Elon Musk is no longer worth more than $1 trillion after SpaceX shares slumped on June 22, wiping about $240 billion from his fortune in a single day. His net worth stood at $946 billion by Wednesday, down from about $1.11 trillion less than 14 days earlier, according to the Billionaires Index.
The drop gives fresh weight to the fast-moving SpaceX Initial Public Offering Returns story because it shows how quickly Musk’s paper wealth can swing on one stock. SpaceX priced its IPO at $135 a share and started trading at $150 on June 12, valuing the company at more than $1.77 trillion. Musk owned about 42% of SpaceX, so the move in the stock had an outsized effect on his fortune from the start.
The climb did not stop there. SpaceX shares later rose as high as $225.64 on June 16, lifting Musk’s net worth to about $1.32 trillion and making him the first person to cross the $1 trillion mark by a wide margin. But the rally quickly ran into the same market that had lifted it. SpaceX and Tesla shares fell during a broader tech sell-off, and SpaceX shares were down more than 30% from their June peak before the June 22 slide.
That is the part that changes the story. SpaceX’s IPO initially helped make Musk the first person to reach a net worth above $1 trillion, but the gains did not hold. On June 22, the stock fell 16%, and the next day Tesla shares dropped nearly 6% as well. The combined retreat dragged Musk back below the threshold he had just cleared and showed how much of his wealth now rises and falls with the market’s view of SpaceX.
For now, the sharp question is not whether Musk is still rich. He is. It is whether the stock can keep the valuation that briefly pushed him into uncharted territory, or whether the first surge after SpaceX’s debut was the high-water mark.
