Why did Musk lose his trillionaire status?
Forbes last week removed $116 billion of restricted Tesla stock—accounting for a roughly 8% stake in the company—from estimates of Musk’s net worth after he gave up $7.1 billion in shares to cover the exercise price on all stock options he received as part of his 2018 CEO performance award. Those options were voided by a Delaware judge in 2024 and restored by the Delaware Supreme Court in 2025, and after the latter ruling, Tesla replaced the stock award with a new one that only pays off if he stays in a senior leadership role through January 2028. His net worth also declined as SpaceX shares erased their 41% post-IPO surge.
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key background
Musk—who has ranked the world’s richest person since May 2024—became the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX’s record-setting IPO earlier this month boosted his net worth to $1.1 trillion. It became Musk’s latest wealth milestone, after in December 2024 he became the first person to be worth $400 billion, and later became the first to reach the $500 billion, $600 billion, $700 billion, $800 billion and $900 billion thresholds through early 2026.
tangent
Tesla shareholders approved a compensation package for Musk in November that, on its own, could be worth close to $1 trillion, should the company achieve several goals over the next decade.
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further reading
ForbesElon Musk Is No Longer A TrillionaireBy Matt Durot