3 MIN READ
June 20, 2026
Elon Musk in Los Angeles, California, on 13 April 2024. Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
Last week, with the IPO of SpaceX, Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire. It was only about 40 years ago that the peak of financial success in the US was becoming a millionaire. The goal of becoming a billionaire lasted roughly 40 years, and now we have moved on to the aspirational trillionaire.
Next stop: quadrillionaire (around 2126 if we don’t implode beforehand).
No one can deny Elon Musk’s success. Even the people who rode the coattails of the people riding Elon’s coattails have become millionaires many times over because of his success. I would bet the common thread among many of those who made substantial money with Elon through PayPal, Tesla, and now SpaceX was luck as much as anything else. They were in the right place at the right time.
I wanted to compare these wealth milestones to see what the rest of the US population was making when the first millionaire, billionaire, and now trillionaire were created. These wealth milestones have happened roughly every 100 years. What I found most interesting, but not surprising, was how disproportionate the gap has become between the wealthiest person and the average American.
It seems like it’s becoming harder and harder for the average American to get ahead, while it is becoming easier and easier for the average billionaire to stay ahead.
So, as we celebrate Elon’s success, which is truly an American Dream story, it also serves as a stark reminder of the widening economic divide. As the ultra-wealthy reach unprecedented financial heights, a growing number of everyday Americans are being left behind. And that too has consequences.