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  • Elonโ€™s fortune tops $600B for first time as SpaceX hits $800B valuation

Dec 16, 2025

Elonโ€™s fortune tops $600B for first time as SpaceX hits $800B valuation

Bay Area Times
Bay Area Times
Elonโ€™s fortune tops $600B for first time as SpaceX hits $800B valuation

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Top stories today:

  1. Elonโ€™s fortune tops $600B for first time as SpaceX hits $800B valuation
  2. U.S. Tech Force launched by Trump to recruit Big Tech talent
  3. Notion said to plan $300M tender at $11B valuation
  4. PayPal applies to establish bank as U.S. loosens regulatory reins
  5. Chai Discovery, OpenAI-backed startup, raises $130M at $1.3B
  6. CoreWeave -46% as AI bubble fears, data center delays erase $33B

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0. Data and calendar

All values as of 6 AM ET / 3 AM PT, other than S&P500 and NASDAQ close (4 PM ET / 1 PM PT).

All times are ET.

Listen to our AI-generated podcast summarizing todayโ€™s newsletter (beware of hallucinations):

1. Elonโ€™s fortune tops $600B for first time as SpaceX hits $800B valuation

Elon Musk is now worth almost $638B, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index:

Bloomberg.

  • Muskโ€™s 42% stake is worth $317B after a liquidity discount applied to private companies.

  • Itโ€™s the first time an individual has hit $600B+ on Bloombergโ€™s wealth index.

  • The growth comes after SpaceX saw a 2x increase in its valuation in an insider share share.

  • Muskโ€™s fortune has further to run if SpaceX succeeds in a 2026 IPO.

Relatedly, Tesla closed at a 2025 high on Mon. after Musk confirmed driverless Robotaxi tests in Austin

Google Finance: Tesla stock.

  • +3.6% in Tesla stock to $475.31 at the close of Mon. trading.

2. U.S. Tech Force launched by Trump to recruit Big Tech talent for government modernization

U.S. Tech Force.

  • The Trump admin will recruit ~1K staffers from Apple, Meta, xAI, and others.

  • Recruits will be placed in federal agencies for two-year stints starting in Mar.

  • ~20 tech companies have signed on so far, including Palantir, Meta, and Oracle.

  • Recruits will be paid $150K-$200K annually.

  • The program has no โ€œpolitical mission,โ€ according to its website.

3. The $100K Visa Shock Changing Tech Hiring*

Athyna.

Now, new H-1B petitions come with a $100K price tag. Thatโ€™s pushing enterprises to rethink how they hire.

The H-1B Talent Crunch report explores how U.S. companies are turning to Latin America for elite tech talentโ€”AI, data, and engineering pros ready to work in sync with your HQ.

Discover the future of hiring beyond borders.

Read the report

*Disclaimer: We have equity in Athyna.

4. Notion said to plan $300M tender at $11B valuation as ARR tops $600M, driven by AI

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