Elon Musk’s wealth mainly comes from his ownership stakes in two companies:
1. Tesla – around 37% of his wealth is from Tesla stock, although it was as high as 75% in 2020.
2. SpaceX – valued contracts include a $20 billion deal with the United States federal government.
Musk also earned money from selling PayPal to eBay for $1.5 billion in stock, receiving $175.8 million personally. His net worth is estimated to be around $424.7 billion, but this varies from week to week depending on the stock market.
Other business ventures of Musk’s are Neuralink – brain-machine interfaces and neurotechnology; the Boring Company – underground tunnels and infrastructure; and SolarCity, which is solar energy but was sold to Tesla in 2016.
In 1995 Musk owned Zip2, which was an online content publishing company that was sold to Compaq.
He also owns Starlink, an internet constellation company.
No doubt Musk is a a true visionary, entrepreneur and one of the greatest geniuses of our era.
Musk is still a young man, born June 28, 1971. The world may be yet to see what he will achieve.
However, anyone can spread himself too thin. Obviously, Musk has a lot of great people working for him, but anyone can overdo their capabilities or overestimate themselves.
In my opinion, it was a terrible idea for Musk to become so heavily involved in government and politics. He makes billions from the government contracts with SpaceX. That is definitely a conflict of interest. However, he is now out of his leadership role in Washington. After his temper tantrum last week and saying all kinds of dumb stuff about President Trump, he probably will not be returning to any leadership roles. He further over-elevated himself and his role in Trump’s election.
This reminds us again of this truth: Intelligent geniuses can do and say stupid things. Throwing mud at President Trump on social media has made Musk look like a spoiled brat who has seemingly always gotten his way. Again, we are reminded that no one always gets their way in this life.
Is Musk too rich to go broke? Probably, but anyone can fail financially. Musk’s wealth is mostly tied up in stocks, making him “cash poor” or having low liquidity. But with SpaceX capturing 70% of the global launch market, his financial downfall is unlikely. Unless he continues to hurl ill-will at President Trump which could potentially cost Musk a lot.
The problem is that if the U.S. canceled its contracts with SpaceX, it could impact our manned missions to the International Space Station. New space projects like NASA’s Artemis moon program could be impacted. Dozens of NASA science programs would be affected, plus the impact on national security as SpaceX provides critical space launch and communication services to the U.S. military. These and other consequences could significantly affect the U.S. space program and national security.
Trump, Musk and all the others on Capitol Hill need to work together for the common good of our nation. Musk has proven his genius and capabilities. However, his temper tantrum and verbiage last week make me wonder a bit as to just what he is really capable of doing in a moment of rage.
Dr. Glenn Mollette is the author of “Uncommon Sense” and 13 other books.
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