Elon Musk’s net worth dropped below US$700 billion on Monday for the first time since December, after SpaceX shares fell a further 4.8 per cent to around US$109.50, cutting more than US$29 billion from his fortune in a single session and leaving his estimated wealth at US$695.7 billion.

The decline extends a 50 per cent slide in SpaceX’s share price since the stock peaked on 16 June, when Musk’s net worth reached US$1.45 trillion following SpaceX’s initial public offering – briefly making him the world’s first trillionaire. In total, roughly US$750 billion has been erased from his fortune since that high, around US$116 billion of which reflects Forbes removing Tesla options tied to new vesting conditions agreed with his automaker.

The scale of the correction is striking, though Musk remains by some distance the world’s wealthiest individual. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin follow at US$268.5 billion and US$247.1 billion respectively. With approximately 4.8 billion SpaceX shares and a further 350 million stock options, his exposure to the company’s performance has driven both the historic ascent and the sharp reversal.

Monday’s slide came despite a successful Starship test launch on Friday, suggesting markets had already priced in some caution. JPMorgan analyst Seth Seifman wrote ahead of the launch that while progress was expected, “setbacks” would remain part of the picture across dozens of planned launches through 2027. An aborted launch on 16th July had previously knocked more than US$45 billion from Musk’s fortune in a single day.

Analysts remain broadly constructive on SpaceX’s longer-term prospects. UBS analyst Gavin Parsons described Friday’s test as significant for validating key capabilities of Starship’s launch infrastructure. Former Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives has argued the company is well-positioned to become a major hyperscaler across connectivity, rocket launches, and AI infrastructure – a view that underlines how much long-term value investors still see in the business even amid the near-term turbulence.

One level now drawing close attention is US$100 per share. Morgan Stanley analysts noted on Friday that a fall to that threshold would imply investors assign no value to SpaceX’s AI business – a signal that would shift the conversation from correction to something more consequential. Musk, for his part, appeared to take the situation in stride, posting “(Former) trillionaire” on X last week in apparent acknowledgement of the reversal.