Tesla SpaceX stock slump erases $130 billion from Musk wealth

The Tesla SpaceX stock slump cut roughly $130 billion from Elon Musk’s wealth this week, CNBC reported, as shares in the electric-vehicle maker and the rocket company both sold off. Tesla dropped 18% for the week to close Friday at $313.03, its steepest weekly decline since 2022, while SpaceX fell 7.2% over five days to $115.07.

The moves marked a sharp reversal for two of Musk’s most closely watched companies. CNBC reported that SpaceX finished the week at its lowest level since its record initial public offering last month, while Tesla is now down 30% this year, making it the weakest performer among the large-cap technology group tracked in the report.

The combined decline came weeks after Musk had become the world’s first trillionaire, according to CNBC. In a Friday post on X, Musk wrote, “(Former) trillionaire.”

Why did Tesla and SpaceX stocks fall this week?

Tesla’s sell-off followed second-quarter results released late Wednesday that came in below expectations, CNBC reported. The company’s free cash flow turned negative as spending rose on projects including robotaxis, humanoid robots and a large chip fabrication facility.

Free cash flow measures cash generated after capital spending and is closely watched because it shows how much cash a company can retain, repay debt with, or reinvest after funding its operations and assets. A negative reading can heighten investor concern when spending rises before a clear near-term return.

Argus Research analysts, who rate Tesla shares hold, said in a Friday report that the spending profile could weigh on free cash flow and postpone profit growth. “We believe it will be nearly impossible for Tesla to generate any consistency in profit growth in the near-term,” the analysts wrote, according to CNBC.

SpaceX’s decline extended a broader retreat since its public-market debut. CNBC reported that the stock has fallen in four of the past five weeks and sits about 43% below its June 16 peak closing price, after an initial rise following the IPO.

The week’s losses also came before SpaceX’s planned 13th Starship test flight on Friday evening. SpaceX said on X that it postponed a Thursday launch attempt because of weather. The company had also scrubbed a test flight the previous week after the rocket’s booster triggered a hold that stopped the engines as ignition began, a SpaceX employee said during a livestream cited by CNBC.

Starship V3 is the newest version of SpaceX’s roughly 400-foot rocket, which the company says is designed to be fully reusable. Reusability is central to SpaceX’s model because repeated flights can lower launch costs and support higher flight rates, including for the expansion of the Starlink satellite network.

CNBC reported that SpaceX intends to use Starship for missions returning U.S. astronauts to the lunar surface, while Musk has said he wants the rocket eventually to carry crews to Mars. A successful Starship V3 launch would be the company’s first since its IPO.

Musk also appeared publicly this week in an interview with The Economist. Editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes questioned him about his support for far-right and fringe parties in some countries, citing his backing for President Donald Trump, Germany’s AfD and the U.K.’s Restore Britain. Musk rejected that framing, saying, “It’s just normal people!” and criticized Beddoes and traditional media for what he called an “absurd characterization of the far right,” according to CNBC.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.