Elon Musk, World’s First Trillionaire, Draws Ire of Those Who See Accumulating Wealth as Unfair

Thanks to the SpaceX IPO, Elon Musk is the world’s first trillionaire. His success is drawing the ire of those who believe that accumulating wealth is unfair and Washington ought to distribute a finite money supply. It’s a view that the Democratic-socialist, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, debunks by proving that America offers opportunity to all who pursue it.“Americans are struggling to pay for groceries and gas,” Governor Gavin Newsom of California posted on X, which Mr. Musk owns, “while Elon Musk becomes a TRILLIONAIRE.” He added that “everyone else gets shafted,” ignoring the employees who built and benefited from Mr. Musk’s skyrocketing success at SpaceX, Tesla, X, and Starlink.The SpaceX IPO created over 4,400 millionaires overnight, one of the largest wealth-generating events in history. Among them is a welder, Juan Hernandez, who emigrated from Mexico for a $28-an-hour job in 2015. As of Friday afternoon, the value of his stock eclipsed $1 million according to the Wall Street Journal.Like his fellow employees, Mr. Hernandez will pay taxes, purchase goods, and employ people. New businesses will be created and established ones advanced by Mr. Musk’s technology. America is built on 250 years of these success stories — and Mr. Sanders is one of them.At a 2019 CBS town hall, Mr. Sanders was pressed about joining the “millionaire class” that he long railed against. “I wrote a best-selling book,” he said of his newfound wealth. “If you write a best-selling book, you can be a millionaire, too.” Wasn’t this “the definition of capitalism” and “the American Dream,” he was asked in a subsequent town hall on Fox News.“What we want,” Mr. Sanders said, “is a country where everybody has opportunity.” Although he parlayed government service into wealth, it’s private companies like SpaceX where most get their shot at wealth. The economic pie is ever-expanding, not finite as socialists believe.The impact of inflation and a declining dollar removed from the gold standard also play a role in Mr. Musk’s eye-popping net worth. His $1 trillion would be $22.8 billion in 1845. That’s when The New York Sun popularized the term “millionaire” under its owner, Moses Yale Beach, with its first Millionaire’s Census.“The Wealth and Biography of the Wealthy Citizens of the City of New York” didn’t seek to shame “the remarkable men and families in this community into whose hands wealth has concentrated.” It hoped to inspire residents to emulate the 25 millionaires living in Manhattan and the sections of the Bronx that then constituted Gotham.“We have endeavored to do equal and exact justice to the parties,” the Sun wrote, “who by honest and laborious industry have raised themselves from the obscure and humble walks of life to great wealth and consideration. … Our aim has been to wound the feelings of no one, but to do strict justice to all, and to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”In 1845, there was one millionaire for about every 14,800 New Yorkers. Today, there’s about 1 for every 22 — the highest concentration worldwide. In 1916, John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil became the world’s first confirmed billionaire. Considering his success a “God-given gift,” he gave about half of his fortune to charitable endeavors.Under America’s free-market system, visionaries can earn wealth if the public sees a benefit in the fruits of their labor. One citizen’s success doesn’t mean that another languishes in poverty, and no one is compelled to work under threat of force as is the case under communism.SpaceX doesn’t make Mr. Musk “a real-life Bond villain,” as the Financial Times called him. He’s proof that the American dream endures. Rather than fan the flames of envy, the government’s role is to create conditions where more individuals can pursue their talents to make better electric cars, bring internet access to the poor, or carry satellites into space.America attracts immigrants like Mr. Musk because success is possible here as nowhere else on earth. One can become a millionaire by writing a best-selling book, a billionaire by creating a successful corporation, or even a trillionaire by finding a better way to shoot for the stars.

Elon Musk, World’s First Trillionaire, Draws Ire of Those Who See Accumulating Wealth as Unfair

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