Elon Musk Loses $130 Billion as Tesla and SpaceX Shares Plunge

It was a punishing seven-day stretch for Elon Musk. Tesla shares tumbled 18% during the week to close at $313.03 on Friday, marking the electric vehicle maker’s worst weekly slump since 2022, according to reporting by CNBC. Down the road, SpaceX experienced its own downward slide as its stock dropped 7.2% over five days to close at $115.07 on Friday, hitting its lowest point since its record initial public offering last month.

The simultaneous declines erased roughly $130 billion in paper wealth. The losses arrived just weeks after Musk crossed the threshold to become the world’s first trillionaire—a milestone he acknowledged on X with a post reading, (Former) trillionaire.

Tesla’s Cash Burn and Wall Street’s Profit Doubts

Tesla’s steep slide was triggered by weaker-than-expected second-quarter financial results released late Wednesday. The automaker turned cash flow negative as capital expenditures surged toward futuristic bets like robotaxis, humanoid robots, and a giant chip fab.

Analysts at Argus Research maintained a hold rating on the stock, adding that we believe it will be nearly impossible for Tesla to generate any consistency in profit growth in the near-term. Tesla shares are now down 30% for the year, making the company the worst performer among tech’s mega-caps.

SpaceX Starship Flight Delays and Post-IPO Gravity

SpaceX has faced its own gravitational pull since going public. After a strong start out of the gate, the stock has trended steadily downward over the past month. Shares have fallen in four of the past five weeks and now sit about 43% below their June 16 peak close.

Adding to investor jitters, SpaceX prepared for the 13th test flight of Starship—the largest rocket ever built or flown—at its Starbase facility in Texas. The company delayed the Thursday launch due to weather, CNBC reported. That setback followed another scrubbed launch attempt last week, which was halted when the booster’s automated safety triggers shut down the engines right as they were starting to ignite, according to a SpaceX employee speaking on the company’s livestream.

Market analysts are also eyeing upcoming share lock-up expirations. SpaceX boasts an initial float of just 4% and faces 15 lock-up expirations over the next year-plus. Insiders will soon have the chance to sell millions of shares, which could pressure its shares.

The Merger Speculation and Institutional Divide

Amid the market turbulence, Wall Street analysts are increasingly debating whether Musk’s two biggest companies will eventually merge. William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma noted that plans for a joint project to develop a factory capable of making one terawatt per year of compute hardware seemed to foreshadow an acquisition. SpaceX Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell acknowledged the deep ties, telling reporters last month that there’s no question that there’s synergies between Tesla and SpaceX and our futures.

RBC analyst Tom Narayan raised his Tesla price target to $500 from $475, arguing that operational collaboration—including SpaceX utilizing Tesla Megapacks and joint artificial intelligence training—makes an all-stock acquisition a logical path. Conversely, J.P.

Controversial Interviews and Lofty Visions

It’s just normal people!

Even as short-term pressures mount, Musk continues to pitch grand, futuristic horizons to investors.