Elon Musk has shed his trillionaire status for the second time in a month, after a steep sell-off in SpaceX and Tesla shares wiped $36.4 billion off his fortune in a single trading session. According to Forbes data, Musk's net worth fell to $991.6 billion on Thursday, 8 October — slipping below the $1 trillion mark just three days after he had reclaimed it.

What Triggered the Slide

SpaceX shares dropped approximately 3.5% amid investor unease over reports that the company is planning to raise $40 billion to purchase Nvidia chips. Tesla shares fell more than 2% on the same session, compounding the decline. The dual pressure from his two most valuable holdings proved enough to push Musk's wealth back under the symbolic trillion-dollar threshold.

Musk first crossed the trillion-dollar mark in June after SpaceX went public, briefly reaching an estimated fortune of $1.45 trillion. Thursday's drop marks the second occasion within a month that he has lost that status — underscoring just how volatile wealth at this scale can be, particularly when concentrated in a handful of high-beta technology and aerospace bets.

Other Tech Billionaires Also Hit Hard

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison together lost a combined $15 billion in net worth on Thursday, according to Forbes data. Huang's estimated fortune declined by $6.1 billion to $199.3 billion, pushing him below the $200 billion threshold. He now sits at No. 7 on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list, with his wealth down roughly 3% for the day.

Ellison bore an even steeper single-session loss of $8.9 billion, bringing his net worth to $176.8 billion. He holds the No. 8 spot on the same list, with a decline of over 4.5% on the day.

Broader Tech Sell-Off on Wall Street

The individual wealth losses reflect a wider market rout. The Nasdaq 100 declined 1.4% on Thursday — its worst single-day drop in seven weeks — while the S&P 500 fell 0.5%. The sell-off in technology and AI-linked stocks deepened through the midday session, driven by bearish sentiment around the sector's near-term earnings outlook.

Indian Markets Buck the Global Trend

In contrast, domestic Indian markets opened on a positive note on Friday, 9 October. The Nifty IT index surged more than 3% in early deals to the 28,604 level. The Sensex opened at 71,776.67, up 183.43 points or 0.26%, while the Nifty50 began the session at 22,314.95, up 83.15 points or 0.37%. This divergence suggests that domestic institutional flows and sector-specific optimism provided a buffer against the global tech downdraft, at least in early trade.

Whether Musk regains trillionaire status a third time will hinge on the near-term performance of SpaceX's private valuation and Tesla's delivery outlook — both of which remain highly sensitive to investor sentiment on AI capital expenditure.