According to Informa Connect Academy, a group that tracks wealth, Elon Musk is on to become the world’s first trillionaire by 2027.
The Academy’s report findings about the boss of the electric carmaker Tesla, private rocket company SpaceX, and social media platform X (formerly Twitter) stems from the fact that Musk’s wealth has been growing at an average annual rate of 110%.
He was also the world’s richest person, with $251bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as the academy’s 2024 Trillion Dollar Club report began circulating on Friday.
The academy’s analysis suggested business conglomerate founder Gautam Adani of India would become the second to achieve trillionaire status. That would reportedly happen in 2028 if his annual growth rate remains at 123%.
Jensen Huang, the chief executive officer of the tech firm Nvidia, and Prajogo Pangestu, the Indonesian energy and mining mogul, could also become trillionaires in 2028 if their trajectories hold. Bernard Arnault, the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton boss and the world’s third-richest person with about $200bn, is on track to eclipse a trillion dollars in 2030 – the same year as Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta.
A handful of companies have secured valuations of more than $1tn. Berkshire Hathaway most recently topped the valuation in late August, days before its architect Warren Buffett celebrated his 94th birthday.
Nvidia joined the $1tn club in May 2023 and in June hit $3tn, positioning it at the time after Microsoft and before Apple as the world’s second-most-valuable company.
However, as CNBC noted, the question of who might be the globe’s first trillionaire has fascinated the public ever since the world crowned its first billionaire in 1916. That was the US’s John D Rockefeller, the founder and at the time largest shareholder of Standard Oil.
Despite that fascination, many academics see the accumulation of immense wealth as a social ill. One report calculated that the richest 1% of humanity account for more carbon emissions – a primary driver of the ongoing climate crisis – than the poorest 66%.
Just days before Informa Connect Academy tapped Musk as the most likely to become the world’s first trillionaire, one of his posts on X earned him backlash from many of the site’s users.
His post said an interview between the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and the podcaster Darryl Cooper – a fellow rightwing media figure – was “very interesting. Worth watching.”
Cooper claimed in the interview that the Nazis did not mean to murder so many people when they carried out the Holocaust and killed 6 million Jews during the Second World War. Instead, Cooper remarked, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime simply was not equipped to care for them – and the podcaster blamed the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill for “that war becoming what it did”.
Musk ultimately deleted his post, and the White House condemned Carlson’s interview of Cooper as “a disgusting and sadistic insult to all Americans”.
The billionaire announced in August that he was supporting Donald Trump as the Republican nominee seeks a second presidency in November’s election. Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice-president, is also running in the election.
Musk in retrospect:
Elon Musk is a South African-born entrepreneur, inventor, and business magnate.
Early Life (1971-1992)
Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa.
He developed an interest in computing and programming at an early age and taught himself computer programming.
He attended Pretoria University High School and was bullied throughout his childhood.
College and Early Career (1992-2000)
Musk moved to Canada in 1992 to attend college, and later transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with a degree in economics and physics. After college, he moved to California to pursue a career in technology and entrepreneurship.
PayPal (2000-2002)
Musk co-founded PayPal, an online payment system, which was later sold to eBay for $1.5 billion.
SpaceX (2002-Present)
Musk founded SpaceX, to reduce space transportation costs and enable the colonization of Mars. SpaceX has since become a leading player in the private space industry, with numerous successful launches and a contract with NASA to transport astronauts to the International Space Station.
Tesla (2004-Present)
Musk co-founded Tesla, Inc., which has become one of the leading electric vehicle manufacturers in the world. The company has disrupted the automotive industry and played a significant role in popularizing sustainable energy solutions.
Neuralink and The Boring Company (2016-Present)
Musk founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology company focused on developing brain-machine interfaces, and The Boring Company, which aims to reduce traffic congestion by building underground tunnels.
Personal Life
Musk has been married three times and has seven children. He is known for his demanding work ethic and has stated that he works over 100 hours per week.
Net Worth
Musk’s net worth is estimated to be over $250 billion, making him one of the richest people in the world.
Controversies and Criticisms
Musk has been involved in several controversies, including a Twitter dispute with a British cave diver, a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation, and criticism for his handling of COVID-19 pandemic-related issues at Tesla factories.
