SpaceX IPO makes Elon Musk world's first trillionaire – mediaselangor.com
WASHINGTON, June 14 — Few business leaders have been as deeply embedded in popular culture as Elon Musk, the ambitious entrepreneur who has become a central figure in internet culture and amassed a fortune that has made him the world’s first trillionaire.
At a time when concerns about inequality are high and public attitudes toward the ultra-wealthy have soured, he has managed to retain a loyal following despite his stratospheric net worth and without the folksy persona that endeared other tycoons such as Warren Buffett to the masses.
While admirers view Musk’s no-filter style as part of his appeal, critics have accused him of wielding oligarch-like power, raised concerns about governance at his companies and objected to his increasingly partisan political interventions.
Still, SpaceX, the sprawling rocket, satellite, and artificial intelligence (AI) company that together with electric-car maker Tesla form the centre of Musk’s empire, raised a record US$75 billion (RM303.5 billion) in its initial public offering on Thursday, highlighting investor enthusiasm for his business ventures, and surged in its first day of trading.
Following the share sale, Forbes pegged his net worth at roughly US$1.1 trillion (RM4.45 trillion), far ahead of the man next in line, Alphabet co-founder Larry Page.
“The second richest person has been hovering around US$300 billion (RM1.21 trillion). And only one other person, (Oracle founder) Larry Ellison, has ever been worth US$400 billion (RM1.61 trillion),” said Forbes Wealth deputy editor Matt Durot.
Most of Musk’s wealth now rests with SpaceX, where he holds a stake worth roughly US$866 billion (RM3.5 trillion). His US$1.1 trillion net worth now includes stock components that would vest over time.
Musk became a household name through Tesla and SpaceX before expanding his influence with the US$44 billion (RM178 billion) acquisition of social media platform Twitter in 2022. The deal gave him a direct channel to hundreds of millions of users and made him a prominent voice on issues ranging from politics and immigration to government spending and free speech.
His move into politics, particularly his role in United States President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency last year, has been among his most contentious ventures. The political fallout coincided with a weakening of Tesla sales in several international markets in 2025, as protests and consumer boycotts targeted the electric vehicle maker.
The Elon premium
Musk, 54, was born in Pretoria, South Africa, to a Canadian mother and South African father. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1997.
He took over as Tesla’s chief executive officer (CEO) in 2008 with the conviction that electric vehicles could combine high performance with software-driven features, helping redefine the global automotive industry. Some auto-industry watchers say Tesla’s success — and its trillion-dollar-plus market cap — helped prod traditional automakers to pivot to electric cars.
Many investors are betting he can repeat the feat in space and AI. Yet SpaceX remains cash-hungry, and much of the company’s valuation rests on technologies that may take years or decades to become commercially viable.
Beyond Tesla and SpaceX, Musk has co-founded five other companies, including tunnelling startup The Boring Company and brain implant maker Neuralink.
As Tesla’s CEO, he has courted controversy and praise in equal measure. Musk is credited with turning Tesla into the world’s most valuable automaker.
Executives at legacy automakers dismissed the threat for years, sceptical that a startup car company could figure out how to mass-produce electric vehicles profitably.
“He renewed the world’s respect for American ingenuity in automotive engineering,” said former General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz.
At the same time, Tesla has faced legal challenges and shareholder concerns tied to its storied CEO, particularly his 2018 pay package, once worth US$56 billion (RM226.6 billion).
Musk’s influence has become so pervasive that market observers have dubbed the network of businesses around him the “Muskonomy.”
The phenomenon has given rise to what some investors call the “Elon premium,” a valuation boost driven as much by faith in Musk’s vision as by traditional financial metrics.
“Much like Tesla, SpaceX is a bet on Elon Musk. A market cap of US$1.5 trillion (RM6.07 trillion)-$2 trillion (RM8.09 trillion) would certainly throw all traditional valuation methodologies out the window, and is instead best characterised as the ‘Elon Musk premium,” said Renaissance Capital senior strategist Matt Kennedy, whose organisation provides initial public offering-focused research and exchange-traded funds.
Musk unfiltered
The concentration of influence around a single entrepreneur has amplified concerns about corporate governance, conflicts of interest, and the risks of tying a company’s fortunes too closely to one individual.
Over the years, Musk has turned clashes with regulators, billionaires, short sellers, journalists, and media organisations, including Reuters, into recurring public battles that often unfolded on social media.
His alliance with Trump followed a familiar pattern. After helping bankroll Trump’s return to the White House and serving in a senior advisory role through the administration’s DOGE initiative, Musk became one of the President’s closest corporate allies.
The relationship later fractured amid disagreements over policy and spending, spilling into a public feud. Though the two have since struck a more conciliatory tone, their falling-out highlighted the increasingly blurred lines between Musk’s business empire and political ambitions.
Yet for many investors, concerns about Musk’s often unconventional behaviour are outweighed by his track record of turning ambitious ideas into some of the world’s most valuable companies.
“Elon is the Edison of our time,” JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said during a recent conversation with Musk.
The banker, a former adversary of Musk in a prolonged legal battle, has since become an admirer. Dimon told CNBC last year that the pair had “hugged it out,” and hailed Musk as “our Einstein.”
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