The historical record that Musk is about to set: the first trillionaire, the highest annual "earning"

Elon Musk, the captain of Tesla and SpaceX, is standing at a new high point in the history of human wealth. In the recently concluded year of 2025, Musk set a record for the largest annual wealth increase in history, thanks to the soaring valuation of his private aerospace company and a legal reversal in Tesla's compensation case. He is highly likely to break the trillion-dollar wealth record in the near future. According to estimates by Barron's, Musk's net worth currently stands at approximately $750 billion. This astonishing accumulation of wealth is primarily attributed to the explosive growth of Musk's assets in 2025. If we include the stock options from Tesla's compensation package in 2018, Musk's personal wealth surged by $400 billion within this year. This increase means that he could earn the average annual income of an American household in less than 7 seconds. Even excluding the options factor, his annual added wealth reached about $250 billion, which is comparable to the total wealth of Larry Page, co-founder of Alphabet, who ranks second on the Forbes billionaire list. The surge in SpaceX's valuation is the core engine driving this round of wealth explosion, as it not only offset early market fluctuations but also became the key to Musk's pursuit of the "trillionaire" title. With SpaceX's valuation climbing from about $350 billion to $800 billion, the market anticipates that its potential IPO could seek a valuation as high as $1.5 trillion. If realized, this would bring Musk an additional $300 billion in wealth, allowing him to be the first to break the trillion-dollar wealth barrier before receiving the latest round of substantial equity rewards from Tesla. Although there are temporal differences in wealth comparisons throughout history, Musk's current wealth level has begun to redefine the boundaries of modern economic influence. Compared to Rockefeller's nearly $1 billion fortune in the early 20th century, which accounted for about 2% of the U.S. GDP at the time, if Musk's wealth reaches $1 trillion, his total wealth would approach 3% of the U.S. GDP. This figure not only reflects the capital market's extremely high pricing of his business empire but also reflects the increasing weight of tech giants in today's economic structure. SpaceX Valuation Surge and IPO Expectations While Tesla's stock price rose about 20% in 2025, contributing billions to Musk's wealth, SpaceX is the biggest driver of wealth growth this year. According to Barron's, Musk holds about 40% of SpaceX. Driven by optimistic sentiment surrounding its satellite broadband service Starlink, which has over 8 million customers, and the potential for SpaceX to operate AI data centers in orbit, the company's valuation has soared from about $350 billion to $800 billion. This growth momentum paves the way for Musk's ascent to "trillionaire." Early market reports indicated that this rocket company, responsible for more than half of the global orbital launch missions, could seek a valuation of $1.5 trillion if it goes public. Musk himself expressed some recognition of the IPO on the social media platform X in December. If this valuation materializes, even if Tesla's stock price remains flat or slightly declines, the approximately $300 billion increase from the IPO would directly push Musk to the historic milestone of a trillion-dollar fortune Legal Turning Point in Tesla's Compensation Case Another key variable contributing to Musk's wealth surge comes from the legal ruling on Tesla's 2018 compensation plan. This compensation reward was declared invalid twice by a Delaware judge in 2024, but in 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court overturned this ruling, restoring the plan's validity. This stock option incentive significantly boosted Musk's paper earnings for 2025. It is noteworthy that the current estimate of his $750 billion fortune does not include approximately 425 million new shares granted to him by Tesla shareholders in November 2025. Musk has not yet formally received this portion of equity. To fully unlock this massive reward, he must lead Tesla to achieve a market value target of about $8.5 trillion, at which point this reward itself will be worth approximately $1 trillion. From Market Turmoil to a Record Year Looking back to early 2025, it seemed unimaginable that Musk would achieve the largest single-year increase in wealth in human history. At that time, Musk's relationship with elected President Trump had deteriorated, and Tesla's sales were declining due to Musk's political stance affecting the brand image. Additionally, the tariff policies implemented by Trump had once pushed the Nasdaq Composite Index into a bear market. After excluding pending options, Musk's fortune had dipped to as low as $300 billion in early April. However, with the market recovery, the merger of xAI and X, and the explosive growth of SpaceX's business, the situation quickly reversed. According to data analysis assisted by the private company trading platform Rainmaker Securities, based on the most aggressive estimates from published reports, Musk not only regained lost ground but also set an unprecedented record for wealth growth. This amount is built on Musk's commitment to promoting a sustainable future for humanity, reshaping the global wealth landscape at an unprecedented pace.