Elon Musk eyes trillionaire status as SpaceX stock surges

Elon Musk’s net worth is surging this week as the SpaceX stock recovery gains steam and as analysts suggest that it has more upside ahead. 

Elon Musk net worth is soaring

Data shows that Musk’s wealth is bouncing back this week. According to Bloomberg, he added $65 billion in wealth on Wednesday, bringing his total wealth to $884 billion. He has added $ 265 billion to his wealth this year and is now richer than the other three people, combined. 

Larry Page has a net worth of $295 billion, while Jeff Bezos and Sergey Brin are worth $288 billion and $275 billion, combined. 

The rising net worth means that Musk will likely hit a trillionaire status again in the coming days. Most importantly, according to the WSJ, he has a chance of accelerating his $1 trillion pay day if he successfully merges Tesla and SpaceX. 

SpaceX stock has jumped after earnings

Elon Musk’s wealth has supercharged this week as SpaceX stock has bounced back. After bottoming at $104 after earnings and employee lockup expiry, it has surged to $146 as investors buy the dip.

The stock has also soared as analysts boosted their estimates. In a recent note, Morgan  Stanley, which took part in its IPO, said that the stock may eventually surge to $300. Such a move would push its market capitalization to over $3.95 trillion, with Musk’s stake being worth over $1.4 trillion. 

Morgan Stanley cited the company’s AI business, which it believes is being underappreciated. Its AI business is made up of xAI, which includes Grok, a top rival to ChatGPT and Claude. 

It also owns AI data centers on earth, with Musk planning to launch orbital data centers as early as 2028. Its data center business, which competes with the likes of CoreWeave and Nebius, is seeing strong demand from companies like Google, Anthropic, and Reflection AI.

Its last earnings report showed that its AI business brought in the second most revenue after its connectivity business. It made over $4.2 billion in revenue. However, its high costs means that it made a $1.2 billion loss. It is also consuming the most amount of money, with its capital expenditure rising to $15.8 billion. 

Tesla remains a major challenge for Elon Musk

While SpaceX’s shares are doing well, Tesla remains a major challenge, with its stock trading at $327, down sharply from the all-time high of $499. Musk owns a nearly 20% stake in Tesla.

The most recent earnings report showed that Tesla’s revenue did well in the second quarter as deliveries rose. As a result, its revenue jumped by double digits, possibly as customers moved to EVs as gasoline prices soared. However, Tesla’s free cash flow turned negative as its AI spending gained momentum. 

Tesla has other challenges as well. For example, its robotaxi business is seeing slow growth, with competition from Waymo intensifying. At the same time, its Optimus robot is still an unproven business. As we saw with the Cybertruck, there is a risk that this robot will not be all that successful. 

Additionally, Tesla is still highly valued, with its forward price-to-earnings ratio being 185. In contrast, other vehicle manufacturers trade with single digit earnings multiples.