Posted on 08/08/2025 7:23:08 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Some are predicting that Elon Musk will become the world’s first trillionaire as soon as 2027. At first blush, that’s bewildering — it was only several years ago (2018) that Apple became the first publicly traded company to reach a $1 trillion market cap. But all that wealth consolidated in one personage invites a reconsideration of Obama’s socialistic assertion that “I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money” by some swampy bureaucrat.
Why does it matter in whose name the trillion dollars resides? If it were wealth-generating, then it benefitted society as a whole. Indeed, since the wealth accumulated to Musk, then it may be commensurate with his contributions to humanity. Consider that some of his companies (Starlink, Neuralink, SpaceX, X, AI Grok) produce life-altering products and services. Even Tesla is more than a car company as it develops energy solutions, AI software, and the incredibly versatile humanoid robot named Optimus.
It’s peevish to question the wealth of the person who is ultimately responsible for overseeing all that. Though Musk works incredibly hard (he could retire in the lap of luxury) that’s irrelevant — most of us work hard. One cannot say he’s worth more than a thousand, or million, “regular” employees because he works so hard. Nope, his worth is the result of leading innovative companies whose products and services the masses clamor for (or not).
One might argue: “Wait a minute, how about all those government subsidies he gets?” That’s almost a good point, however, it is because the government has determined that his goods and services warrant them. It’s called contracting with America First companies with fresh-thinking eager beavers who literally salvage some comfort from the harshness of life. How much is that worth?
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Why be a billionaire, when you can be broke?
Once you control a lot of money, you can’t get rid of it. Howard Hughes tried very hard to reduce his net worth; but, nothing he did worked.
“… that promoted free speech during the woke onslaught…”
Unfortunately, Musk is not a monthly donor to Free Republic, so we have to do it on our own.
Get those donations in, FRiends!
Oh, if only the eco-ignoramuses would have the integrity to not confound the value of assets(wealth) with income.
They want people to think a 1 billionaire gets a $83.3M paycheck every month.
You can be a millionaire....and never pay taxes.
First, go out and get a million dollars. And then when the taxman comes by and says, “You haven’t paid taxes!”, just say, “I forgot!”
Everyone wants money, but few actually do much about it. Thinking you can’t be rich because others are rich means you don’t understand anything about money and building wealth.
Musk might hit it
AI and brain chips could push him there
Edison on steroids that man
Currency devaluation.
We have a monetary system not much different than Zimbabwe.
Adjusted for inflation, the wealth of the richest person in the country has tended to rise 10-fold every fifty years. John D. Rockefeller was the first person to be a billionaire (in money of today’s purchasing power). A hundred years later, Bill Gates, the first 100 billionaire. With the year 2050 in prospect, it’ll be about time for the first trillionaire.
Shifting to the richest people in the world, fifty years ago that would have been the Queen of England. She was, in her lifetime, overtaken by many individuals whose wealth was generated in the private sector. Today, the highest ranking government person on the list of the wealthiest people in the world is Putin (#25, with $70 billion).
https://www.celebritynetworth.com/list/top-100-richest-people-in-the-world/
Today’s list of the wealthiest people in the world is dominated by people whose wealth was generated in the private sector.
THE KENYAN FRAUD IS VERY JEALOUS OF THE MUSK BRAIN
Musk would be absolutely scary if he tried to be a Bond villain.
I am a One hundred trillionaire* and also broke.
*Highest bill Zimbabwe printed before giving up the effort in 2008.
How much did John Jacob Astor have in today’s money?
John Jacob Astor was, in his day, the wealthiest man in America. From his 1847 will, his wealth has been estimated at $20 million in the money of his day, and $350 million in the money of today. He initially made his money in the fur trade, and then shifted to New York City real estate.
“Musk would be absolutely scary if he tried to be a Bond villain.”
———-
Soros is the Bond villain.
A better way to measure the power and influence of a wealthy person‘s fortune is not by adjusting it for inflation, it is by seeing what percentage of the GDP a person‘s assets represent. I would suggest that Astor‘s $20 million net worth in 1847 represented a whole lot more of the GDP then, vs. what $350 million would represent today.
Good point. I did that calculation as well. These are my figures from 1999:
Person, death, occupation, wealth at death, adj. for inflation, % of GDP
G.Washington, 1799, planter, $500,000, $7 m., 0.11%
J.Astor, 1847, fur trade, $20 m., $350 m., 0.84%
J.Gould, 1891, railroads, $250 m., $4.5 b., 1.61%
J.Rockefeller, 1937, oil, $1.4 b., $18.4 b., 1.52%
B.Gates, 1999, computers, $100 b., $100 b., 1.06%
In terms of percent of GDP, this and other evidence indicates that the emergence of financial markets in the early to mid 19th century enabled a greater accumulation of wealth.
The lower middle class (or, working class) has been under stress since the high water mark we enjoyed under President Clinton. Hopefully, we’ll figure this thing out. But, having said that, this experiment in a democratic republic has been utterly amazing.
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