Elon Musk said money doesn't matter. Then he rolled out X Money and admitted he's a 'former trillionaire' - Fortune

What the report says

Fortune reported that Elon Musk publicly described himself on X as a “(Former) Trillionaire” on July 24, after a sharp paper decline in his wealth tied largely to SpaceX’s post-IPO share drop. According to the report, Forbes estimated Musk’s net worth at about $695.7 billion, down from a reported $1.45 trillion peak six weeks earlier, when SpaceX’s listing briefly made him the first person to reach trillionaire status.

The article said SpaceX shares fell another 4.8% on Monday to about $109.50, extending a roughly 50% slide from a June 16 high. Fortune attributed the pressure to delayed Starship tests, dilution concerns linked to a planned $60 billion all-stock acquisition of AI coding company Cursor, and expectations ahead of SpaceX’s first public earnings report. Tesla also weighed on sentiment, with shares falling 14.5% on July 23 after quarterly results showed record revenue but weaker-than-expected adjusted earnings and lower operating margin.

Fortune framed the wealth decline against Musk’s recent statements that money may eventually become unimportant. In an interview with The Economist at Tesla’s Texas gigafactory, he argued that artificial intelligence and robotics could create such abundance by 2036 that traditional money would lose relevance. The report noted similar comments Musk has made about retirement savings and future income models.

At the same time, Musk began rolling out X Money, a payments feature for Premium and Premium+ subscribers. Fortune said the service includes a digital wallet, peer-to-peer transfers, a deposit account and a Visa debit card tied to an X handle, part of Musk’s long-running plan to turn X into a broader “everything app.”