Musk a trillionaire again as SpaceX and Tesla rally lifts fortune to $1.04tn

Elon Musk is a trillionaire again.

The world’s richest person’s fortune jumped by US$65 billion on Monday (Oct 5) to US$1.04 trillion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as the value of his stakes in SpaceX and Tesla rose.

SpaceX shares are up 13 per cent since the start of October, while Tesla has gained 6.7 per cent. It marks the first time in three months that the 55-year-old tech mogul’s fortune has passed the US$1 trillion mark.

He became the world’s first trillionaire in June when SpaceX surged in the wake of its record-breaking initial public offering, but quickly lost that crown as shares subsequently slumped on concerns over the company’s sky-high valuation. As of late July, his US$600 billion-plus wealth decline from its peak exceeded the net worth of anyone who had ever been on Bloomberg’s list of the world’s 500 richest people, other than Musk himself.

The latest gains have been fuelled by renewed optimism at both companies. On Monday, analysts at Morgan Stanley called SpaceX one of the cheapest ways to play “the strong optionality” of the space and intelligence sector, adding to a rally in which shares of the space, artificial intelligence and social media company have rebounded 58 per cent from an August low. And last week, Tesla reported better-than-expected sales for the third quarter.

Musk’s stakes in SpaceX and Tesla make up more than 98 per cent of his net worth, according to Bloomberg’s wealth index.

Sources: The Business Times (Bloomberg), The Straits Times (Bloomberg)