Musk's net worth soars past $800 bn

US entrepreneur Elon Musk’s net worth surged past the $800 billion mark after SpaceX acquired his artificial‑intelligence firm xAI, making him the richest person in history by a wide margin.

Musk's net worth reached roughly $852 billion, almost $578 billion higher than the world’s second-wealthiest person, Google co-founder Larry Page, whose net worth is estimated at $281 billion.

The merger took the combined value of the company to $1.25 trillion and added about $84 billion to Musk’s fortune, according to reports.

Before the merger, Musk owned about 42 per cent of SpaceX which was valued at $800 billion and roughly 49 per cent of xAI, which was valued at $250 billion after a recent private fundraising round. Post‑merger, Musk’s stake in the combined entity touched 43 per cent, worth about $542 billion and SpaceX became Musk’s largest holding by a wide margin, the reports said.

Musk also retains about 12 per cent of Tesla, valued at approximately $178 billion, along with Tesla stock options, estimated at $124 billion. Further, in addition to these, Musk also receives a shareholder‑approved Tesla pay package up to $1 trillion in additional Tesla stock, before taxes over the next decade and the cost of unlocking restricted shares, if performance targets are met.

He crossed several wealth milestones in the past four months such as $500 billion, $600 billion and $700 billion, driven by SpaceX valuation gains and a Delaware Supreme Court ruling that restored his Tesla options.

Musk earlier said that SpaceX's Starship will begin delivering the much more powerful V3 Starlink satellites to orbit in 2026, with each launch adding more than 20 times the capacity to the constellation as the current Falcon launches of the V2 Starlink satellites.

It will enable launches “every hour carrying 200 tons per flight” and ultimately lifting millions of tons to orbit and beyond, Musk has shared his plan.

Starship will also launch the next generation of direct-to-mobile satellites, which will deliver full cellular coverage everywhere on Earth, he added.