Musk Nears $1 Trillion Fortune as SpaceX IPO Could Add $332 Billion

Musk’s net worth is now about $970 billion

SpaceX could be valued at $1.75 trillion in an IPO

Musk controls 85.1% of SpaceX voting power

Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., is moving closer to becoming the first person in history with a $1 trillion fortune. If SpaceX completes an initial public offering, his wealth could top that mark.

The Wall Street Journal reported on June 2 that Musk’s net worth stands at about $970 billion. Most of it is tied to the value of his stakes in SpaceX and Tesla. His pre-IPO SpaceX holdings were valued at about $538 billion, while his Tesla stake was estimated at about $167 billion. Stock options in the two companies add roughly $150 billion.

Musk controls 85.1% of SpaceX voting power. He owns 849 million Class A shares and 5.6 billion Class B shares. Reuters reported on June 2 that SpaceX is weighing an IPO priced at $135 a share to raise $75 billion. If the plan goes ahead, the company would be valued at $1.75 trillion, setting a record for the largest IPO by proceeds raised. Musk’s wealth would increase by about $332 billion.

The Boring Company, Musk’s tunnel-excavation startup, and Neuralink, his brain-computer interface company, are each estimated to be worth about $5 billion. Altrata, a wealth intelligence firm, valued his real estate, aircraft and other investment assets at about $104 billion.

The Journal calculated that Musk built his current fortune over 31 years after co-founding his first company in 1995. That works out to $992 a second, $59,492 a minute, about $3.6 million an hour and $85.7 million a day. On an annual basis, that amounts to $31.3 billion.

Ahead of a potential SpaceX IPO, about 1,000 current and former employees have entered collective negotiations with wealth management firms. The effort is designed to prepare for a sharp increase in the value of their holdings after a listing, which could make many of them high-net-worth individuals. Bloomberg reported that they are seeking to cut asset-management fees from about 1% to less than 0.5% and secure services for wealthy clients, including stock-backed loans and tax strategies. SpaceX has long made extensive use of equity compensation, including stock options and restricted stock units. Once employees can cash out after a listing, many could hold assets worth several million dollars.

Park Shin-young, New York correspondent, Hankyung.com, nyusos@hankyung.com