire after the successful IPO of SpaceX, with his net worth climbing to $1 trillion on June 12, from $707 billion recorded two days before. However, the euphoria has faded as the broader technology sector has also experienced a sell-off, with the Nasdaq 100 on track to erase more than $1 trillion in market value.
Despite the dramatic decline, Musk remains the world’s richest person, with his fortune still significantly exceeding that of the runner-up, Larry Page. SpaceX continues to trade above its IPO price, and analysts note that market fluctuations are typical, if SpaceX bounces back, so will Musk’s net worth.
