How is it possible to be worth a trillion?

It is appalling. Billionaires and now a trillionaire amass power in a way that is completely disruptive to democratic society.

Look at what happens - they buy the media, and they buy the politicians. Their wealth is such that it continues to grow exponentially, and they get richer far faster than the economies of the world grow. This is why their wealth becomes a larger and larger percentage of the total wealth of the entire planet. For that to happen there has to be a transfer of wealth - money is moving from everyone else to them.

We are all seeing the effects of that, like frogs gradually being boiled. When we feel that life is getting more and more expensive, when we worry that our children won’t be able to get a decent paying job, when we see home ownership become unobtainable for ordinary people - all this comes from the wealth of the planet becoming concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer people.

For the vast majority of us, standards of living are falling, but for a tiny minority their wealth accelerates faster than they can possibly ever spend it.

This situation won’t change unless we choose to use the one thing we do have, strength of numbers, to change it. Otherwise it will continue to happen, eventually they will own everything, and all we will be able to do is rent the things we need from them with our time and labour. Societies have been run like that before, there is nothing to stop it from happening again unless we exercise our right to make changes while we still can.

He repeatedly risked everything to get new wealth.

We probably wouldn't have electric cars if it wasn't for him - think of the environmental changes that's brought about.

He's brought the internet to the most remote parts of the world via his satellites.

His AI has been helping medical companies cure diseases.

He brought free speech back to Twitter.

He helped being about the GPS mapping on our phones that we need if we need to get somewhere.

He's helped highlight stories of social injustice that the mainstream media wanted to ignore.

The man is brilliant!

Everyone started life with the same opportunity to thrive, rather than be jealous and grabby about a stranger build your own wealth.

I can’t say I have any deep feelings of like or hate either way. But I do think we need people like him who push technology in a way that he does. He’s rewarded for it, so what. He can’t take that money with him when he dies so in some sense it will be distributed later on and before that his successful companies employ people who will directly benefit.

Do tell me what you do for a living if Musk's life is so easily attainable!!

And while there is much in your post I find slightly risible I think the implication that the NHS is not already fucked up takes the biscuit!

You see your view is so odd to me. To simply take Starlink as a single example. Bringing superfast satellite based internet to every spot on the globe at an affordable price for almost every family is, to me, a massive, positive, enabling innovation with huge humanitarian potential.

But you can't see the achievements. You can't see how potentially world changing that is. To me you seem mired in some sulky state of curmudgeonly envy.

Please tell me it isn't true! Up

It’s such an obscene amount of money. He should feel a deep sense of shame, this is no achievement to be proud of.

Agreed. I’m all for it. Nothing wong with making money.

I say good for him. He’s not my cup of tea politically and I suspect he’s not great to work for, but we need more people like him who are creative and tenacious.

It’s not disgusting to earn money and (shock) turn a profit.

We need to bring back the Roman tradition of someone standing behind a general on a victory lap and whispering 'memento mori' in their ear.

In Musk's case, probably with his piss in bottles and a ketamine overdose, but this degree of concentrated wealth is an abomination however you shake it.

He’s really not.

he buys up innovative companies then employs innovative people after kicking out the original innovators. He personally hasn’t invented anything.

Now in some ways that’s its own type of innovation but also look into how he runs his companies.
he’s not someone you want running public sector. Yes there are efficiencies that can be made in the NHS but he’d plunder it like midwestern gold mine and fuck it up.

look back at the impacts of the DOGE activity when Trump came back into power. The impacts will be felt for a long time.

Why is it disgusting? He’s worked for it, runs successful companies and that’s the value based on market valuations of shares in comps it’s he owns /works at,

free market and open to all

surely you should be encouraging your children to aspire to greatness through hard work and intellect and entrepreneurial mindset

He hasn’t got that much money though. He has shares of businesses that are worth that on paper. There is no way he could realise that money without collapsing the value of those companies.

The argument is made that: why does he keep all that money, when he could be doing something valuable with it. It completely misunderstands what’s happening. He is using the money. If you want to know whether he is doing good or not with his wealth you need to consider what SpaceX, Tesla are doing and whether you think that’s positive or not.

Not going well so far.

This is nonsense.

80% of the rest of the world poorer? Poorer than when? How?

Musk raising prices on everyone else? That is the description of a rent-seeking monopoly. Musk has done the opposite: disrupted existing industries like space and EVs and bringing down costs, or creating entirely new products.

SpaceX: Pioneered reusable rockets, cutting launch costs dramatically. Starlink: brings massively improved internet to remote areas, trains, etc and made free for disaster relief, etc. Tesla: accelerated EV adoption and forced the car industry to electrify, addressing urban pollution and climate change. PayPal: helped pioneer online payments that e-commerce relies on, creating massive consumer surplus. Neuralink: helping paralyses people communicate with the world. OpenAI: realising the power of AI, set up the lab as a charity and later suing to try to keep it as a non-profit.

Where are you setting the bar for good done in the world, and who meets it?

What a stupid comment.

Just ask anyone who deals with the administration of benefits in the UK or with parents at schools in less advantaged areas. Anyone doing those jobs knows that there are a LOT of feckless workshy avoidant people out there.

That is not to say everyone on benefits is feckless, not even a majority, but anyone dealing face to face with people in these circumstances knows it is a significant minority.

I believe that they would have succeeded without him. Also, Teslas aren't all that. They're tacky and plasticky, especially considering the price. Additionally, I don't think that the achievements of a company such as Space X are genuinely necessary. I'd forego them if it meant that one of the most repugnant people on the planet who is intent on destroying democracies and stirring up race hatred wasn't made the richest person on the planet. What use is going to Mars if we Earth is in tatters?

He’s a vile odious and repulsive man. He’s obtained wealth but has no conscience. I hope some of his many children grow up to be better human beings.

Why has it been easy for him? If it was that easy surely there would be more people like him and more billionaires?

it’s not his fault there are poor people in the world.

I don’t think he’s literally got £1 billion in his bank account it will be tied up in companies, stocks etc

No matter what he might have 'achieved' the guy is a total arse. Just goes to show, all the money in the world cannot make someone a nice person.

Sadly it seems a great many people on mumsnet would be quite happy for the UK to suffer this.

Well, the undeserving poor, that is. We've already had mention of the 'feckless' on this thread. As if these are the two archetypes left in this polarised world: the trillionaire techbro and feckless bob who likes racing his pet ferrets.

The vast majority in developed Western nations don’t know real poverty

I would actually say under conservatives it was quite common for people to starve and even more common not to be able to afford clothing

Buying power isn't leadership, it's dictatorial!

This, absolutely.

As for…
You think people in developed western nations don't know real poverty ?

The vast majority in developed Western nations don’t know real poverty. Those who do invariably live in certain US states. The ones I have personal experience of include Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, West Virginia (as well as Western Virginia).

It has to be seen to be believed. It really is a different world, it truly is. I was so shocked by the things I saw - the shacks in which people lived, children in dirty, torn clothing, people doing their food shopping at gas station convenience stores where the only fresh food consisted of a couple of brown bananas and tired apples - and bagels and donuts.

Meeting a dentist at a BBQ who volunteered at a yearly event where people without insurance could get their teeth fixed for free. He said they would start lining up as much as 24 hours before they opened.