Elon Musk loses trillionaire status as SpaceX and Tesla stock drops

Elon Musk lost his status as the world’s first trillionaire on Wednesday after a global stock selloff erased billions from the value of Tesla and SpaceX, leaving his net worth at $970.2bn, according to Forbes. [1] Musk had crossed the $1tn threshold on 12 June following SpaceX’s historic initial public offering, which raised $75bn and saw shares climb 19% within 24 hours of trading. [1] The stock debuted at $135 per share and closed Wednesday at $154.35. [1] The decline was driven by investor anxiety that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates and by fears of an artificial-intelligence bubble, which hit companies tied to AI especially hard. [1] Musk’s fortune remains largely tied to equity in his companies rather than liquid cash. [1] His net worth has still grown by $338bn since January, a sum that exceeds the entire fortune of Google co-founder Larry Page, who ranks second on the Forbes list with a net worth of about $284bn. [1] Page co-founded Google in 1998 and, together with Sergey Brin, retains significant control of Alphabet Inc., the holding company created in 2015 to house Google and its subsidiaries. [6][7] Musk has been the wealthiest person in the world since 2025 and became the first individual to reach a US-dollar trillionaire valuation in mid-June 2026, though Forbes estimated his net worth at $951bn as of 21 June. [2] In November 2025, Tesla approved a $1tn pay package for Musk to be received over 10 years contingent on milestones such as a market capitalization of $8.5tn. [2] The SpaceX IPO, the largest in history, immediately linked his wealth to the company’s stock price. [1] Market volatility could restore Musk’s trillionaire status if Tesla or SpaceX shares rebound. [1] The broader technology sector has faced pressure amid the selloff, with Alphabet and chipmakers such as Samsung among those affected. [1] Alphabet, which trades on the Nasdaq under GOOGL and GOOG, has previously navigated antitrust actions and mass layoffs that cut 12,000 employees in 2023. [6]