Elon Musk is again the world’s only trillionaire, with rising Tesla and SpaceX shares restoring his estimated fortune to $1 trillion on Monday morning, October 5, according to Forbes.
His wealth increased by $30.6 billion from Friday, putting him about $628.5 billion ahead of Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, whose fortune stood at $371.5 billion. Musk’s net worth was nearly 2.7 times that of his closest rival.
Tesla helped drive the rebound after delivering 486,532 vehicles in the third quarter, beating analysts’ forecast of 461,974. Deliveries were still about 2% below a year earlier, but the stronger-than-expected result helped lift Musk’s fortune by $61 billion on Friday alone.
SpaceX shares rose more than 5% Monday morning to $167. By Monday’s close, its shares hit $171.09 and Forbes’ estimate of Musk’s fortune reached $1.046 trillion. The rally followed Morgan Stanley analysts’ assessment that the stock was undervalued, adding momentum to a recovery in the company that first pushed Musk into trillionaire territory.
That first milestone came in June, when SpaceX began trading on Nasdaq after a record $75 billion initial public offering. The listing opened ownership in the rocket and satellite-internet business to public investors and gave Musk’s stake a market price.
After 24 years as a private company, SpaceX gives stock-market investors exposure to rocket launches, satellite internet and artificial intelligence. Starlink reaches 164 countries. Its listing valued the business at roughly $1.77 trillion at the offer price, a measure of the scale behind Musk’s personal milestone.
Tesla will release quarterly earnings on October 21, revealing how its vehicle sales translated into profit and cash flow. The company cautions that delivery totals alone do not establish financial performance, which also depends on selling prices and costs.
