World’s first and only trillionaire Elon Musk’s personal fortune surged by an unprecedented $164 billion in a single day to eclipse the entire lifetime fortune of billionaire investor Warren Buffett.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk's net worth reached a staggering $1.27 trillion after a furious rally in SpaceX shares, cementing his status as the world's first trillionaire. To put the scale of the single-day gain into perspective, Buffett’s entire net worth stands at $148 billion.

With this latest surge, Musk has opened a historic chasm ahead of the world's next-richest individuals: Google co-founder Larry Page ranks second at $314 billion, followed closely by Sergey Brin at $292 billion and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos at $267 billion.

Spacex boom

The catalyst behind the historic wealth creation was a blockbuster performance by SpaceX in the public markets. Shares of the rockets-to-AI conglomerate rallied 19.6% on Monday, their second day of trading following a record-breaking initial public offering, to close at $192.46. That followed a massive 19% jump during their Nasdaq debut on Friday, which officially crowned SpaceX as the sixth-largest U.S. firm by market value.

The rocket, AI, and internet giant had previously raised a record-setting $75 billion through the sale of 555.56 million shares at $135 apiece, marking the largest IPO in history even before the greenshoe option was exercised.

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The bulk of Musk's unprecedented wealth is directly tied to his ownership stake in the aerospace titan. Regulatory filings show that Musk owns roughly 4.8 billion shares of SpaceX alongside approximately 350 million stock options. Together, this 38% equity stake has become the primary engine driving his financial ascent.

Wall Street optimism around the company reached a fever pitch over the weekend after CEO Elon Musk stated on Sunday that SpaceX could bring in $1 trillion in revenue by 2030. The ambitious target comes despite the fact that SpaceX reported $18.7 billion in revenue in 2025 and has yet to turn a profit.

However, market participants are urging caution in the near term. Analysts and portfolio managers noted that investors should brace for heightened volatility, particularly early on in SpaceX’s life as a public company, citing its relatively small float and highly stretched valuation.

Despite those structural concerns, institutional demand may keep the wind in the stock's sails. The rally is well-positioned to continue as SpaceX is set for fast-track inclusion into the Nasdaq 100 index. The move will instantly convert the stock into a mandatory, major holding for passive funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking the gauge. Adding to the institutional buying pressure, FTSE Russell and MSCI are also scheduled to add SpaceX to their respective global indexes, effective June 26 and June 29.

The single-day blowout caps a parabolic, multi-month run for Musk's personal ledger. His fortune crossed the $500 billion milestone in October, topped $600 billion in December, and crossed $700 billion just days later as the private valuations of his technology and aerospace ventures weaponised his net worth ahead of the public listing.

Behind Musk, Page, Brin, and Bezos, the remaining upper echelons of the global wealth rankings feature Larry Ellison, Michael Dell, Mark Zuckerberg, Jensen Huang, Bernard Arnault, and Jim Walton. (Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)