Elon Musk loses billions as SpaceX shares slump in tech sell-off

Elon Musk has seen $350bn (£264bn) shaved off his net worth as SpaceX share prices have slumped.

Mr Musk became the world's first trillionaire, and is likely to have been the wealthiest person ever, when SpaceX made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this month.

By the end of the first day of trading, the SpaceX share price had soared from $150 to $161, making it the sixth-largest US company with a market value above $2.1trn.

That pushed Mr Musk's net worth to an estimated $1.1trn, according to Forbes.

But less than two weeks on from SpaceX's impressive start, its share prices have slumped amid a wider tech stock sell-off - wiping more than $350bn off Musk's fortune, Forbes reports.

The businessman holds a roughly 38% stake in SpaceX, with 4.8 billion shares and 350 million stock options.

As the Nasdaq opened on Tuesday, the aerospace manufacturer and communications company's share price was at $151.90, down more than 16%.

More than $600 billion was wiped off the company's market value over the past three sessions.

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A sharp selloff in the previous session - driven by doubts over debt-funded AI spending - rocked US tech heavyweights including Nvida, Tesla and Oracle.

SpaceX announced earlier this week that it plans to raise money through a bond offering, partly to fund AI development.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at Swissquote Bank, said SpaceX "jumping on the bond train to fund excessive AI and infrastructure spending revives earlier concerns that Big Tech may be spending too much on AI infrastructure and increasingly financing that spending through debt".

Nigel Green, chief executive of investment adviser deVere Group, explained: "The AI trade became one of the most crowded trades in global markets.

"When everybody owns the same stocks, the exit door becomes very small very quickly."

(c) Sky News 2026: Elon Musk loses billions as SpaceX shares slump in tech sell-off