The SpaceX acquisition of xAI pushes Elon Musk into uncharted territory, making him the richest individual in modern history by a wide margin.
Musk Enters a New Wealth Era
Elon Musk has become the world’s first individual with a net worth exceeding $800 billion, following a landmark deal in which SpaceX acquired his artificial intelligence and social media firm xAI.
According to Forbes, the transaction announced on Monday evening lifted Musk’s net worth by an estimated $84 billion, taking his fortune to a record $852 billion. The combined entity has been valued at $1.25 trillion, instantly becoming one of the most valuable private companies in the world.
How the Deal Changed the Numbers
Before the acquisition, Musk held an estimated 42% stake in SpaceX, valued at $336 billion, based on a December tender offer that priced the rocket maker at $800 billion. He also owned around 49% of xAI, valued at roughly $122 billion after a recent private funding round pegged the AI firm at $250 billion.
Post-merger, SpaceX is valued at $1 trillion, while xAI retains a $250 billion valuation. Forbes estimates Musk now owns a 43% stake in the combined company, worth approximately $542 billion, making SpaceX by far his most valuable asset.
Tesla Still a Major Piece of the Puzzle
Beyond SpaceX, Musk continues to hold significant wealth through Tesla.
He owns about a 12% stake in Tesla, valued at $178 billion, along with stock options worth another $124 billion. These figures exclude Tesla’s controversial performance-linked pay package approved by shareholders in November, which could eventually grant Musk up to $1 trillion in additional stock if ambitious long-term milestones are met.
A pattern of high-stakes mergers
This marks the second time in less than a year that Musk has merged two of his own companies.
Previously, in March last year, he combined xAI with his social media platform X, formerly Twitter. That deal valued xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion. Because Musk acted as both buyer and seller, the valuations drew close scrutiny.
Now, with these assets folded into SpaceX, they are likely to face even greater examination as the company moves closer to a public listing, which investors expect later this year.
Four net worth records in four months
Even by billionaire standards, Musk’s rise has been unusually rapid.
In October, he crossed $500 billion after Tesla shares surged following his exit from the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency. By mid-December, a sharp jump in SpaceX’s valuation to $800 billion made him the first person worth $600 billion. Just days later, a court ruling restoring his Tesla stock options pushed his net worth past $700 billion.
Now, the SpaceX–xAI deal has taken Musk beyond the $800 billion mark—an achievement that once seemed implausible.
Distance from the rest of the world
Musk now holds an extraordinary lead over the world’s second-richest person, Larry Page, whose net worth stands at an estimated $281 billion.
As a result, the gap—roughly $578 billion—is so vast that, in financial terms, Musk already sits halfway to becoming the world’s first trillionaire.
What this moment signals
Crucially, Musk’s wealth no longer rests on a single industry. Instead, space exploration, artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, and social platforms now converge under one expanding corporate umbrella.
More than reshuffling wealth rankings, the SpaceX–xAI deal signals a future where private technology conglomerates rival nation-states in valuation. It also highlights how individual founders can accumulate economic power on a scale the modern market has never seen.
For now, one fact stands alone: no one in history has ever been richer.
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Elon Musk, Getty Images
Source: Forbes
