Elon Musk's fortune has grown. He has thus become the world's first dollar trillionaire.
Due to the high interest in shares of the American company SpaceX, Elon Musk became the world's first dollar trillionaire in June. The value of his company exceeded two trillion dollars, equivalent to almost 42 trillion Czech koruna. Nevertheless, this native of Pretoria, South Africa, is accompanied by a number of controversies.
The figure of Elon Musk appeared this month on the giant screen of the Nasdaq stock exchange at New York's Times Square. Tourists were taking selfies, SpaceX investors in t-shirts smiled at their newly acquired wealth, and reporters crowded to get the best shot. The reason? Elon Musk's company's value surpassed two trillion dollars!
Stock Market Debut
Why did this happen? The shares of his company SpaceX entered the stock market during the monitored period. They increased by almost 20 percent in a single trading day. However, SpaceX is not the only company he owns. In addition, he has shares in Tesla and options to acquire another nearly eight percent stake, claims Forbes magazine. Furthermore, his wealth is supplemented by smaller stakes in his start-up Neuralink, which develops brain interfaces, and in the tunneling firm Boring Company. Besides this, he should also have several billion dollars from previous Tesla stock sales.
In March 2020, the value of Musk's wealth was still "only" $24.6 billion. However, thanks to the skyrocketing growth of Tesla shares, the entrepreneur became the fifth person in history with a net worth of $100 billion as early as August of the same year. By September of the following year, he was the third person whose wealth exceeded $200 billion. In November, his wealth reached $300 billion. He crossed the threshold of $500 billion in October last year.
Find a Woman Behind Everything
Elon Musk’s business successes cannot overshadow the controversies that have also been associated with him. He is the father of 14 children with four women.
"I think kids are super cool. People should have more of them because, as obvious and mundane as it sounds, without them we’ll simply go extinct."
he once explained.
The entrepreneur has been divorced three times, twice from the same woman, British actress Talulah Riley. Besides that, he went through a highly publicized romance with another actress, Amber Heard, which also dragged him into a defamation lawsuit between Amber and her former husband Johnny Depp.
"I definitely did not have an affair with her while she was married to Johnny, that's an absolute lie. We definitely didn't have a threesome. People sort of want things to be more scandalous than they actually are,"
Musk refuted Depp's claims at the time.
Further Controversies
In the past, he reportedly considered designing his own living space. However, he realized that it would distract him from his main goals, namely "getting people to Mars, achieving a sustainable environment, and stable energy sources."
“Today I live in a huge house that looks like it came straight out of The Great Gatsby. I call it the 'haunted house.' And to be honest, it's a bit boring. You know, the house itself is beautiful, but it kind of feels like Bruce Wayne's mansion without the butler Alfred,”
he commented on his housing situation.
Regarding the fine of 120 million euros, or just under three billion crowns, imposed on him by the European Union for violating transparency obligations under the Digital Services Act, Musk responded by suggesting that the union should be abolished.
Politics
At the same time, the entrepreneur has been using his social media platform for a long time to express opinions on many different topics, including politics. He also helped Donald Trump win the presidential election thanks to this. Outrage was sparked by his behavior after Trump's inauguration last year, when he repeatedly raised his right hand on stage in front of fans, which reminded some people of a Nazi salute.
Musk denied that it was intended to be a Nazi salute of Adolf Hitler, under whose regime millions of people died. Political scientist and extremism specialist Miroslav Mareš told Czech Radio that it was a deliberately provocative gesture. In Germany itself, a fine or up to three years in prison can be imposed for giving a Nazi salute.
He cares immensely about what people think of him. At the same time, he has no empathy for those who do not share his vision. It is said that his inspiration comes from sci-fi movies. For most mortals, sci-fi is primarily his entire life so far and his behavior.
Sources: author's article, ČTK, Czech Radio, Forbes
