Elon Musk becomes world’s first trillionaire as SpaceX IPO surges on debut

Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has attained trillionaire status after SpaceX, the rocket, AI and satellite communications company established by him, turned a soaraway success on its first trading day, surging 20 per cent to $2.1 trillion in valuation.

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SpaceX’s shares closed at $161 on the Nasdaq on Friday, compared to its initial public offering (IPO) price of $135, making it the biggest-ever stock market debut.

The IPO had earlier raised $75 billion from investors and the underwriters of the transaction before the listing.

“Liftoff! First $SPCX trade complete,” Space X wrote on X (formerly Twitter), which Mr Musk also owns.

The 54-year old now has a total net worth of $1.1 trillion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with its stake in SpaceX standing at 42 per cent or $767.1 billion as of Friday.

SpaceX debuted with a valuation of around $1.8 trillion. Its valuation at the end of Friday’s trade makes it the sixth-largest publicly traded company in the United States.

Trading under the ticker symbol “SPCX,” SpaceX began trading shortly before noon, attracting strong investor demand.

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The listing places SpaceX among the world’s most valuable companies, despite the firm reporting a loss of nearly $5 billion last year and generating significantly less revenue than many technology giants with comparable valuations.

“I gave SpaceX a 10 per cent chance of succeeding at all,” Mr Musk said shortly before the company was listed.

SpaceX, since its establishment in 2002, has evolved from an experimental rocket startup into a dominant player in aerospace, satellite communications, and AI-related infrastructure.

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Starlink, its satellite internet business, has expanded SpaceX beyond rocket manufacturing into a broader technology and connectivity platform.

Mr Musk, who now controls several companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, and X, began building his wealth by co-founding Zip2 and PayPal.

After completing the acquisition of X in October 2022 in a deal worth $44 billion, Mr Musk introduced monetisation features on the platform, which contributed to the growth of his business empire.

After selling Zip2 and later PayPal, he reinvested much of his earnings into Tesla, SpaceX, and other ventures.

Mr Musk’s wealth is now nearly equivalent to the entire economic output of Switzerland or Poland.