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June 12, 2026 / 8:11 AM EDT
/ CBS News
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Elon Musk has become the first person to cross the trillionaire threshold, at least on paper, after SpaceX priced its blockbuster initial public offering at $135 a share.Before the IPO, Musk was worth an estimated $813 billion, a fortune more than twice as large as the planet's second-richest person, Google co-founder Larry Page, who is worth an estimated $288 billion, according to Forbes. SpaceX formally setting its stock price at $135 boosted Musk's fortune to just over $1 trillion. The shares, which will trade under the ticker symbol "SPCX," are poised to begin trading on Friday after the Nasdaq Composite index opens at 9:30 a.m. If SpaceX rises above $135 per share, Musk's wealth will climb further, though he could fall below the trillionaire threshold if the dock sinks.While billionaire wealth alone may be hard enough to comprehend, a trillionaire represents a level of wealth that rivals the economic output of the world's biggest nations. Only 19 countries have GDPs that surpass $1 trillion, ranging from the U.S. to the Netherlands, according to World Bank data.Musk's surging fortune represents a "new Gilded Age" of wealth inequality, Oxfam America senior director of economic justice Nabil Ahmed said in a statement. "Elon Musk's rise to trillionaire status marks a new pinnacle of oligarchy," Ahmed said. To be sure, plenty of other SpaceX employees and investors are likely to mint new fortunes with the IPO. About 4,400 SpaceX workers could become millionaires when the stock begins trading, according to the New York Times. But Musk is likely to be the biggest beneficiary, given his large stake in the business.
