Elon Musk Makes Biggest Acquisition In History And Gets Even Richer

Elon Musk has just successfully completed another operation aimed at giving him even more power. SpaceX, valued at around $800 billion at its last secondary stock sale in December 2025, absorbs xAI, the artificial intelligence company valued at $230 billion after its $20 billion fundraising last January. The merged entity now includes rockets, the Starlink satellite network, the Grok AI and the X platform (formerly Twitter).

Musk presents this acquisition as “ the most ambitious vertically integrated innovation engine on Earth (and beyond), with AI, rockets, space internet, direct-to-mobile communications, and the world’s largest real-time information and free speech platform “. The merged company is preparing an IPO for June 2026 that could raise up to $50 billion and value the combined company around $1.250 billion to $1.5 trillion according to estimates.

Elon Musk reaches new milestone in wealth

This acquisition comes at the right time for Elon Musk, already the richest man in history with a fortune estimated between $676 and $723 billion. The billionaire owns 42% of SpaceX (with 79% voting rights) and had a majority stake in xAI. Every dollar that passes between these entities makes it a little richer.

A fortune that was built gradually at breakneck speed. 4.8 billion dollars in 2013 when it entered the Bloomberg index, 100 billion in 2020, then exponential growth in recent years. In December 2024, it crossed the $400 billion mark. A year later, in December 2025, he exceeded 600 billion, becoming the first human to cross this threshold. Today, he is more than twice as rich as the second richest man in the world, Larry Page, co-founder of Google, whose fortune is around $265 billion.

SpaceX’s acquisition of xAI further accelerates this trajectory. With the project scheduled for June 2026 and the expected valuation around $1.5 trillion, some analysts estimate thatElon Musk could become the first trillionaire in history by 2027 or 2028. He also benefits from a compensation package from Tesla approved in November 2025, valued at $1 trillion over 10 years if he meets certain performance targets.

Data centers in space

To justify this operation, Musk says he wants to install data centers in space. According to him, current advances in AI depend on vast terrestrial data centers that require enormous amounts of power and cooling. “ Global electricity demand for AI simply cannot be met with land-based solutions, even in the short term, without imposing hardship on communities and the environment “. SpaceX also filed a request last Friday with the Federal Communications Commission to launch up to one million satellites designed to function as orbital data centers. These satellites would rely on solar energy to power onboard computer systems supporting AI applications. “My estimate is that within 2 to 3 years, the cheapest way to generate AI computing will be in space,” Musk says.

By bringing together SpaceX, xAI and Musk creates an integrated ecosystem where rockets launch satellites, Starlink provides connectivity, AI processes the data, and X broadcasts the information.

The challenges of an expanding empire

Despite the audacity of the project, the acquisition raises questions. xAI is burning through about $1 billion a month trying to catch up with OpenAI, Google and Anthropic in the AI race. SpaceX, for its part, generates up to 80% of its revenues by launching its own Starlink satellites. One wonders if Musk is not using SpaceX’s financial strength simply to bail out xAI.

Tesla, which just invested $2 billion in xAI last month, finds itself indirectly a shareholder of the SpaceX-xAI entity, a situation which fuels shareholder lawsuits denouncing conflicts of interest. Musk owns 18% of Tesla, 42% of SpaceX and a majority stake in xAI, creating a complex web of transactions between his various companies.

Suffice it to say that the richest man in the world has nothing to do with it. With this historic acquisition, he consolidates his technological empire and moves one step closer to becoming the first trillionaire in history. A fortune that could allow him to finance his wildest ambitions.