How Much of SpaceX Does Elon Musk Own? The Answer Will Make Him the World’s First Trillionaire

About 42 to 43 percent of SpaceX is owned by Elon Musk. The most crucial figure in what could turn out to be the biggest stock market debut in history is that one data point, which was obtained from PitchBook and verified by Forbes. That 42 percent stake is worth more than $730 billion at the company’s current target IPO valuation of $1.75 trillion. When you combine that with his investments in Tesla, X, and other assets, Musk’s personal wealth would surpass $1 trillion, making him the first person in recorded economic history to do so. Perhaps the reason it doesn’t land with the weight it deserves is because the number is so big that it has a tendency to become abstract.

The ownership stake itself provides an intriguing account of the development of SpaceX. According to reports, Musk used $100 million of his personal funds from the PayPal sale to launch the business in 2002. Depending on who was present at the time, this move was widely regarded as either visionary or reckless. He had a far bigger stake in SpaceX in its early years. Before reaching orbit, Falcon 1 experienced three failures. In 2008, the business almost went bankrupt. Musk’s equity stake has been diluted from nearly full ownership to just under half through several funding rounds over the course of two decades, drawing investors from Google, private equity, and employee stock plans. However, the voting structure presents a different picture: despite owning less than half of the economic interest, Musk controls roughly 79% of SpaceX’s votes thanks to a dual-class share arrangement. In theory, he can be outvoted, but in reality, this rarely happens.

As SpaceX gets ready to go public, this distinction between voting control and equity ownership is crucial. On April 1, 2026, the company made a confidential filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which journalists covering the transaction have dubbed Project Apex. The company is reportedly looking to raise $75 billion, which would more than double the previous record for the largest IPO ever set by Saudi Aramco in 2019. The target listing is June, and the lead underwriters are Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, and Citigroup. Musk’s stake barely changes in percentage terms because less than 5% of the company’s total shares would be floated; however, the value of those 42% is determined by the public market pricing of the remaining shares.

The ownership math is still being worked out after the xAI merger in February 2026. The combined company was valued at $1.25 trillion when SpaceX acquired Musk’s AI startup in an all-stock transaction. Because Musk controlled both the buyer and the seller, the merger was set up so that Musk would receive SpaceX shares in exchange for his xAI stake. This arrangement raised conflict-of-interest issues that lawyers and regulators are still looking into. Following the merger, Musk now owns about 43% of the new company, with the same super-voting share structure maintaining voting control at roughly 79%. His stake in the combined company would be worth over $530 billion at a $1.25 trillion valuation, according to a February CNBC report. This amount increases significantly as the IPO target rises toward $1.75 trillion.

A dual-class share structure, in which insiders hold shares with disproportionately high voting power, creates a governance dynamic where outside shareholders have money in the company but limited ability to influence decisions. The nature of that 42 percent stake also involves a set of structural arrangements that retail investors would be wise to understand before interpreting it as simply “Musk owns nearly half of SpaceX.” This structure has become more prevalent among technology companies going public; Meta, Lyft, and Spotify are just a few examples. However, it tends to somewhat suppress valuation because rational investors discount the premium they’re willing to pay for a stock where they can’t significantly influence management behavior. According to reports, SpaceX is thinking of using the IPO structure to further strengthen Musk’s voting position in order to avoid diluting his control as new shares are issued. The specifics are still unknown, but the general direction is clear: regardless of the proportion of equity that goes to outside investors, Musk is structuring this IPO to maintain functional control.

Beyond abstract governance principles, that ownership position contains certain conflicts. Since 2008, SpaceX has been awarded $24.4 billion in federal contracts, including those from the Space Force, NASA, and the Air Force. For American crewed missions to the International Space Station, it is currently the main launch supplier. According to reports, the Pentagon is getting ready to give the business a $2 billion contract for a constellation of missile-tracking satellites as part of the Golden Dome defense project. In addition to leading a federal efficiency advisory body that terminated thousands of government contracts without affecting any held by Musk’s businesses, Musk was the biggest individual donor to Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. The president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., owns shares in SpaceX through 1789 Capital, a venture capital firm he joined following his father’s election. Legal frameworks that are still being debated in different forums will determine whether any of that is an improper conflict, but the pattern is obvious and deserving of clear labeling.

Observing all of this come together gives me the impression that the SpaceX IPO will be unlike anything that public markets have ever handled, not only in terms of size but also in terms of the density of institutional, political, and financial ties that surround it. Even a company with SpaceX’s fundamentals could have a poor public debut if the market is unstable, according to IPO expert Reena Aggarwal of Georgetown. Recently, the Nasdaq recorded its biggest weekly drop in almost a year. Whether Musk’s 42 percent stake turns into a trillion-dollar position in reality or just a projection will depend on whether conditions stabilize by June and whether institutional investors are prepared to pay 94 to 110 times 2025 revenue for a company that is, in part, still being rebuilt from scratch. The math makes sense. As usual, the market has the last say.