Elon Musk regains trillionaire status as SpaceX rally lifts tech fortunes

Musk returns to trillionaire valuation

Elon Musk's net worth reached $1.042 trillion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and $1.03 trillion in Forbes rankings, returning him to the status of the world's sole trillionaire. The valuation increase followed a nearly 8% rise in SpaceX shares on Monday, which closed at $171.09, marking their highest level since June. SpaceX went public on 12 June after merging with artificial intelligence firm xAI and hit an initial closing peak of $201.80 on 16 June. After falling to a local low in early August, the stock gained approximately 58%. Musk added roughly $310 billion to his net worth this year up to late September, representing approximately 40% of the entire wealth increase recorded across Bloomberg's index.

Morgan Stanley outlook and space operations

A research report from Morgan Stanley analysts provided momentum for the stock, with the bank classifying SpaceX shares as inexpensive at current price levels. The analysts set a price target of $300, projecting a potential 75% rise from Monday's closing price, and pointed to future artificial intelligence releases, Starship development, and neocloud contracts. Late last week, SpaceX conducted multiple orbital launches on a single day, carrying a crew to the International Space Station for NASA and deploying artificial intelligence chips for Google on a separate flight. The bank advised clients to take positions before the upcoming Starship test flight and the third-quarter financial report expected in late October.

If SpaceX attempts to capture Starship's second stage during the upcoming test flight, it could be the biggest positive catalyst since the IPO.

Dominance of American technology fortunes

The gains at SpaceX reflect broader concentration at the top of global wealth rankings, where technology founders have outpaced all other industries. Technology billionaires hold a combined $4.6 trillion across the Bloomberg index, representing 36% of total wealth despite accounting for only about 20% of the 500 ranked individuals. In contrast, individuals outside the technology sector lost a collective $62 billion over the same period. Since 10 September, American citizens have occupied every position in the global top ten for the first time since Bloomberg began tracking the index in 2012. Furthermore, American billionaires generated 94% of all net wealth gains across the 500-person index.

AI infrastructure drives broader gains

Nine of the ten wealthiest individuals in the world trace their wealth to United States technology companies benefiting from hardware and software investments. Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell saw his fortune expand by 81% to $254 billion, supported by growing sales of data centre infrastructure. Meta Platforms founder Mark Zuckerberg added $23 billion to his wealth as company shares gained 27% in September, their strongest monthly performance in almost four years, following the release of the Muse AI personal assistant. However, broader market conditions caused total wealth among the top 500 individuals to decline 6% from its mid-June peak of $13.4 trillion to $12.6 trillion, alongside investor concerns over debt levels used by large technology corporations to finance artificial intelligence development.