SpaceX Stock Crash Knocks Elon Musk Below $1 Trillion as Wisconsin Officials Push Election Bribery Investigation

Elon Musk’s brief reign as the world’s first trillionaire has collided with two powerful forces: an unforgiving stock market and growing legal scrutiny over his political spending. A sharp decline in SpaceX shares has erased hundreds of billions of dollars from his estimated fortune, while Wisconsin election officials have referred complaints involving his million-dollar voter checks to local prosecutors.

We are now watching Musk face a rare double setback. His financial empire remains enormous, but the dramatic retreat in SpaceX stock has exposed how quickly paper wealth can disappear. At the same time, the Wisconsin controversy raises a question that reaches beyond one billionaire: how far can wealthy political donors go when offering money to registered voters during an election?

SpaceX Stock Slide Knocks Elon Musk Below the Trillionaire Mark

Musk became the first person whose estimated net worth exceeded $1 trillion after SpaceX completed its historic public offering in June 2026. The company priced its shares at $135 before they opened at $150 and surged during their first days of public trading. At its peak, SpaceX briefly carried a valuation of more than $2.6 trillion, dramatically increasing the value of Musk’s massive ownership stake.

The celebration did not last. SpaceX shares subsequently tumbled from a post-IPO high of $225.64 and briefly fell below the original $135 offering price on July 15, 2026. They reached approximately $132 during the trading session before recovering to close at $135.27. The retreat left the company valued at roughly $1.8 trillion, still extraordinary by conventional standards but far below its market peak.

Because a large percentage of Musk’s wealth is connected to his SpaceX ownership, every significant movement in the company’s stock price produces an enormous change in his estimated net worth. Forbes reported on July 13, 2026, that Musk’s fortune had already dropped below $900 billion, down from a peak of approximately $1.45 trillion on June 16.

That decline does not mean Musk suddenly lost hundreds of billions of dollars held in a bank account. His wealth estimates are largely based on the market value of his shares, options, and ownership interests. When SpaceX stock climbed, his estimated fortune soared. When the shares fell, the same calculation worked in reverse.

Why SpaceX Shares Came Back Down to Earth

SpaceX’s stock decline reflects growing anxiety about whether the company’s enormous market valuation moved too far ahead of its financial performance. The rocket and satellite company generated $18.67 billion in revenue during 2025, an increase of roughly 33 percent, but it also recorded a net loss of approximately $4.94 billion.

Investors are therefore being asked to place tremendous value on future growth from Starlink, Starship, government launch contracts, satellite communications, and more speculative businesses connected to artificial intelligence and orbital computing. Those ambitions may eventually produce substantial profits, but the company’s present valuation already assumes years of exceptional expansion.

SpaceX was recently valued at approximately 49 times its revenue, compared with roughly 15 times revenue for Tesla. That enormous premium makes the stock vulnerable whenever investors become less willing to pay for distant growth expectations. Even a small shift in market confidence can produce a dramatic fall when a company begins trading at an extremely aggressive valuation.

Concerns have also grown around SpaceX’s spending. Investors are evaluating billions of dollars in debt-funded investments in artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, and future technology projects. Those investments could strengthen the company’s long-term position, but they also introduce execution risks and increase pressure on SpaceX to prove that its most ambitious plans can generate sustainable returns.

Upcoming Insider Share Unlocks Could Increase Pressure

The market is also preparing for the expiration of restrictions that have prevented early investors, executives, and employees from selling large portions of their SpaceX holdings. Only a small percentage of the company’s total shares entered the public market during the initial offering, creating limited supply and contributing to the powerful early rally.

That structure could soon change. Approximately 911.5 million shares may become eligible for trading after SpaceX releases its first public earnings report, which is expected in early August 2026. At recent market prices, those shares could represent more than $120 billion in newly tradable stock. Additional shares may become eligible later if certain market conditions are met.

The release of restricted shares does not guarantee that insiders will sell. Some employees, founders, and early investors may continue holding their positions because they expect SpaceX to appreciate over time. However, even the possibility of greater supply can weigh on a stock, particularly when many early shareholders are sitting on substantial gains.

Short sellers have already benefited from the reversal. They reportedly accumulated about $8.7 billion in paper profits as SpaceX shares retreated toward the IPO price. Nearly half of the shares available for borrowing were on loan, indicating intense interest from traders betting that the stock could decline further.

Wisconsin Election Officials Refer Musk Complaints to Prosecutors

Musk’s financial setback has unfolded alongside a separate political controversy in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Elections Commission found probable cause that he may have violated state election law by offering $1 million payments connected to the state’s highly contested 2025 Supreme Court election.

The bipartisan commission voted 5 to 1 during a closed session on July 9, 2026, to refer two complaints to the Brown County District Attorney’s Office. The prosecutor now has a limited period to review the matter and determine whether criminal charges are justified.

The referral is significant, but it is not a conviction and does not establish that Musk committed a crime. It means election officials concluded that there was enough evidence for prosecutors to investigate the allegations more closely.

During the Wisconsin Supreme Court campaign, Musk publicly supported conservative candidate Brad Schimel and spent more than $20 million through political groups assisting his candidacy. Musk also presented three $1 million checks to Wisconsin voters, including payments announced during a rally in Green Bay. Schimel ultimately lost the April 1, 2025, election to liberal candidate Susan Crawford by approximately 10 percentage points.

Why the Million-Dollar Checks Triggered Bribery Allegations

Wisconsin law prohibits offering anything of value to encourage a person to vote, refrain from voting, or take certain election-related actions. The statutory definition of “anything of value” explicitly includes money and objects with independent utility beyond a political message.

The complaints contend that Musk’s payments crossed the line separating political advocacy from an illegal financial inducement. Critics argue that offering enormous checks to registered voters during a major election could influence turnout, participation, or political behavior, even when the payment is technically connected to signing a petition or serving as a spokesperson.

Musk’s legal representatives dispute that interpretation. They have argued that the giveaways represented protected political speech and compensated participants for promoting a political message rather than paying them to cast ballots for a specific candidate.

That distinction will likely become central to any prosecutorial review. Courts generally protect political expression, petition activity, and campaign advocacy. States, however, also have a strong interest in preventing candidates, donors, and political organizations from using direct financial incentives to manipulate election participation.

The Case Could Redefine Political Spending by Billionaires

The Wisconsin dispute is larger than one set of payments. It could help determine how states regulate modern political campaigns in which wealthy individuals combine large donations, petition drives, social media promotion, and direct cash awards.

Musk has repeatedly used his personal wealth and business platforms to influence American politics. His ability to reach millions of people through X gives him a communications advantage that traditional political donors lack. When that influence is combined with direct payments, election regulators face situations that older campaign laws may not have anticipated in their current form.

A decision not to prosecute could encourage other political groups to create similar voter-related promotions, provided they carefully avoid explicitly paying people to support a candidate. A prosecution, by contrast, could establish a powerful warning that attaching cash prizes to election participation may trigger criminal liability.

Wisconsin officials must therefore distinguish between an unconventional political campaign and an unlawful effort to induce electoral behavior. That is a complicated legal question, but the commission’s probable cause finding indicates that regulators are not treating the matter as a routine campaign stunt.

Musk Remains Powerful Despite the Financial and Political Blowback

Musk’s loss of trillionaire status is symbolically dramatic, but it does not fundamentally threaten his position among the world’s wealthiest and most influential business leaders. His remaining fortune still gives him extraordinary control over companies operating in the electric-vehicle, satellite, artificial-intelligence, social-media, and aerospace sectors.

SpaceX also remains one of the most valuable companies in the United States. Its Starlink network continues expanding, its launch business holds a commanding position, and government contracts provide a powerful source of demand. Most analysts covering the stock reportedly continue to recommend buying or holding it despite concerns about valuation and volatility.

The larger problem is that Musk’s business, personal, and political identities are now deeply connected. A setback for SpaceX affects his personal wealth. His political activities can affect public attitudes toward his companies. His statements on X can influence markets, campaigns, and government relationships within hours.

We are therefore witnessing more than the temporary loss of a financial title. The SpaceX decline is testing whether investors can separate Musk’s ambitious technological promises from the risks surrounding valuation, debt and execution. The Wisconsin referral is testing whether election laws can contain the political influence of individuals whose wealth rivals the economic output of entire nations.

Musk may have lost the trillionaire label, but the greater battle concerns something more consequential: whether financial power, political influence and technological control can remain concentrated in one person without inviting stronger resistance from markets, regulators and voters.