Elon Musk's fortune slashed by $646 billion in six weeks after SpaceX share plunge
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO saw his net worth fall from a peak of $1.33 trillion in June to $684 billion as SpaceX's post-IPO stock tumbled.
A steep six-week slide
Elon Musk's net worth plunged by approximately 646 billion dollars over the past six weeks, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The index, which tracks the fortunes of the world's richest people using stock prices and other assets, showed Musk's wealth peaking at roughly 1.33 trillion dollars in June shortly after his space and AI company SpaceX went public. By August 1, that figure had nearly halved to 684 billion dollars. The decline of just over 48 percent represents one of the largest dollar drops in the history of the ranking, entirely reversing the post-IPO surge.
SpaceX IPO and sharp share retreat
The main engine of the drop was SpaceX's share price. When the stock debuted in mid-June, it soared in its first trading sessions, lifting Musk's paper fortune to a record. Since that high, the shares have lost close to half their value. Musk owns a stake of about 40 percent in the company, which meant that the stock's downward move had a disproportionate effect on his overall wealth. The post-IPO volatility turned what initially looked like a wealth jump into a dramatic slide, as each percentage-point fall in the SpaceX share price erased tens of billions of dollars from the billionaire's net worth.
Tesla also down from its peak
Compounding the problem, Tesla shares, which form another major chunk of Musk's assets, have also fallen sharply from their own record highs. The electric vehicle maker's stock has been under sustained pressure, removing an additional layer of value. While the SpaceX decline was the primary factor, the simultaneous Tesla weakness ensured that no offsetting gain materialised, deepening the six-week loss. Between the two corporate stakes, the billionaire's fortune was exposed to a combined downturn that neither asset could cushion.
Tech fortunes dominate the top ranks
The top 10 of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index reflects the overwhelming weight of technology fortunes. After Musk, Google co-founder Larry Page and Amazon's Jeff Bezos occupy the second and third spots. Their combined wealth still trails Musk's alone. Further down the list are Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who, like the rest, owe their multi-hundred-billion-dollar fortunes to the performance of tech stocks. The concentration underscores how much of the world's richest list is tied to a handful of companies whose share prices have been volatile in recent months.
