Musk’s trillionaire status slips as SpaceX and Tesla shares swing

Elon Musk's net worth dropped to an estimated $962 billion as of Tuesday's close, according to Forbes. The decline erased the trillionaire status he reached less than two weeks ago.

The swing came from moves in SpaceX and Tesla shares. SpaceX, a private company, does not have a public stock price. Its valuation is set in secondary market trades, where existing shareholders sell stakes to new investors. A single large trade can shift the implied valuation by billions. Tesla shares have been under pressure, falling on worries about slowing electric vehicle demand and increased competition from Chinese automakers.

Musk's fortune is almost entirely tied to these two companies. Tesla stock accounts for the bulk of his wealth. SpaceX, though private, is valued at roughly $180 billion in recent secondary trades. A 10% move in Tesla's stock changes his net worth by about $15 billion. A similar percentage shift in SpaceX's implied valuation moves the number by a comparable amount.

The trillionaire milestone was brief. Musk first crossed the $1 trillion mark in late June, Forbes reported at the time. The subsequent pullback shows how quickly concentrated wealth can reverse when the underlying assets are volatile.

The next catalyst for Musk's net worth is Tesla's quarterly delivery report, due in early July. Any new SpaceX secondary transaction or tender offer will also reset the valuation. Until then, his net worth will track the daily moves in Tesla stock and any whisper numbers from SpaceX trades.