When I was growing up space was just one of those government can only do that (go into space) things. When private companies started using their capital muscle to do go to space I thought wow that is pretty cool.
One night I was standing in my driveway and watched the train of Starlink satellites go overhead. That struck me as a really cool thing, I looked at that string of satellites go over me and thought wow a human being built that.

First time I rode in a Tesla I was impressed with its simplicity. Just a big screen, simple controls, and even the outside design was pretty good too. Man was that thing FAST. I could see all kinds of potential with that. I know the news was all about a fire here, or other issues. But geez what major auto manufacturer hasn’t undergone a serious recall, or had historical mechanical or crash issues, you could list the other car makers all day long if you look back through history and their problems. I thought well here is a guy trying something new and it’s like the Apple Watch, or iPod, or a cell phone, or first laptop, A whole laundry list of other inventions we all take for granted as normal today but at one time were new and cutting edge. Remember when no households had a personal computer at all? Or a cell phone? I see teslas all the time now. But at one time they were unique and turned a head when they drove by.
Capitalism is the greatest thing in the world. It’s fun to watch the technology space grow today by leaps and bounds. We may (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) and moan about our country”s issues. But at least each us has the freedom to own something, buy something, work for ourselves, and maybe invent something too. Go Elon. He’s not perfect, nobody is, but way to go pushing the envelope and taking things to new levels.
Jim

I'll bet he tips well.

Aaah, I see what you did there....

The DOGE nonsense was revealing.

I think it went over Dirt's head lol.




Great post!!

Above the financial is the creation of opportunities, why is that invisible to so many people?

Cuz the socialists don’t care how wealth is created

They only care about how to redistribute it


Check out this headline from the government funded, hammer and sickle up here in Canada,,,,,,

If he makes things better, develops new technology, invents stuff that makes people's lives better and earns a trillion dollars doing it - good for him. I live in a rural area and internet service has been a struggle for 20 years. I now have great internet because of Musk. Pay the man.

I’m assuming that most of the 4400 employees of his that became Millionaires are because they hold stock options. So the question is if you were one of these employees would you quit your job and cash out or stick around?
His stock in SpaceX is considered a little volatile so…..

Musk donates around 500 million a year.

He has more money than one million millionaires have.
If he spent one million dollars a day. it would take him 2,740 years to run out of money.

Feel the love

Much of his wealth is built on public subsidies, tax incentives and regulatory framework that he spent years manipulating and fine tuned as the head of DOGE by dismantling oversight structures and firing regulators that may ask uncomfortable questions about his companies.The average person can't manipulate the system the way billionaires do yet we're taxed like crazy to pay for it.

Copy/paste,,,,,,

The moment someone tells you Elon Musk should solve world poverty with his wealth, you're listening to someone who fundamentally misunderstands both wealth and poverty. Musk's billions exist almost entirely as Tesla and SpaceX stock, not cash sitting in a vault waiting to be redistributed.

The real issue runs deeper than liquidity. Poverty is fundamentally a productivity problem, not a resource shortage. If throwing money at poverty solved it, the $4.3 trillion the US government has spent on welfare programs since 1965 would have eliminated American poverty decades ago. Instead, the poverty rate has remained virtually unchanged since the War on Poverty began.

You can't redistribute your way out of poverty because wealth isn't a fixed pie that rich people hoard. Musk created his fortune by building companies that produce electric vehicles, rockets, and satellite internet. His wealth represents the market's valuation of those productive assets. When politicians demand he liquidate those holdings to fund welfare programs, they're demanding he destroy the very capital that generates ongoing prosperity.

The countries with the lowest poverty rates didn't achieve that through foreign aid or wealth transfers. South Korea went from Third World to First World status in two generations through property rights, free markets, and rule of law. Meanwhile, sub-Saharan Africa has received over $1 trillion in foreign aid since 1960 and remains impoverished. Poverty reduction requires institutions that enable production, not redistribution schemes.

Real poverty reduction happens when entrepreneurs like Musk build productive enterprises that create jobs, generate tax revenue, and drive down costs through innovation. But that requires you to understand that capitalism creates wealth rather than just moving it around.

Cash out, quit, go away.

If you have money, it's easy to make money. I don't begrudge him anything that he's earned

Great for him

Over 900 billionaires in this country, Dont feel sad for 1 of them,they lead a high life style with huge homes and many properties, so they may have made many millionaires i believe it was the higher up employees in the Musk chain of his ventures.So they worked hard to make it to that point in life still how well were and how well were those that were the backbone been treated as to pay pension and or retirement? Like the lions share you got what you were able to put away for old age With all the people on here explain to me HOW you can be happy he is a Trillionaire does not help me in any way. My 2 cents.

And it is worth about 2 cents as well. The economic benefit from his success has touched far more than the millionaires created. Every person who has been directly employed by his companies, and every cent they spent in those local economies that sell, transport, grow or manufacture the good purchased. If that doesn't help you in any way you may be the only one.