By JAKE JOHNSON
\nJun 11, 2026<\/p>\n
With Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX set to go public on Friday, the world\u2019s richest man could soon become the first-ever trillionaire\u2014an achievement that one leading humanitarian group\u00a0called\u00a0\u201ca new pinnacle of\u00a0oligarchy\u00a0and a dark day for\u00a0democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether Musk reaches trillionaire status in the coming days will depend on the success of SpaceX\u2019s initial public offering (IPO), which critics warn is a potentially massive threat to market stability and\u00a0Americans\u2019 retirement savings. The company plans to sell 555,555,555 shares at a price of $135 each, aiming for a staggering $1.75 trillion valuation. Musk, who is the company\u2019s board chair and owns 42% of its common stock along with options, will\u00a0see his net worth skyrocket if SpaceX achieves its IPO targets.<\/p>\n
Oxfam\u00a0America noted in an analysis released Thursday that a $1 trillion net worth would mean that it would take Musk 2,740 years to spend $1 trillion if he spent $1 million per day. The group estimated that a 10% tax on $1 trillion \u201ccould end global extreme\u00a0poverty\u00a0for a year, lifting over 800 million people above the extreme poverty line.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nabil Ahmed, senior director of economic justice at Oxfam America, said in a statement that \u201cthis moment of dramatically concentrated wealth was not inevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMusk will be a government-backed trillionaire whose fortune was fueled by an era of regressive public policy choices\u2014decisions rigged by a tiny few to fuel their fortunes, and overwhelmingly supported by political leaders,\u201d said Ahmed. \u201cA trillion dollars in the hands of one man is incompatible not only with an affordable economy, but also with a healthy democracy.\u00a0Economic inequality\u00a0begets political\u00a0inequality, and ordinary people bear the brunt while billionaires continue to write the rules for their own benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new Gilded Age won\u2019t end itself,\u201d he added. \u201cThis is a trillion-dollar alarm bell that should wake governments up to the need to take action. Never has it been more urgent to curb the accumulation of extreme wealth\u2014overhauling the economic policies that have created not just trillionaires, but billionaires and the obscene inequality we see today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oxfam highlighted Musk\u2019s brief but immensely destructive tenure in the US federal government at the\u00a0Department of Government Efficiency, or\u00a0DOGE, which took a sledgehammer to foreign aid programs and assailed the\u00a0Social Security\u00a0Administration, among other actions whose consequences are expected to reverberate for years to come. Oxfam has\u00a0warned\u00a0that the Musk-led decimation of the US Agency for International Development means that \u201ca child under 5 could die every 40 seconds by 2030.\u201d<\/p>\n
Musk was given the role at\u00a0DOGE\u00a0after using a tiny fraction of his wealth to boost President\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0and Republican candidates in the\u00a02024 election. Musk is\u00a0spending big again\u00a0to boost the\u00a0GOP\u00a0in the 2026 midterms.<\/p>\n
\u201cMusk\u2019s ability to pour money into elections allowed him to use his wealth and power in ways that embody the corrosive effects of billionaire control,\u201d Oxfam said Thursday.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s statement came amid mounting anxiety about the impact of SpaceX\u2019s IPO, beyond potentially pushing Musk\u2019s wealth past the trillion-dollar mark.<\/p>\n
In a\u00a0letter\u00a0to the US Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this week, Sen.\u00a0Elizabeth Warren\u00a0(D-Mass.)\u00a0raised\u00a0\u201cextreme concern\u201d about the possibility that the IPO could flop. Major stock index providers, she observed, are \u201crewriting their rules to fast-track SpaceX\u2019s entry into their indexes\u2014and into the investment funds that power millions of Americans\u2019 retirement savings.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe net result could be disastrous,\u201d Warren wrote, \u201ca scenario where retirees\u2019 and families\u2019 investment accounts take a hit if SpaceX\u2019s valuation falters, with little recourse for any corporate misconduct, while the wealthiest man on earth becomes even wealthier due to a lack of oversight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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