How Rich Is Elon Musk Without Tesla (TSLA)?

Summary:

Tesla shares have declined in recent months, yet Elon Musk’s overall net worth continues to rise due to gains in other assets.

The primary driver of this growth is SpaceX, where Musk owns a substantial 43% stake, which just this last week announced it had launched its 10,000th satellite into low-earth orbit. Musk also announced this week that Tesla and SpaceX are working together to build an advanced chip manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas.

With SpaceX recently valued at $1.25 trillion, his ownership in the company is worth over $500 billion alone. This valuation means his SpaceX holdings exceed the combined wealth of several prominent figures, including Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, and Bill Gates.

Musk was able to retain such a large stake because he funded SpaceX largely with his own capital. In contrast, his Tesla holdings are significantly smaller, representing about 12% of the company and valued at roughly $150 billion. Despite Tesla’s stock decline, the increase in SpaceX’s valuation has more than offset those losses.

Over the past year, SpaceX’s valuation has surged from $800 billion, significantly boosting Musk’s net worth. Looking ahead, a potential SpaceX IPO with a $1.5 trillion valuation could bring him even closer to becoming a trillionaire.

Transcript:

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) | TSLA Price Prediction shares have been tumbling, down 18% since just after Christmas.

So, it might surprise you to learn even with Tesla dropping, Elon Musk’s net worth is growing in 2026, and he could soon become a trillionaire.

And if the future goes right, he might be worth more than the next 10 most wealthy people combined.

Here’s how.

Forbes estimates Musk’s net worth is $837 billion.

The main contributor to his wealth: Musk owns 43% of SpaceX, which was recently valued at $1.25 trillion.

That stake alone is worth $538 billion. Put another way, Musk’s stake in SpaceX is worth more than:

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos
Famous investor Warren Buffett
And Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) founder Bill Gates

Combined.

Musk owns so much of SpaceX because he used his own money to found the company, so he never had to give most of the ownership away while raising money.

Now, it might surprise you to learn Musk’s Tesla stake is only worth $150 billion. Tesla is worth the exact same amount as SpaceX, but Musk owns 12% of it.

So, why is Musk’s wealth growing as Tesla stock slips?

Well, at the end of last year SpaceX was valued at $800 billion. That means Musk’s net worth has increased just under $200 billion this year from SpaceX and lost less than $20 billion from the drop in Tesla shares.

What’s next for Musk: it’s rumored after its IPO SpaceX could be targeting a $1.5 trillion valuation. That would make him close to a trillionaire.

And Musk just signed a new pay package with Tesla that could reward him with $1 trillion if he grows the value of the company by seven-fold.

To do that, Musk would need to dominate robots and self-driving, but his net worth would soar to more than $3 trillion.

That’s higher than the entire GDP of countries like Italy, Russia, Canada, and Brazil.