Elon Musk's Wealth Surges Higher After SpaceX Bags $714M Contract From the Pentagon

Tesla chief Elon Musk briefly attained a personal net worth of $500 billion ($370 billion) last Wednesday, becoming the first person to achieve such kind of wealth. The surge in wealth by over $10 billion (£7.4 billion) overnight coincided with the Tesla stock price gains, which have been on an uptrend since Musk recently disclosed buying another $1 billion (£744 million) of EV company shares.

While his net worth pared back to $470 billion (£348 billion) in the following few hours after hitting the half-a-trillion mark, the figure scaled back up to $482.3 billion (£359 billion) on Monday, according to the Forbes Real Time Billionaires list.

A Forbes report had also forecast that if Musk's net worth growth trajectory remains unchanged, he could become the world's first trillionaire as early as 2033, when the first of two vesting dates for his $1 trillion (£744 billion) Tesla pay package hits.

The latest jump in Musk's net worth could be attributed to SpaceX securing contracts from the US Space Force on Friday for five of its seven critical military missions for the upcoming fiscal year. The total value of the awards SpaceX received is estimated to be $714 million (£531.7 million), highlighting the company's dominance over Pentagon space contracts.

Meanwhile, the other two launches will be overseen by the United Launch Alliance (ULA). The ULA awards were valued at $428 million (£318.7 million) for two launches.

However, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, whose New Glenn rocket is yet to be certified, will have to wait until at least fiscal 2027 for its first assignment.

These awards mark the second round of launch assignments under the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 2 contract, which covers Space Force missions through fiscal 2029. The NSSL selected SpaceX, ULA, and Blue Origin earlier this year for 54 missions scheduled between fiscal 2027 and 2032, worth $13.5 billion.

'Space is the ultimate high ground, critical for our national security,' said US Space System Command official Eric Zarybnisky, in a release. 'We continue to assure access to that high ground. Delivering assets to the warfighter is our ultimate mission, and we rely on our strong government-industry partnerships ... to successfully achieve that goal.

The missions assigned to SpaceX include launches for a communication satellite, three classified payloads, and a reconnaissance satellite, which are expected to take off in 2027. Elsewhere, Blue Origin's New Glenn is scheduled to launch a NASA mission to Mars by year-end, which has faced delays since 2024. If successful, it could bring Bezos' venture closer to receiving certification for national security launches.

SpaceX was reportedly in discussions in August to raise money and sell insider shares at a valuation of close to $400 billion (£296.3 billion). The latest contracts are likely to add to the valuation and to Musk's net worth, which is primarily held in ventures, including Tesla and xAI. Meanwhile, xAI had an estimated valuation of $75 billion (£55.5 billion) as of July, according to Pitchbook. Recent reports stated the company was eyeing a valuation of $200 billion (£148.1 billion) after a fundraise, but Musk clarified it was not raising any capital at the moment.

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