Elon Musk defended his wealth against Senator Bernie Sanders, saying his money sits in SpaceX and Tesla stock rather than in a cash hoard.
Sanders mentioned that Musk owns more wealth than the bottom half of American households. This reflects his democratic socialist philosophy of raising taxes on the rich, a stance that is becoming increasingly popular in America with the rise of political figures like Zohran Mamdani and Abdul El-Sayed.
Sanders has spent 2026 pushing for a tax increase on AI giants that would seed a $7 trillion public fund.
Musk’s argument rests on a second point. Share prices climb as the two companies deliver more, so every holder gains, including the pension and retirement funds that own the stock.
A Paper Fortune That Moves Every Day
The numbers behind the argument shift constantly. Forbes currently values Musk at about $908 billion, down from roughly $1.1 trillion in June.
That June peak briefly made him the world’s first trillionaire. His fortune then slipped below $700 billion in July, before Tesla and SpaceX shares rebounded through August.
SpaceX has traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX since its June listing at $135 a share. As a result, SpaceX revenue forecasts and Tesla delivery numbers now reprice Musk’s net worth every session.
Neither man, however, controls the number they are fighting over. Traders reset it every session, long after the posts stop trending.