Elon Musk Is a Trillionaire Again as SpaceX Shares Rally
Elon Musk’s net worth rose above $1 trillion after SpaceX shares jumped nearly 8% on Monday, according to Forbes’ real-time billionaires list. The stock has…
SpaceX shares surged nearly 8% on Monday, lifting Elon Musk’s net worth above $1 trillion again as the rocket maker’s stock climbed back above its IPO price. The rebound matters beyond Musk’s fortune: options trading suggests investors are betting on further movement, but the stock’s lower volatility points to a less rapid route to new highs than after its June debut.
Shares reached $171, their highest level since mid-June, and had gained nearly 50% from their lows, CNBC reported. Forbes’ real-time billionaires list put Musk’s wealth at $1.03 trillion, counting his holdings in Tesla and SpaceX.
The rally has momentum. The route ahead is less certain.
SpaceX shares recover, but traders price in a slower climb
SpaceX stock rose after Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas reiterated a $300 price target on Monday. The firm had described the shares as “cheap” in a note cited by CNBC, pointing to future AI product releases, progress on Starship and additional neocloud contracts.
But options markets are signaling a different pace from the early days of trading. SpaceX shares took less than three full sessions after their June debut to rise from $171 to an intraday high above $225. At that point, implied volatility exceeded 110. It now stands at 55, up from a record low below 50 on Thursday.
Options pricing at Monday’s close assigned less than a 50% chance of the stock touching $225 by July. Traders saw a 54% chance it would reach $185 by the end of the month. The figures reflect expectations embedded in options prices, not a forecast that the shares will reach either level.
Monday’s options activity was heavy. About 1.7 million contracts changed hands, worth a total of $900 million, CNBC reported. One million were call options valued at more than $640 million. Cboe LiveVol data suggested traders bought 456,000 calls, compared with fewer than 240,000 puts.
Downside risk has not disappeared. Barchart data showed implied volatility for puts at levels equal to or higher than calls, a sign that options markets were pricing in the possibility of sharp moves in either direction.
SpaceX and Tesla gains lift Musk’s wealth
Musk’s fortune depends heavily on the value of his stakes in Tesla and SpaceX. A separate CNBC report said Tesla shares gained 2% after third-quarter deliveries topped estimates, while SpaceX rose about 8%. Yahoo Finance, citing Investopedia, also reported Musk’s net worth had moved back above $1 trillion after gains in both companies.
SpaceX’s stock had fallen after its June listing and reached a low in early August before recovering. CNBC reported the shares had climbed about 58% since that bottom. The latest surge brought them back above the company’s IPO price.
Company activity has helped shape the investor story. Last Thursday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket delivered four astronauts to the International Space Station in under eight hours, a record, according to CNBC. The outlet also reported SpaceX sent Google’s AI chips into orbit during a separate launch last week.
Charles Moon, a technical and momentum trader at Prosper Trading Academy in Chicago, said Starship had helped attract market attention as the fourth quarter began. “SpaceX and Tesla are feeding off each other. They're moving more in sync lately,” he told CNBC.
The 30-day correlation between SpaceX and Tesla stood at 0.66, according to ThinkOrSwim data cited by CNBC. That link helps explain why gains across both companies can affect Musk’s reported wealth at once, while also tying the fortunes of the two stocks more closely together for investors tracking his valuation.
For investors, the distinction between the company’s operational milestones and short-term share moves remains consequential. A record spaceflight and new AI-related activity have given analysts reasons to discuss growth, while options pricing still points to significant uncertainty about how quickly the rally can continue.
Morgan Stanley’s Jonas described SpaceX as “one of the cheaper ways to play the strong optionality of the Space and Intelligence Economy,” according to a note to clients cited by CNBC.
Source: cnbc.com
