Elon Musk responds to post claiming he owns more wealth than half of US; says ‘I have …’

Elon Musk explains where his wealth is held

Elon Musk has responded to a post by US Senator Bernie Sanders claiming that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO owns more wealth than the bottom half of American households. Musk pushed back on the way his wealth was described, saying that he does not hold his fortune as “some big pile of cash”. Instead, he said most of his wealth is tied to shares in his companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, whose values can rise as investors expect them to become more useful. Musk also said that other shareholders, including retirement programmes, benefit from this rise in value.

Elon Musk explains where his wealth is held

Elon Musk joined the discussion after Sanders wrote on X that “One man (Mr. Musk) owns more wealth than the bottom half of American households.”Sanders also pointed to wider economic figures, saying that 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, nearly 800,000 people are homeless and 85 million are uninsured. “We can do better. We must do better,” Sanders wrote.Musk responded by explaining that his wealth is largely linked to his ownership stakes in companies rather than cash sitting in a bank account.“I have stock in SpaceX and Tesla, not some big pile of cash,” Musk wrote. He added that the value of his holdings is connected to how investors view the future of his companies.

Elon Musk says shareholders benefit as company values rise

In the post, Elon Musk said the rising value of his companies also benefits other shareholders.“As my companies do more and more useful things, their value increases proportionate to their projected usefulness,” he wrote. “All shareholders benefit along the way, including most retirement programs,” Musk added.The exchange came after Republican Senator Mike Lee also responded to Sanders’ post. Lee argued that Musk’s wealth belongs to him and that the government does not have an automatic claim over it.

“The fact that @elonmusk has lots of money doesn’t make it yours—or the government’s, or anyone else’s,” Lee wrote. “It belongs to him.”