Elon Musk becomes world's first trillionaire as SpaceX debuts on Nasdaq

Elon Musk became the world's first trillionaire on Friday after shares in his SpaceX rocket company rose sharply on the biggest stock market debut to date.

The Tesla and SpaceX founder saw his net worth reach $1.11tn, or £828bn, according to the Bloomberg rich list. SpaceX listed on the Nasdaq at a $2.2tn valuation.

The company offered shares at $135 each. Trading opened at $150 and briefly reached $176.50 before closing at about $161.

The IPO raised $75bn from investors and underwriters before the shares began trading on the open market.

Musk owns 42% of SpaceX, giving him broad control over how the company spends its capital. Bloomberg valued his SpaceX shares at $767.1bn at the close, with another $53.8bn in options. He also holds $168bn in Tesla shares and $116.4bn in Tesla options.

The milestone prompted immediate debate over wealth inequality. Musk's fortune now matches the annual economic output of Poland or Switzerland.

Musk contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to President Donald Trump's re-election campaign. He later led the Department for Government Efficiency, where he oversaw spending cuts that included the closure of the US Agency for International Development.

Researchers writing in the Lancet warned that those cuts could lead to more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030.

Democratic senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren condemned the development. Warren called it a "wake up call" and said it showed the need for wealth taxes.

Musk cannot sell his SpaceX shares for at least a year. The listing is expected to create millionaires among more than 4,400 current and former SpaceX employees who received stock as compensation.

SpaceX is not profitable. The company lost more than $9bn in 2025 and 2026 combined, largely because of spending on AI and infrastructure.

Its main business remains the manufacture and launch of reusable rockets. It also operates the Starlink satellite network and, after acquiring xAI, entered the AI sector.

SpaceX said it will use the proceeds to expand its rocket, Starlink and AI businesses, including plans for orbital data centres.

Nancy Tengler of Laffer Tengler Investments placed an order for the shares. She described the AI unit as a "cash incinerator" but said she is buying for a three- to ten-year horizon.

She also expects SpaceX to merge with Tesla within two years.

The company's IPO prospectus states its mission is "to build the systems and technologies necessary to make life multiplanetary, to understand the true nature of the universe and to extend the light of consciousness to the stars."

SpaceX said much of its future growth depends on creating what it calls a "lunar economy," involving regular transport of people and cargo to the moon and Mars.

The prospectus acknowledged that many of its initiatives involve unproven or nonexistent technologies and may not achieve commercial success.

Investors showed little concern about those risks on Friday. Samel Kerr of Mergermarket said the longer-term question is whether the share price holds after the initial trading period.