Elon Musk’s most valuable asset is no longer Tesla, which has hit a speed bump on Wall Street lately. It’s his rocket company SpaceX.
Forbes estimates that Musk’s 42% stake in SpaceX is now worth $147 billion—nearly $20 billion more than his Tesla stock and options as of Monday’s market close. As Musk has taken the helm of cost-cutting efforts at DOGE, Tesla investors worry about his ability to lead the EV maker, plus the company reported disappointing financial results for 2024 in late January.
Meanwhile, SpaceX, which launches satellites, cargo and astronauts into orbit, grew its revenue by 51% to $13.1 billion in 2024, according to estimates by industry analysts.
As fears have reemerged about a potential recession, there are some key data points experts are looking to. The rising price of gold, for instance, which is considered a safe haven asset, and perhaps most concerning, a drop in consumer sentiment to its lowest level since 2022. “Cracks are forming in the economy’s foundation,” wrote Lydia Boussour, senior economist at EY-Parthenon.
The White House’s efforts to slash the federal workforce hit a new roadblock, as an appeals court upheld an order requiring the Trump Administration to rehire workers at six key federal agencies. The ruling impacts probationary employees who were terminated on February 13 and 14 from the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, Treasury and Veterans Affairs.
Even as markets continued to recover Monday, Tesla shares slumped, declining nearly 5% as analysts lowered their price target for the stock and warned of “sales woes” for the company. Shares of Tesla are down 41% year-to-date, the second-worst loss of any company listed on the S&P.
Hong Kong real estate billionaire Lee Shau Kee, once Asia’s richest person, died Monday at age 97. Lee was a self-made billionaire after building one of the region’s largest property empires, and at the time of his death, was the second-wealthiest person in Hong Kong with a net worth of $30 billion, according to Forbes estimates.
Attorney General Pam Bondi is now worth at least $5 million, having built up her fortune after leaving office as Florida’s attorney general. Her increased fortune came from a few years of lobbying, rising real estate values and a wealthy husband: John Wakefield, a former corporate banker and wealth manager who co-owns a real estate private equity company.
President Donald Trump said Monday he would end Secret Service protection for former President Joe Biden’s children, Hunter and Ashley Biden, effective immediately. The Trump Administration has revoked Secret Service protection for a number of his political nemeses since taking office, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security Advisor John Bolton and former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci.
After federal Judge James Boasberg demanded a hearing over whether the Trump Administration ignored his court order when it deported 250 migrants over the weekend, the Justice Department asked a higher court to dismiss Boasberg from the case entirely. In its request, the Justice Department cited “highly unusual and improper procedures,” as the White House takes on the federal judiciary.
Israeli forces launched a series of major airstrikes across Gaza early on Tuesday, killing at least 400 people, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, signaling an end of a nearly two-month-long ceasefire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he and the country’s defense minister ordered the IDF to act due to “Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages” and that Israel will target Hamas with “increasing military strength” going forward.
President Donald Trump escalated his threats against Iran on Monday, directly linking the Iran-backed Houthi rebels to Tehran and warning that any retaliation from the rebel group “will be met with great force.” On Saturday, Trump ordered strikes against the Houthis in Yemen in retaliation for the rebels’ attacks in the Red Sea in the most significant military action of his second term.
President Donald Trump said his administration would release “all” government records pertaining to the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy today, telling reporters that he doesn’t “believe we’re going to redact anything.” During his first term, Trump similarly promised to release the files on the 1963 assassination, but after making some records public he bowed to security concerns in withholding others.
DAILY COVER STORY
TOPLINE When Memphis, Tennessee’s grid couldn’t provide all the electricity needed to power xAI’s new Colossus data center, the Elon Musk-led artificial intelligence company turned to a quick and dirty solution: mobile natural gas turbines.
These power plants on wheels are usually a last resort during emergencies, not permanent solutions. But data centers around the country have started to use them as a stopgap solution. There are at least four at the xAI site, possibly more, churning out not only electricity but pollutants like nitrous oxide and formaldehyde.
But shortly after the data center became operational, it became apparent to local journalists, along with environmental activists, that no public agency had actually authorized the use of the mobile gas turbines that are powering it.
While mobile turbines are cheap and easy to deploy compared to conventional natural gas-based stationary power plants, which can take years to build, they are considerably less energy efficient—sometimes by as much as 50%. They’re also much dirtier, emitting significantly more pollutants per unit of energy generated.
But for AI companies in the growth-at-any-cost phase of a transformative industry, mobile gas turbines are an easy stopgap for delivering the additional energy their proliferating new data centers require at a time when energy firms and stationary gas turbine manufacturers are backlogged to the point of near crisis. Tech firms don’t even need to buy them. Companies like Solaris Energy Infrastructure and APR Energy rent them out for years on end—and they’re cashing in on exploding demand.
WHY IT MATTERS “Data centers, notably Elon Musk’s rapidly-expanding presence in Memphis, are desperate for electrical power—but those sites take years to build,” says Forbes senior writer Cyrus Farivar. “Mobile gas turbines are available now, but they trade worse efficiency and pollutants in favor of expediency. On top of that, they have been operating in an already environmentally-stressed neighborhood in south Memphis.”
MORE How Elon Musk Muzzled Government Employees From Talking About xAI’s New Supercomputer
FACTS + COMMENTS
Clothing retailer Forever 21 will shutter all of its U.S. locations after filing for bankruptcy, its second bankruptcy filing in the last six years. The company faces competition from online fast fashion retailers like Shein and Temu:
About 350: The number of stores Forever 21 has in the U.S.
Over $4 billion: The amount the retailer earned in sales in 2015 before struggling later in the decade due to an increase in online shopping
$81 million: How much Authentic Brands Group and Simon Property Group paid to purchase Forever 21 out of bankruptcy in February 2020
STRATEGY + SUCCESS
Working hard isn’t always enough to be considered for a promotion, raise or other opportunity at work: It’s also critical to increase your visibility. Join a cross-functional project so you can be exposed to other teams, take the initiative to document a workflow or create training materials, and regularly communicate accomplishments and questions with leaders.
VIDEO
QUIZ
An Ivy League school announced Monday it will make its tuition free for students from families with annual incomes of $200,000 or less, in an effort to make attendance more accessible. Which university is it?
A. Yale
B. Brown
C. Harvard
D. Dartmouth
Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff.