Elon Musk’s SpaceX has cemented its position as the world’s most valuable start-up in a new employee share deal which placed a valuation of up to $350 billion on the rocket and satellite maker.
The accolade is the latest boost to the fortunes of the world’s richest man after Donald Trump won the US presidential election in November. SpaceX overtook ByteDance, the parent company of social media platform TikTok.
Musk’s close relationship with the president-elect has reignited investor interest in his business empire, which analysts have termed the “Trump bump”. Since Trump’s victory, Musk’s collective net worth, which includes stakes in Tesla, SpaceX and other ventures, has risen by 66 per cent to more than $439 billion, according to calculations by Bloomberg.
Elon Musk forged a close relationship with Donald Trump during the election campaign
MICHAEL GONZALEZ/GETTY IMAGES
Shares in Tesla, the electric car maker, have soared by almost 70 per centsince Trump won the election on November 5, having previously dawdled for much of the year.
The artificial intelligence start-up xAI, launched by Musk in 2023, secured a $50 billion valuation this month, around double the price it achieved six months earlier.
Under the new employee share buyback deal, first reported by Bloomberg, SpaceX and its investors will purchase $1.25 billion of existing common stock at $185 apiece. The deal marks a 65 per cent increase in SpaceX’s share price compared to a $112 per employee share deal in September.
Musk forged a close relationship with the incoming president during the election campaign, spending more than $250 million to help Trump return to the White House. He has been appointed the head of Department of Government Efficiency, a body tasked with trimming government waste and improving efficiency. The abbreviated “DOGE” is a nod to a crypto token that Musk has often touted on social media.
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One of Musk’s first acts as boss of X, formerly Twitter, after acquiring the company was to substantially cut back staffing levels to reduce costs, a move that has drawn criticism for worsening user experience on the social media platform.
Investors have also renewed their interest in cryptocurrencies since Trump’s victory, in part due to expectations that Musk, a long-time crypto-advocate, could help fashion a more relaxed regulatory environment for the sector. This month, bitcoin, the world’s foremost cryptocurrency, breached the $100,000 barrier for the first time.
Similarly, expectations for corporate tax cuts by Trump have driven shares in the US’s largest listed companies sharply higher in recent weeks. The S&P 500 is up more than 25 per cent so far this year.
