SpaceX IPO values company at $2.1 trillion, Elon Musk's net worth hits $1.1 trillion

SpaceX achieved a historic milestone on Thursday, completing the largest initial public offering (IPO) in history and reaching a valuation of $2.1 trillion on the Nasdaq stock exchange. The company's stock opened at $150 per share, 19% above its offering price of $135, and closed at $160.95. This surge propelled SpaceX to become the sixth-largest company globally by market capitalization.

Founder Elon Musk, who holds a 40% stake in the company, saw his net worth skyrocket to $1.1 trillion. This makes him the world's first trillionaire, with his personal wealth surpassing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of more than 90% of all countries. Musk's wealth alone is greater than the combined assets of Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Oracle founder Larry Ellison.

Musk's financial standing is unprecedented, even among the ultra-wealthy. His current net worth is approximately four times that of Google co-founder Larry Page and more than five times that of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Only the combined fortunes of Page, Brin, Bezos, Ellison, and Zuckerberg offer a comparable, though still lesser, scale of wealth to Musk's.

The economic impact of Musk's wealth is staggering. Only about 21 countries worldwide have a GDP exceeding $1 trillion. Even Musk's birth country, South Africa, with a GDP of approximately $480 billion, falls far short. Taiwan's projected GDP for this year, estimated at $1.06 trillion, is also slightly lower than Musk's personal assets.