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Elon Musk became the first person in history with a net worth $500 billion as the Tesla and SpaceX CEO's fortune briefly topped the half-trillion dollar mark on Wednesday, according to Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires tracker.
According to this year's International Monetary Fund figures, that makes Musk's net worth higher than the gross domestic product of 165 of the world's 195 nations.
Rooted in apartheid South Africa, built on a foundation of unethical business practices, and boosted by staggering sums of corporate welfare, Musk's fortune soared to even greater heights after he played a key role in buying the 2024 election for President Donald Trump and other Republican candidates by pouring over a quarter billion dollars into their campaign coffers.
As Forbes noted:
Worth just $24.6 billion in March 2020, soaring Tesla shares made him the fifth person ever worth $100 billion, in August 2020. He became the world’s richest person for the first time in January 2021, with a nearly $190 billion net worth. Then, in September 2021, he became the third person ever worth $200 billion (after Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Frenchman Bernard Arnault of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH). Musk went on to hit $300 billion in November 2021 and $400 billion in December 2024.
Musk was rewarded for his 2024 largesse by being named the de facto head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a job he has since left after overseeing the Project 2025-inspired evisceration of numerous federal agencies.
As progressives argue that the existence of billionaires is a public policy failure, Musk apparently no longer wants to be one. That's because he's seeking to leave the realm of mere multicentibillionaires behind and become the world's first trillionaire. Such an outcome is possible under a compensation package recently proposed by Tesla's board, and Forbes says it could happen by 2033.
Addressing this possibility, Musk—who has long warned about the existential threat posed by artificial intelligence, even as his companies pioneer such technology—said on his social media site X last year that “it’s not about ‘compensation’, but about me having enough influence over Tesla to ensure safety if we build millions of robots."
“If I can just get kicked out in the future by activist shareholder advisory firms who don’t even own Tesla shares themselves, I’m not comfortable with that future," he added.
Progressive observers expressed dismay at the news of Musk's latest money milestone.
Campaign for New York Health executive director Melanie D'Arrigo said Wednesday on social media that "Elon Musk hitting $500 billion while 60% of Americans can’t afford basic necessities is what it looks like when billionaires buy elections to get laws written to benefit themselves at the expense of everyone else."
"Elon Musk is a result of decades of policy failures," she added.
Podcaster Brian Allen alluded to United Nations World Food Program Director David Beasley's challenge to Musk to contribute toward the $6.6 trillion needed to combat world hunger.
"He could’ve solved it 83 times, but chose to buy Twitter, pump Dogecoin, and lay off workers instead," Allen said of Musk. "Welcome to late-stage capitalism."
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Elon Musk became the first person in history with a net worth $500 billion as the Tesla and SpaceX CEO's fortune briefly topped the half-trillion dollar mark on Wednesday, according to Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires tracker.
According to this year's International Monetary Fund figures, that makes Musk's net worth higher than the gross domestic product of 165 of the world's 195 nations.
Rooted in apartheid South Africa, built on a foundation of unethical business practices, and boosted by staggering sums of corporate welfare, Musk's fortune soared to even greater heights after he played a key role in buying the 2024 election for President Donald Trump and other Republican candidates by pouring over a quarter billion dollars into their campaign coffers.
As Forbes noted:
Worth just $24.6 billion in March 2020, soaring Tesla shares made him the fifth person ever worth $100 billion, in August 2020. He became the world’s richest person for the first time in January 2021, with a nearly $190 billion net worth. Then, in September 2021, he became the third person ever worth $200 billion (after Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Frenchman Bernard Arnault of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH). Musk went on to hit $300 billion in November 2021 and $400 billion in December 2024.
Musk was rewarded for his 2024 largesse by being named the de facto head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a job he has since left after overseeing the Project 2025-inspired evisceration of numerous federal agencies.
As progressives argue that the existence of billionaires is a public policy failure, Musk apparently no longer wants to be one. That's because he's seeking to leave the realm of mere multicentibillionaires behind and become the world's first trillionaire. Such an outcome is possible under a compensation package recently proposed by Tesla's board, and Forbes says it could happen by 2033.
Addressing this possibility, Musk—who has long warned about the existential threat posed by artificial intelligence, even as his companies pioneer such technology—said on his social media site X last year that “it’s not about ‘compensation’, but about me having enough influence over Tesla to ensure safety if we build millions of robots."
“If I can just get kicked out in the future by activist shareholder advisory firms who don’t even own Tesla shares themselves, I’m not comfortable with that future," he added.
Progressive observers expressed dismay at the news of Musk's latest money milestone.
Campaign for New York Health executive director Melanie D'Arrigo said Wednesday on social media that "Elon Musk hitting $500 billion while 60% of Americans can’t afford basic necessities is what it looks like when billionaires buy elections to get laws written to benefit themselves at the expense of everyone else."
"Elon Musk is a result of decades of policy failures," she added.
Podcaster Brian Allen alluded to United Nations World Food Program Director David Beasley's challenge to Musk to contribute toward the $6.6 trillion needed to combat world hunger.
"He could’ve solved it 83 times, but chose to buy Twitter, pump Dogecoin, and lay off workers instead," Allen said of Musk. "Welcome to late-stage capitalism."
Elon Musk became the first person in history with a net worth $500 billion as the Tesla and SpaceX CEO's fortune briefly topped the half-trillion dollar mark on Wednesday, according to Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires tracker.
According to this year's International Monetary Fund figures, that makes Musk's net worth higher than the gross domestic product of 165 of the world's 195 nations.
Rooted in apartheid South Africa, built on a foundation of unethical business practices, and boosted by staggering sums of corporate welfare, Musk's fortune soared to even greater heights after he played a key role in buying the 2024 election for President Donald Trump and other Republican candidates by pouring over a quarter billion dollars into their campaign coffers.
As Forbes noted:
Worth just $24.6 billion in March 2020, soaring Tesla shares made him the fifth person ever worth $100 billion, in August 2020. He became the world’s richest person for the first time in January 2021, with a nearly $190 billion net worth. Then, in September 2021, he became the third person ever worth $200 billion (after Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Frenchman Bernard Arnault of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH). Musk went on to hit $300 billion in November 2021 and $400 billion in December 2024.
Musk was rewarded for his 2024 largesse by being named the de facto head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a job he has since left after overseeing the Project 2025-inspired evisceration of numerous federal agencies.
As progressives argue that the existence of billionaires is a public policy failure, Musk apparently no longer wants to be one. That's because he's seeking to leave the realm of mere multicentibillionaires behind and become the world's first trillionaire. Such an outcome is possible under a compensation package recently proposed by Tesla's board, and Forbes says it could happen by 2033.
Addressing this possibility, Musk—who has long warned about the existential threat posed by artificial intelligence, even as his companies pioneer such technology—said on his social media site X last year that “it’s not about ‘compensation’, but about me having enough influence over Tesla to ensure safety if we build millions of robots."
“If I can just get kicked out in the future by activist shareholder advisory firms who don’t even own Tesla shares themselves, I’m not comfortable with that future," he added.
Progressive observers expressed dismay at the news of Musk's latest money milestone.
Campaign for New York Health executive director Melanie D'Arrigo said Wednesday on social media that "Elon Musk hitting $500 billion while 60% of Americans can’t afford basic necessities is what it looks like when billionaires buy elections to get laws written to benefit themselves at the expense of everyone else."
"Elon Musk is a result of decades of policy failures," she added.
Podcaster Brian Allen alluded to United Nations World Food Program Director David Beasley's challenge to Musk to contribute toward the $6.6 trillion needed to combat world hunger.
"He could’ve solved it 83 times, but chose to buy Twitter, pump Dogecoin, and lay off workers instead," Allen said of Musk. "Welcome to late-stage capitalism."