Elon Musk and the shortcut to becoming a trillionaire instantly.

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - A bold IPO move, expected in mid-2026, could be the key to Elon Musk breaking all records and becoming the first person in human history to possess a 13-figure fortune.

While just a few years ago, Elon Musk was synonymous with the Tesla electric vehicle revolution, now the focus of global investment is shifting dramatically toward the skies.

The story is no longer about successful rocket launches, but about a massive financial equation being carefully considered by Wall Street: Can Elon Musk become the world 's first trillionaire as early as next year?

The answer seems to lie in the hands of SpaceX – the aerospace giant that Musk holds ultimate control over.

The world's richest man could more than double his fortune if SpaceX successfully goes public next year with a valuation of $1.5 trillion (Photo: Getty).

The calculation of billions of USD and the path to the 13-digit milestone.

According to the latest figures updated by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index in December, Elon Musk is currently sitting on assets worth approximately $460.6 billion. This is a huge number, but still less than half the distance to reaching the trillion-dollar mark. However, this financial landscape can change dramatically the moment the stock market opens.

Financial analysts are closely watching SpaceX's planned initial public offering (IPO). If the deal goes smoothly with an expected valuation of up to $1.5 trillion, Musk's wealth will see a vertical leap, much like the trajectory of the Starship.

Currently, with a 42% stake in SpaceX (based on filings with the FCC), Musk's net worth in the company is estimated at around $136 billion – a conservative calculation based on secondary transactions and the liquidity discount for private companies. However, if SpaceX goes public and reaches a market capitalization of $1.5 trillion, the value of these shares would immediately balloon to $625 billion.

When combined with his stakes in Tesla and other businesses, Elon Musk's total net worth would reach $952 billion. Just a slight market fluctuation could see the $1 trillion mark surpassed. This scenario is entirely plausible, opening up a clearer second path for the billionaire, alongside his record-breaking compensation package at Tesla, which demands much more stringent conditions.

To put the scale into perspective, a $1.5 trillion SpaceX IPO would be roughly equivalent to the $1.7 trillion record set by Saudi Aramco in 2019.

But the difference lies in this: Aramco is an oil giant with hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue each year, while SpaceX represents future technology with much more modest revenue (expected to be around $15 billion this year). This shows just how high investors' expectations are for the "space dream."

The 2026 gamble and the pleasant "headache" of the world's richest man.

According to an exclusive report from Reuters, the wheels have started turning for this historic deal. SpaceX is reportedly in discussions with banks to conduct a stock offering around June or July 2026.

The goal is to raise over $25 billion to fund ambitious, futuristic projects such as expanding the Starlink satellite internet network (including direct service to mobile devices), completing the Starship rocket program for the Mars mission, and even building data centers in orbit.

The market landscape is also favoring Musk. After three years of stagnation, the global IPO market is projected to rebound strongly in 2026. SpaceX, along with other big names like OpenAI and Anthropic, are seen as triggers that could reignite the enthusiasm for venture capital.

Samuel Kerr, a senior expert at Mergermarket, noted that SpaceX has been on investors' "dream list" for many years, representing a key area for future defense and technology infrastructure.

However, taking SpaceX public would put Elon Musk in a rare dilemma in the history of corporate governance.

Dan Coatsworth, a market director at AJ Bell, made a powerful observation: "It's hard to imagine one individual running two publicly traded companies worth over $1 trillion each at the same time." If SpaceX's IPO is successful, the pressure from public shareholders will increase dramatically, potentially forcing Musk to make a painful choice: focus all his efforts on Tesla or shift his focus to the SpaceX space empire.

However, given Musk's style, conventional norms seem non-existent. If Tesla and SpaceX aren't enough to propel him to the trillion-dollar mark, he still has his trump card: xAI – the artificial intelligence company that reached a valuation of $200 billion last September.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/elon-musk-va-con-duong-tat-tro-thanh-nguoi-nghin-ty-usd-ngay-lap-tuc-20251211153009957.htm