Musk becomes trillionaire again as SpaceX shares surge

Elon Musk is a trillionaire again. SpaceX shares had their highest close since June on Monday after Morgan Stanley called the stock cheap. Bloomberg reported that the rally lifted Musk's fortune by $65 billion in one day, to $1.04 trillion. Forbes also put his net worth above the $1 trillion mark. Its figures showed Amazon Amazon.com, Inc. ↘ 0.05% founder Jeff Bezos a distant second, at about $372 billion.forbes+2

According to Benzinga, SpaceX stock gained 7.6% in the session and Tesla ↗ 2.20% rose 2.2%. Yahoo Finance reported that SpaceX closed up more than 7%, its highest close since June. Bloomberg said SpaceX shares are up 13% since the start of October and Tesla is up 6.7%. Tesla's third-quarter deliveries beat analyst forecasts last week, and Forbes said that added $61 billion to Musk's fortune on Friday alone.bloomberg+3

A bullish call ahead of Flight 15

Morgan Stanley ↘ 0.06% analyst Adam Jonas sent clients a Sunday note titled "SPCX $159: Cheap and Getting Cheaper." In it he kept his overweight rating and $300 price target on the stock. "Adjusted for growth, SpaceX is one of the cheaper ways to play the strong optionality of the Space and Intelligence Economy," Jonas wrote, adding that investors "still have a few weeks to 'catch' the opportunity before Flight 15". CNBC reported that the next Starship test is expected late this month or in early November.investopedia+2

Jonas said that if SpaceX tries to catch the Starship upper stage on that flight and succeeds, it "could be the biggest positive catalyst since the IPO". Wells Fargo ↗ 1.23% was more cautious about timing. Its analysts called a ship catch "likely a late '27 / early '28 story." They rate the stock overweight with a $212 target. The rally also comes after Starship's Flight 14, which reached low Earth orbit for the first time and deployed Starlink satellites.cnbc+1

CNBC noted that the stock still trades at 133 times forward earnings, according to FactSet. Musk owns about 38% of SpaceX and about 11% of Tesla, according to Benzinga.benzinga+1

From record IPO to slump and back

Musk first became a trillionaire in June, when SpaceX listed on the Nasdaq ↗ 2.06%. The offering sold 555.6 million shares at $135 each and raised a record $75 billion. He lost the title within about two weeks as the stock fell. Investopedia reported that the shares later traded around $105 before the recent run-up.qz+2

Musk's weekend comments also drew attention. He said on X that SpaceXAI, the subsidiary that runs the Grok chatbot, would be renamed "SpaceXSI." The change would follow an executive order from President Donald Trump telling government agencies to call AI "super intelligence." Forbes reported that the company had not taken any formal steps toward a rebrand as of Monday morning.forbes

Benzinga noted that the fortune remains closely tied to share prices. A sharp drop in either Tesla or SpaceX could push Musk back below the trillion-dollar mark.benzinga