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His exorbitant wealth reflects a broken economic system both funded and relied on by everyday people.
There are milestones that tell us something profound about society. Like the first person to walk on the moon, or the invention of the internet. And then there’s the world’s first trillionaire – a title won by tech entrepreneur and far-right commentator Elon Musk.
A trillion dollars is a figure so obscenely large that it defies human comprehension. It includes 12 zeroes, and catapults Musk to a level of wealth so stratospheric that Jeff Bezos – once the world’s richest man – is now closer in financial status to the planet’s poorest person than he is to Musk’s trillions.
The achievement has been celebrated in some corners as the ultimate validation of innovation, entrepreneurship and free-market capitalism. Musk’s supporters portray it as evidence of exceptional genius. His work in the tech world has spanned the creation of electric vehicles under Tesla, rockets under Space X (the company that just earned him his new wealth) and most recently AI.
But the existence of a trillionaire is not a triumph of capitalism. On the contrary, it’s evidence of how broken our economic system is. No person creates a trillion dollars alone, but only one person will hoard and enjoy it.
The story of Musk’s ascent is often told as one of individual brilliance, but it is also the story of public subsidies, government contracts, taxpayer-funded infrastructure, financial markets, pension funds and millions of ordinary people whose economic lives have become increasingly intertwined with the fortunes of a handful of technology companies.
When Space X hit the open stock market on Friday, the rocket, telecommunications and artificial intelligence company listed with a value of $2.2tn, highlighting the expanse and prominence of the global AI race. Yet millions of Americans remain wary of AI and its role in their lives.
According to reports, eight in 10 Americans are concerned over AI, compared with a third who are excited by it. More than half think it will do more harm than good in their daily lives, and seven out of 10 think it will reduce the number of available jobs.
And yet with the rise of companies like Space X, artificial intelligence is becoming so deeply entangled in modern humanity that it’s almost imperceptible.
Everything from 401ks to pension funds to social media are now shaped by these systems, meaning everyday people are increasingly dependent on tech companies both financially and culturally. Should these companies fail to make good on their economic forecasts, it could spell disaster for the global economy and individual finances.
Besides the tangible risks, it’s also unsettling how complicit we are in Musk’s wealth. Whether we like it or not, we are being forced to fund his riches. The modern stock market means that retirement savings, pensions and index funds now tie ordinary workers to the success of giant corporations. Increasingly, they do so regardless of whether those workers want exposure to them.
As companies such as SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic prepare to dominate public markets, vast numbers of people will become investors by default.
