Elon Musk Falls Below $1 Trillion as SpaceX Shares Decline

Elon Musk is no longer a trillionaire after a decline in SpaceX shares reduced his net worth by more than $50 billion on Wednesday. The drop pushed the billionaire entrepreneur’s estimated fortune down to $994.1 billion, ending his brief return above the trillion-dollar mark.

SpaceX shares fell 6.2% during Wednesday’s trading, reversing nearly 12% in gains recorded over the previous three sessions. Musk’s wealth declined by approximately $59 billion as a result of the stock’s weakness. His holdings include 4.8 billion SpaceX shares along with 350 million stock options carrying an exercise price of $8.40 per share.

Despite the sharp decline, Musk remains the world’s wealthiest individual by a significant margin. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin continue to rank second and third with estimated net worths of $292.7 billion and $270 billion, respectively.

Investor sentiment toward SpaceX received a boost on Wednesday after Wedbush Securities initiated coverage of the company. Analyst Dan Ives described SpaceX as “one of the most differentiated assets within the tech market” and assigned the stock a $190 price target. Ives said the company is “well-positioned to become a major hyperscaler” across connectivity, rocket launches, and AI infrastructure.

Elsewhere, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg saw his wealth increase by $19.1 billion to $212.6 billion after Meta shares surged more than 10%. The rally followed a Bloomberg report stating that Meta is developing plans for a cloud infrastructure business that would provide AI computing power and models, positioning it as a potential competitor to Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.

Musk’s fortune has fluctuated sharply since SpaceX’s historic initial public offering last month. His net worth reached a high of approximately $1.45 trillion about a week after the IPO before falling by more than $300 billion as the company’s share price retreated. He had also slipped below the trillion-dollar mark last week after $116 billion in restricted Tesla stock was removed from estimates of his wealth. That adjustment followed Tesla’s decision to replace Musk’s 2018 CEO performance award with a new compensation package that pays out only if he remains in a senior leadership role through January 2028.