“Money doesn’t matter,” Elon Musk said last week. Days later he launched a payments service, X Money, and described himself as a “former trillionaire”. The market had just proved his first point in the least flattering way.
SpaceX’s post-IPO rout has left Musk poorer than he was before the company floated, Fortune reported. His wealth peaked near $1.33tn on 16 June. It now stands at about $684bn, a fall of more than $600bn in barely a month.
The share price tells the same story. SpaceX reached a closing high of $201.80 on 16 June, then fell 46% to a record low near $108. A 17% slide in Tesla since its July earnings has added to the damage. The paper trillions the listing created have largely gone.
Two hard tests are coming
The timing could hardly be worse. Next week SpaceX reports its first set of results as a public company. Bigger still, as many as 911.5 million insider shares begin unlocking next month, threatening fresh downward pressure.
