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Elon Musk’s move to combine SpaceX with his cash-burning artificial intelligence venture xAI signals a changing of the guard within his corporate empire.
has been the source of Musk’s liquid wealth, and much of his fame. But following Monday’s merger, Tesla’s market cap of about $1.58 trillion is only 26% higher than SpaceX’s stated private market valuation of $1.25 trillion.
Musk owns an estimated stake of 43% in SpaceX, compared to his 13% ownership of Tesla. That means SpaceX represents more than half of Musk’s paper wealth, which has ballooned past $852 billion, according to the Forbes Real Time Billionaires index.
And Tesla’s value has been on the decline to start the year, with the stock down 6% so far in 2026. In early January, Tesla reported a 16% year-over-year drop in vehicle deliveries, and later in the month announced that total revenue fell 3% in 2025, the first annual decline on record.
