Key Takeaways:
Elon Musk's net worth fell $363 billion in July to $690 billion, more than the entire fortune of any of the world's next nine richest people.
The decline, tracked by Forbes' real-time billionaires list, was driven by a 37% slide in SpaceX shares after the rocketmaker's June 12 IPO and a 26% drop in Tesla, which reported second-quarter earnings that missed analysts' estimates on July 22.
SpaceX's slide erased $320 billion from Musk's 38% stake, now valued at $552 billion, while his 11% Tesla holding fell $43 billion to $123 billion. The combined $2.6 trillion fortune of the top 10 fell $368 billion in July.
Musk, who became the world's first trillionaire on June 16 when SpaceX's market value peaked near $2.2 trillion, remains the richest person by a wide margin. His fortune faces another test Thursday when roughly 911.5 million insider shares unlock.
SpaceX's post-IPO unwind
SpaceX, which listed at $135 and closed its first day at $160.95, climbed to a closing high of $211.39 on June 16 before sliding 37% in July to about $114. The decline followed an aborted Starship launch on July 17, which accelerated the selloff and pushed Musk's wealth below $800 billion. Short sellers have built a notional $23.6 billion position in SpaceX, overtaking Tesla's roughly $22 billion, according to S3 Partners data cited by CNBC.
Tesla's slide compounded the losses. The electric-vehicle maker reported $28.24 billion in second-quarter revenue but adjusted earnings of 33 cents a share missed Wall Street estimates by nearly 39%, with free cash flow swinging to negative $1.09 billion as capital spending surged. Tesla plans to spend more than $25 billion this year on AI-powered self-driving, robotaxis and humanoid robots.
The reshuffled top 10
Jeff Bezos gained $29 billion in July to $278 billion as Amazon shares climbed 14%, overtaking Google cofounder Sergey Brin, who fell to No. 4 at $269 billion. Larry Page held No. 2 at $292 billion. Nvidia's Jensen Huang rose to No. 7 at $174 billion, swapping spots with Oracle's Larry Ellison, whose fortune fell $24 billion to $168 billion as Oracle stock sank 11%.
Nine of the ten richest people are Americans; France's Bernard Arnault, worth $146 billion, is the exception. Musk, who described himself as a "Former trillionaire" in a post on X, has lost more than $600 billion from his June peak of $1.32 trillion, a decline exceeding the total wealth of every other billionaire except himself.
The wealth destruction carries implications for the broader tech sector, where high-valuation growth names have come under pressure as investors reassess AI-driven spending. Musk's fortune now trades in near real time with SpaceX's stock, with every $1 move in the shares worth about $5 billion to him, according to FinanceFeeds calculations.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
