American business tycoon and SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk regained his trillionaire status on Monday after gains in SpaceX and Tesla shares boosted his net worth by more than $60 billion, reversing losses caused by a sharp decline in SpaceX stock last week.
Mr Musk regained his trillionaire status after a 7.6 per cent increase in SpaceX shares and a significant 8.6 per cent jump in Tesla shares, raising his net worth by more than $60 billion to above $1 trillion, although it remains below his June 16 peak of $1.45 trillion.
Mr Musk currently owns about 4.8 billion shares in SpaceX, alongside 350 million stock options with an exercise price of $8.40 per share. He also disclosed earlier this month that he holds around 700 million Tesla shares.
The billionaire lost his trillion-dollar status last week after declines in both companies, as investors shifted their focus from the two firms to the growing valuations in the artificial intelligence sector.
The decline reduced his net worth to an estimated $962 billion, but he remained the world’s richest individual, with his fortune still below his June 16 peak of $1.45 trillion.
Tesla contributed to the decline in his wealth after he transferred $7.1 billion worth of Tesla shares to finance the exercise cost of stock options awarded under his 2018 compensation package.
The package allowed the billionaire to receive several stock options worth billions of dollars if the company met its growth targets.
The package was initially rejected by a Delaware court in 2024 but was later reinstated by the Delaware Supreme Court in late 2025.
Under a revised agreement reached between Tesla and Mr Musk in April, the stock options are converted into restricted shares when exercised. However, he could lose those shares if he does not remain Tesla’s chief executive officer or a senior operations executive until January 2028.
Despite the decline, he remains the world’s richest person by a wide margin, ahead of several billionaires whose fortunes exceed $100 billion.
