Elon Musk becomes world's first trillionaire as SpaceX soars in stock market debut Elon Musk on Friday became the world's first trillionaire after shares in his SpaceX rocket company soared during the biggest-ever stock market debut. The Tesla and SpaceX founder comfortably cemented his status as the world's richest man, with his total net worth standing at $1.11tn (£828bn) according to the Bloomberg rich list. It came as the rocket, telecommunications and artificial intelligence (AI) company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange with a value of $2.2tn. The company said its shares would be offered at $135 each, but trading opened at $150 and briefly reached $176.50 in a show of investor enthusiasm for potential business related to space and companies associated with Musk. SpaceX shares closed on Friday at about $161.

Elon Musk's SpaceX valued at nearly $1.8tn ahead of record share sale SpaceX has raised $75bn (£56bn) from financial firms ahead of it becoming a publicly traded company on Friday, in what is expected to be the highest-value stock listing in history. In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the space exploration and artificial intelligence (AI) company said it had sold $75bn in shares priced at $135 each. The share price matches the estimate SpaceX gave last week, leaving the firm's expected initial stock market value to be nearly $1.8tn. At that value, chief executive Elon Musk - already the richest man in the world - is set to become the world's first trillionaire. Once shares start trading, their value could rise or fall depending on how many shares are made available for sale, and how strong the demand is for those shares.

Protesters make their point in Austin, Texas, but Tesla investors disagreed, voting to make the tycoon the world's first trillionaire. Protesters make their point in Austin, Texas, but Tesla investors disagreed, voting to make the tycoon the world's first trillionaire. 'Musk is Tesla and Tesla is Musk' - why investors are happy to pay him $1tn Making Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire appears to fit a US investment culture of backing high-flying innovators For all the headlines about an on-off relationship with Donald Trump, baiting liberals and erratic behaviour, Tesla shareholders are loath to part with Elon Musk . Investors in the electric vehicle maker voted on Thursday to put the world's richest person on the path to become the world's first trillionaire, despite the controversy that is now seemingly intrinsic to his public profile. Shareholders approved the $1tn compensation plan, which could yield the largest corporate payout in history if he meets a series of tough-looking goals, not least pushing Tesla from its current market value of $1.4tn to $8.5tn (£1.06tn to £6.4tn).

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Who will be crowned the world's first trillionaire? Mark Cuban says there's one disruptive trend that'll bring a whole new meaning to the word "rich." You likely know Cuban as a star investor on ABC's Shark Tank. The billionaire also owns the Dallas Mavericks. "The world's first trillionaires are going to come from somebody who masters AI." Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the most hyped up trend on the planet.

Who will be crowned the world's first trillionaire? Mark Cuban says there's one disruptive trend that'll bring a whole new meaning to the word "rich." You likely know Cuban as a star investor on ABC's Shark Tank. The billionaire also owns the Dallas Mavericks. "The world's first trillionaires are going to come from somebody who masters AI." Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the most hyped up trend on the planet.

Billionaire investor Mark Cuban is bullish on the future of artificial intelligence and has been for years. Not only has he made it a priority to learn about and invest in AI himself, but he has consistently recommended other entrepreneurs do the same. And if the ABC's "Shark Tank" star had to start a side hustle business today, that's where Cuban would turn. "I would become an expert in scripting for Alexa and Google Home and Cortana and go to any place that sold devices they supported and show them how much more they could do with a few hours of personalization," he tells CNBC Make It. By "scripting," Cuban is referring to the process of coding voice commands to create so-called "skills," which enable devices – like Amazon's Echo or Echo Dot, which use artificial intelligence-enabled voice assistant Alexa, Google Home or Microsoft's Cortana – to complete a task.

We talked recently about how the possibility of artificial intelligence creating the world's next trillionaire would only be realized if some company provided one or more of the following; AI hardware, AI software, or AI as a Service (or as we've decided to coin it, AAS). Someone said recently that the worst AI algorithm can become the best AI algorithm if you feed it enough delicious big data so let's consider AI software and "big data" as synonymous. The company that has the best data therefore, also has the best algorithms. This may be the most compelling reason to think that Google is the current leader in AI. Regardless of which companies develop the best AI algorithms, they'll all need hardware.

We talked recently about how the possibility of artificial intelligence creating the world's next trillionaire would only be realized if some company provided one or more of the following; AI hardware, AI software, or AI as a Service (or as we've decided to coin it, AAS). Someone said recently that the worst AI algorithm can become the best AI algorithm if you feed it enough delicious big data so let's consider AI software and "big data" as synonymous. The company that has the best data therefore, also has the best algorithms. This may be the most compelling reason to think that Google is the current leader in AI. Regardless of which companies develop the best AI algorithms, they'll all need hardware.

Over the past several years, many of Wall Street's hottest stocks came from the world of technology. Household names such as Netflix, Amazon and Facebook emerged as top performers and helped send broader markets higher. However, where these stocks once promised ludicrous growth now stands increased competition and industry maturity. The trends of yesterday -- including video streaming, e-commerce and social media -- remain promising, but they are no longer the upstart segments they once were. But investors looking for the next high-growth opportunity may look no further than a brand-new trend that has the chance to expand exponentially over the coming years.