First known trillionaire: Elon Musk is wealthier than 46% of global population combined

Elon Musk is expected to surpass 1 trillion dollars in net worth on Friday when SpaceX, his private aerospace company, goes public, according to a new analysis by Oxfam Novib. The milestone would make him the first trillionaire in history, with a fortune exceeding 1 trillion dollars—a 1 followed by 12 zeros.

Oxfam says Musk would then be wealthier than the poorest 46 percent of the world’s population combined, about 3.8 billion people. His riches have also increased by more than 550 billion dollars over the past year, averaging roughly 1 million dollars per minute.

Oxfam is calling on governments to respond to what it describes as a global inequality crisis. Its proposals include reducing the power of large corporations and monopolies, increasing taxes on extreme wealth, expanding public investment, and strengthening labor protections and wages. The organization also estimates that a 10 percent tax on Musk’s projected 1 trillion dollar fortune could fund efforts to end extreme global poverty for one year, potentially lifting more than 800 million people above the extreme poverty line.

“A trillion dollars in the hands of one person is not only incompatible with a healthy economy but also with a healthy democracy. Such economic power inevitably translates into political influence," said Bram Joanknecht, an expert on economic equality at Oxfam Novib.

The grip of the super-rich on politics and democracy continues to grow. They are richer than ever and are using their enormous wealth more visibly and shamelessly to influence society and politics. Elon Musk plays a prominent role in this, partly through his own social media platform X, which is full of misinformation and hate,” Joanknecht added.

Oxfam estimates that billionaires are more than 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary people, arguing that extreme wealth is increasingly used to consolidate power in ways that undermine democratic systems.

The report identifies Musk as a central example of this dynamic. It says a significant share of Musk’s fortune is linked to public support. SpaceX receives about one-fifth of its revenue from contracts with the U.S. federal government. At the same time, the company is likely to have paid little or no federal corporate income tax, benefiting from provisions tied to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act under President Trump.

Oxfam also states that in his role as head of DOGE, a U.S. government efficiency department, Musk oversaw the dismantling of parts of government, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which provided support to some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the United States and worldwide.

The report further alleges that after Musk acquired X, he enabled the spread of misinformation on the platform. In the weeks following the takeover, he dismantled the company’s Trust and Safety teams and its Human Rights department.

Shortly before the 2024 U.S. election, the Center for Countering Digital Hate reported that false or misleading claims by Musk about the election reached 2 billion views on X. A separate University of California study found that hate speech on the platform rose by about 50 percent in the months after he took control.