Elon Musk Becomes World's First Trillionaire

Tesla and SpaceX Founder Elon Musk became the world's first trillionaire on Friday after his SpaceX rocket company stock went public. Outlets on the left emphasized the debate over wealth inequality, while right-leaning outlets described Musk's career as indicative of the American dream.

The Details: It was the biggest-ever stock market debut, according to BBC (Center bias). BBC reported that SpaceX's shares opened at $150 and reached $176.50 briefly before closing at $160.95. Associated Press (Lean Left) reported that the company's market value is now $2.1 trillion, making it the sixth largest public US company. Musk's total estimated net worth is now $1.067 trillion, including $884 billion from SpaceX–in which he has 42% ownership stake–and $183 billion from Tesla–which he has 12% stake.

What Does That Look Like? Several outlets on the left used metrics to portray what one trillion looks like. Bloomberg (Lean Left) used examples, including that Musk could buy every carmaker in the US, Europe and Japan–which is around $900 billion; saying he could've funded 68 2024 US election cycles, and that he could fund the NASA budget 41 times over. Bloomberg also reported that while "Musk can raise billions by borrowing against his holdings, even the hint that he might sell out of SpaceX, Tesla Inc. or his other companies could be enough to crash their market value overnight." During his opening monologue on Thursday night, Jimmy Kimmel said, "If you tried to count out loud to a trillion, you would be counting until the year 33,736 [AD]. A trillion dollars is 10 billion $100 bills. If you stack them up, the pile would be almost 700 miles high, as tall as 123 Mount Everests."

Wealth Inequality: Outlets on the left also heavily focused on debates surrounding wealth inequality. New York Times (Lean Left) wrote Musk's new trillionaire status "signal[ed] a new era of ultra-affluence and widening wealth inequality." It reported that Musk's wealth-making has cemented "his influence over society, culture and global politics." Another report from the Times said SpaceX's I.P.O. could "make a lot of rich people even richer," including making 4,400 of its employees millionaires. The Guardian (Left) quoted a spokesperson from an anti-poverty charity, who warned that Musk's "government-backed trillionaire" status marks "a dark day for democracy." CBS (Lean Left) quoted the same spokesperson who said Musk's surging fortune represents a "new Gilded Age" of wealth inequality and "marks a new pinnacle of oligarchy."

The American Dream: Fox Business (Lean Right) described the history of SpaceX, saying the company "pioneered reusable rocket technology" and helped "reshape the economics of the space industry." BBC said share price was "a sign of enthusiasm over space, AI and companies associated with Musk." An opinion in the Daily Wire (Right) argued Musk's new net worth isn't a bad thing, but the epitome of the American dream. The writer criticized those condemning Musk's trillionaire status, including Kimmel who they noted was a "multimillionaire who works for billionaires," saying that "envy" is what "could destroy the country and global economy." The writer alleged there were two types of envy: benign and malicious, and said this is something that's "always threatened humanity," comparing it to the biblical sin of Cain and Abel.

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