CNBC Wealth Editor correspondent Robert Frank delivered a milestone moment on air this morning, saying: “By the end of today, Elon Musk will likely become the world’s first trillionaire.” This comes as the result of the long-awaited SpaceX IPO, which is poised to revalue Musk’s privately held stake at public-market multiples and push his net worth past a threshold no individual has ever crossed.
The Tesla and SpaceX Stack
On the Tesla side, Frank pegged Musk’s stake at “around $260 billion“ as of yesterday’s close, a figure that “includes those options worth about $120 billion that were tied up in court for a while. He got those back.” Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA | TSLA Price Prediction) carries a market cap of $1.49 trillion and trades at $396.82, down 11.24% year to date but still up 22.28% over the past year. Tesla’s Q1 FY26 revenue of $22.39 billion (+15.8% YoY) and its disclosed $2 billion equity investment in SpaceX tightened the financial link between the two companies before today’s listing.
The SpaceX line is where the math gets historic. Frank cited the S-1 directly: “On SpaceX, the S-1 filing lists him with 6.4 billion shares. At an IPO price of $130 to $135 a share, his SpaceX stake would be worth $690 billion.” He noted that Musk excludes 1.3 billion SpaceX shares from the calculation because they do not vest until milestones tied to Mars colonization or massive compute targets are met.
The $140 Threshold for SpaceX
Adding it up, Frank said: “That brings SpaceX and Tesla together to $950 billion. Adding Neuralink, Boring, other assets probably worth $10-20 [billion], that brings him right now to a total of about $970 billion.”
However, Musk can easily reach his fourth comma in his net worth if SpaceX stock moves higher: “SpaceX shares need to stay above $140 a share for Musk to be the first person in the world to receive the fourth comma in his net worth.” As of 2:43 PM ET on June 12, SpaceX stock currently trades at nearly $170, meaning Musk would reach trillionaire status today if the price holds.
Thousands of New Millionaires
Beyond the headline number, Frank highlighted the wealth-creation cascade rippling through SpaceX’s payroll. “And the thousands and thousands of millionaires that are being created by this IPO… people joined this company in the early 2000s. Nobody knew what it was. They thought they were crazy to join. They took below-market salaries in exchange for stock that, who knew?” It is a textbook case of long-duration equity compensation paying off at scale, and a reminder of how concentrated the upside of speculative tech bets can become.
The Public-Market Proxy
For investors without access to SpaceX, Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) remains the closest listed comparison in launch services. Shares trade at $104.64 with a market cap of nearly $69.7 billion, up 319.52% over the past year. Q1 FY26 brought record revenue of $200.35 million (+63.5% YoY) and a $2.2 billion backlog, with CEO Peter Beck calling it “another exceptional quarter”.
What To Watch Next
The first thing to watch is whether SpaceX can hold above Frank’s $140 reference price once trading begins. Strong demand suggests a positive opening, but heavily oversubscribed IPOs can also be volatile as early investors take profits.
Beyond the debut, investors should pay attention to the growing ties between SpaceX and Tesla. Tesla has invested $2 billion in SpaceX and is partnering on a semiconductor fabrication facility at Gigafactory Texas. As the relationship between the two companies deepens, developments at SpaceX could become increasingly relevant for Tesla shareholders as well.
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