Why it matters: Elon Musk reclaimed the title of world's richest person from Jeff Bezos last week when soaring Tesla stock boosted his net worth to around $242 billion---almost $50 billion more than the Amazon founder. But that would pale in comparison to what Musk could eventually become: the world's first trillionaire.
While it was a 3% share rise for Musk's EV company that propelled him to the top of the list rich, analysts at Morgan Stanley believe it could be his space exploration firm SpaceX that adds an extra digit to his already colossal fortune.
Speaking to The Guardian, analyst Adam Jones said SpaceX was "challenging any preconceived notion of what was possible and the timeframe possible, in terms of rockets, launch vehicles and supporting infrastructure."
"More than one client has told us if Elon Musk were to become the first trillionaire ... it won't be because of Tesla. Others have said SpaceX may eventually be the most highly valued company in the world - in any industry."
SpaceX's first all-civilian spaceflight took place last month. The four passengers spent three days circling the earth in the Inspiration4 rocket after launching into an orbit of about 575 kilometers---higher than the ISS and Hubble telescope.
Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX, properly launched its satellite internet service in Greece this week after a year of beta testing. Last month, SpaceX said it had shipped more than 100,000 Starlink terminals to users in over 14 countries, but there's still a backlog of over 400,000 pre-orders that have yet to be fulfilled.
The valuation of Elon Musk's SpaceX crossed $100 billion following a recent secondary share sale, making it the second-largest privately held company behind Chinese multinational internet firm ByteDance. Musk currently owns around 48% of SpaceX.
The Bloomberg Billionaires list currently has Musk at number one with $242 billion, followed by Jeff Bezos on $197 billion. Bill Gates is fourth with $133 billion, and Mark Zuckerberg is fifth thanks to his $127 billion valuation.