Elon Musk is on track to become the world’s first trillionaire by 2027, according to a recent report from Informa Connect Academy. Of all the world’s billionaires, Musk is the closest to reaching that 13-figure figure, and his wealth continues to grow.
As of early 2020, Musk was worth about $28.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. By the end of the year, he was worth about $167 billion, according to the index, and as of September, his net worth was valued at about $265 billion.
The biggest driver of Musk’s wealth is: tesla Stock prices have risen during the coronavirus pandemic. Tesla’s stock price hovered around $30 per share in January 2020, but by January 2021, the stock had soared to nearly $300 per share.
“If you look at the list of the richest people in America, whether it’s Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos, the reason people are so rich is because they start companies and grow those companies.” said policy analyst James Peskoukis. American Enterprise Institute. “And the reason the company continues to grow is because it’s creating something of value that people want,” Peskoukis added.
Wealthy individuals typically have more of their wealth invested in the stock market, while middle-income households tend to have more of their wealth invested in real estate.
As of mid-2024, the richest 1% of Americans will own nearly 50% of U.S. stocks, while the bottom 50% of Americans will own all stocks, according to data from the Federal Reserve. It owns approximately 1% of
In 2022, approximately 58% of families owned stocks either directly or indirectly through passive investments such as retirement accounts.
“Wealth inequality is largely driven by the prices of different types of assets,” said John Sabelhaus, a fellow at the Brookings Institution. “One of the things that causes increased wealth inequality, as measured by wealth concentration, is the stock market.”
There is also debate about the role of taxes in contributing to wealth inequality. Some, including Peskoukis, argue that large compensation packages are a reward for building successful companies, but like Sabel House, tax loopholes create an uneven playing field. Some people claim that.
“Changes in tax policy, especially over the past quarter century, have made it much more difficult to tax the wealthy,” Sabelhaus said. “There are many more exclusions and ways to avoid paying taxes.”
Many Americans earn their income primarily by exchanging their time and skills for a salary, which is then taxed according to the individual’s income. On paper, the incomes of the ultra-rich are not so clear-cut.
“If you think of income as something that increases your ability to spend over time, then you and I both have a paycheck, and that paycheck measures how much we can spend. ,” Sabelhaus said. “Mr. Musk…has a huge compensation package. But even that package only shows up as taxable income in the form of a small portion of it, since most of it comes from bonuses and other easily taxable income. There are other payment methods that can be avoided.
Watch the video above to learn how the rich keep getting richer and what that means for the U.S. economy.
