The man who turned electric cars and reusable rockets into a cult has done it. Elon Musk is the world’s first trillionaire. And let’s be clear: this isn’t just a number. This is a power shift that Whitehall and the City are only just beginning to process.
The trigger? SpaceX. Its latest valuation – fueled by Starship’s successful orbital flight and whispers of a Starlink IPO – has pushed Musk’s net worth into twelve figures. Tesla stock, despite the volatility, remains the bedrock. But it’s the space play that has the old boys in the Square Mile reaching for their calculators.
Behind the scenes, British institutional investors are scrambling. I’m told that several pension funds are quietly exploring ways to get a piece of the SpaceX action, even as the company remains private. The London Stock Exchange is watching nervously – could a Starlink listing happen here? The Treasury is already fielding calls from tech lobbyists, keen to make the case for a UK float.
But let’s not get carried away. The politics are messy. Musk’s tax bill – or lack thereof – is a live grenade in the Commons. Labour frontbenchers are sharpening their knives, ready to make capital out of the billionaire’s fortune. “One man hoarding more wealth than the GDP of many nations,” they’ll say. Expect a flurry of parliamentary questions.
On the Tory side, there’s a quiet hope that Musk might invest in British tech – maybe in the floated “British SpaceX” that Hunt has been whispering about. But the Prime Minister’s team knows that any embrace of Musk comes with risks. His tweeting is a liability. His politics are unpredictable.
For now, the City is bullish. The trillionaire label has a talismanic quality. It signals that the tech boom is not dead, that capital can still be created on a staggering scale. But the real game is elsewhere. It’s about whether Musk will use this new clout to reshape industries – and governments.
One thing is certain: the Lobby will be filled with chatter about the “Musk factor” for weeks. And I’ll be in that dark corner of the pub, listening.
