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Elon Musk becomes first trillionaire after SpaceX stock goes public

Exclusive club: Elon Musk became the world's first trillionaire on Friday. (Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images)

NEW YORK — Powered by the strength of SpaceX’s initial public offering, Elon Musk rocketed into the financial stratosphere on Friday, as the world’s richest man became the world’s first trillionaire.

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SpaceX’s stock rose on its first day of trading, making the value of the company approximately $2 trillion, The New York Times reported.

Musk was expected to become a trillionaire if SpaceX stock increased substantially from its IPO price of $135, The Washington Post reported. Just before 11:50 a.m. ET on Friday, SpaceX’s shares opened at $150, an 11% increase from the IPO price, according to the newspaper.

“Liftoff! First … trade complete,” SpaceX said in a post on X at 11:47 a.m. ET, marking the moment with a rocket emoji.

Musk’s net worth also includes the value of his stock in Tesla, the electric carmaker, the Times reported. He also owns Neuralink, a brain implant company; and the Boring Company, a tunneling firm. He also owns the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Musk, 54, founded SpaceX in 2002, the Times reported. He has been a pioneer in the space industry by creating rockets that are partially reusable, and by inventing Starlink, a satellite internet provider.

With its $2.2 trillion value, SpaceX is now the sixth most valuable company listed in the United States, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Musk’s stake in SpaceX was valued at approximately $690 billion when factoring in the IPO price, the newspaper reported. His share in Tesla is worth about $279 million of his net worth.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell was on-site for the opening of the market at Nasdaq’s bell-ringing in New York, the Times reported.

Earlier Friday, Musk issued remarks from the site of SpaceX’s headquarters at Starbase, Texas.

“It is certainly hard to believe that a little company that started in a warehouse in El Segundo (California) is now going public with the largest IPO ever,” Musk said. “If people had told me this was going to happen, I was like, ‘Man, you must be smoking some really good crack because I think this company’s going to fail.’”

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