The total wealth of the world’s richest businessman Elon Musk has reached close to 850 billion dollars. The special thing is that the GDP of many countries of the world is not as much as their wealth has reached. It is also continuously increasing. The special thing is that now the countdown for him becoming a trillionaire has also started. Soon news may come that Elon Musk has become the world’s first trillionaire. But for now we will have to put brakes on this flight of dreams right here.
Also, answers to some questions will have to be found. The first question is whether he is the CEO of a car company in which his stake is only around 10 to 15 percent. Is wealth increasing because of that? The answer is no. Now, with the pace of his wealth, some new drivers have also been added. One of the drivers is AI i.e. Artificial Intelligence and the other is Rocket.
Both are increasing the wealth of Elon Musk. According to experts, if we look at the current pace, Elon Musk’s wealth has exceeded the combined net worth of the next three richest people – Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg – by more than $100 billion.
SpaceX-XAI deal gave new shape to Musk’s net worth
This surge has come after a major change in Musk’s empire. His aerospace and defense company SpaceX this week acquired his AI and social media firm XAI, valuing the combined entity at $1.25 trillion, according to financial documents reviewed by CNBC. Musk holds an estimated 43 percent stake in the merged company, which alone is worth more than $530 billion, meaning SpaceX now accounts for nearly two-thirds of his net worth.
Tesla’s role is shrinking
This change is already visible in Tesla. In its latest proxy filing, Tesla acknowledged that ‘the majority of Musk’s wealth is now derived from other business ventures,’ indicating the electric vehicle maker’s decreasing centrality to Musk’s financial position. Musk has said that he wants to launch SpaceX’s IPO in 2026, which will further reduce Tesla’s share in its liquidity. But public market investors may be hesitant in valuing a company that combines a defense contractor and satellite operator with a cash-strapped AI developer competing with the likes of Google, OpenAI and Anthropic.
Hunger for government contracts and capital
The huge size of SpaceX is based on government business. According to FedScout research, the company has received more than $20 billion in federal contracts, and more deals are likely in the future. Musk has presented the acquisition of xAI as a step toward creating an “orbital data sector.” “You complicate your story a little bit as a direct shareholder of SpaceX, but the opportunity becomes huge,” Greg Martin, managing director of Rainmaker Securities, told CNBC; It makes sense for them to access a much larger capital market, especially with xAI, which has an unlimited need for capital.
Regulatory and political hurdles
xAI is facing investigation in Europe, Asia, Australia and California after its Grok Image Generator allowed the creation of objectionable deepfake images of women and children. It is not yet clear whether the SpaceX-xAI merger will also face regulatory scrutiny. Separately, Democratic senators have urged the Pentagon to investigate alleged unidentified Chinese investors in SpaceX.
Tesla still matters
Despite the rise of SpaceX, Musk still has strong incentives to stay at Tesla. Shareholders last year approved a new compensation package that could pay up to $1 trillion over the next decade if Tesla meets aggressive market capital and operational targets. The first tranche will be released only when Tesla’s valuation reaches $2 trillion, which is about $460 billion more than the current level.
Tesla said the package was designed to “prevent him from prioritizing other ventures.” But Columbia Law professor Dorothy Lund told CNBC that this strategy may not work because Musk is negotiating salaries at multiple companies that are competing for his attention.
What is needed to reach one trillion dollars
According to FCC documents, before the xAI deal, Musk owned about 42 percent of SpaceX and controlled 80 percent of the voting power. Based on calculations, his stake in Tesla is between 11 percent and 15 percent. With Tesla shares down nearly 9 percent this year due to declining automobile sales and delayed promises related to robotaxi and robotics, SpaceX and xAI are now the clearest paths to the next milestone.
Based on Musk’s stake, assuming no change in Tesla’s value, the combined company would need to reach a valuation of about $1.6 trillion to officially become a trillionaire. Some investors believe Musk will probably never list SpaceX separately. Gerber Kawasaki CEO Ross Gerber told CNBC that he hopes Musk will eventually merge SpaceX and Tesla under a single company, which will likely be listed as ‘X’.