Elon Musk Records Biggest Single-Week Wealth Loss
Elon Musk has suffered the largest loss of personal wealth ever recorded, with an estimated $350 billion wiped from his fortune in a single week following a dramatic decline in SpaceX’s share price.
The world’s richest man saw his net worth plummet from approximately $1.45 trillion to just under $1.1 trillion, according to Forbes calculations, after SpaceX shares fell nearly 30% from their peak on June 16. Monday’s drop alone erased more than $152 billion from Musk’s net worth.
The decline surpassed Musk’s previous record for the single-biggest loss of wealth by any individual, when his fortune declined by an estimated $165 billion in 2022 as Tesla shares plunged. The $350 billion loss exceeds the entire net worth of the world’s second-richest man, Larry Page, whose fortune stands at just over $299 billion.
SpaceX shares fell 16.4% on Monday, marking the company’s steepest single-day decline since going public. The stock has shed roughly $928 billion in market value from a peak of $2.99 trillion, dropping to around $2 trillion. The company briefly ranked ahead of Amazon and Microsoft as the world’s fourth-largest company by market capitalization but has now slipped to seventh place.
The selloff was triggered by multiple factors. Investor sentiment weakened after SpaceX announced plans for its first investment-grade bond offering, aiming to raise at least $20 billion to fund its artificial intelligence initiatives. The move raised concerns about whether major companies can sustain the significant investments required for large-scale AI development.
Adding to the pressure, MSCI reportedly assigned SpaceX a CCC rating—the lowest on its seven-tier sustainability scale—citing the company’s exposure to significant environmental, social and governance risks. Some analysts have also raised concerns about the company’s governance structure, given Musk’s outsized voting control.
Despite the record loss, Musk remains the world’s richest person. According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, his net worth stood at $957 billion as of June 24—still more than $660 billion ahead of Larry Page in second place. His wealth is largely tied to his roughly 38% stake in SpaceX, along with his 11% holding in Tesla and investments in other ventures.
Musk had become the world’s first trillionaire earlier this month following SpaceX’s record-breaking initial public offering, which valued the company at more than $1.8 trillion. The stock had surged as much as 67% above its IPO price of $135 during a three-day rally fueled by strong investor demand. However, that enthusiasm has cooled sharply, delivering the biggest single-week wealth loss in history.
