Elon Musk is now worth $230Bn; as much as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett combined(cnbc.com)
cnbc.com
Elon Musk is now worth $230Bn; as much as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett combined
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/15/elon-musk-is-worth-as-much-as-bill-gates-and-warren-buffett-combined.html
14 comments
> Not having a yatch or even a mansion, does this make his wealth more or less palatable?
It's not a new trend. Tech Billionaires in the US have been restrained with their purchases for quite some time, hoping to avoid the social hatred associated with the expensive toys.
At the same time the rise of publications such as Forbes Billionaire list and Bloomberg index made it sure to quantify wealth down to the last cent , so the public started hating the number. It's worse because only a limited amount of individuals sees a yacht or a mansion, but the big number nowadays everybody knows and they can do the math in their head about how exponentially richer a person is compared to the median American.
For billionaires it's the perfect time to buy toys, mansions etc. Because such purchases lower the big wealth number, thus diminishing social hatred
Just like when Zuck decided to wear hoodies to standout in a crowd of suits, now everybody is wearing hoodies so it's time to suit up.
It's not a new trend. Tech Billionaires in the US have been restrained with their purchases for quite some time, hoping to avoid the social hatred associated with the expensive toys.
At the same time the rise of publications such as Forbes Billionaire list and Bloomberg index made it sure to quantify wealth down to the last cent , so the public started hating the number. It's worse because only a limited amount of individuals sees a yacht or a mansion, but the big number nowadays everybody knows and they can do the math in their head about how exponentially richer a person is compared to the median American.
For billionaires it's the perfect time to buy toys, mansions etc. Because such purchases lower the big wealth number, thus diminishing social hatred
Just like when Zuck decided to wear hoodies to standout in a crowd of suits, now everybody is wearing hoodies so it's time to suit up.
> For billionaires it's the perfect time to buy toys, mansions etc. Because such purchases lower the big wealth number, thus diminishing social hatred
Huh? If you're worth $25 billion and you buy a $250 million yacht, it doesn't decrease your "wealth number" by $250 million. The yacht still has a value, and depreciation and maintenance (which can be offset by charter revenue) represent a negligible loss. Also, "toys" can appreciate in value. The private jet market, for instance, is going bonkers right now, so if you bought before the pandemic, you might very well have a jet that's worth more than you paid for it.
All this notwithstanding, "toys" are precisely the types of things that fuel what you call "social hatred". The negative attention they can bring is one of the reasons why for every wealthy person who flaunts their wealth, there are multiple others who use various measures to conceal their ownership of their assets.
Huh? If you're worth $25 billion and you buy a $250 million yacht, it doesn't decrease your "wealth number" by $250 million. The yacht still has a value, and depreciation and maintenance (which can be offset by charter revenue) represent a negligible loss. Also, "toys" can appreciate in value. The private jet market, for instance, is going bonkers right now, so if you bought before the pandemic, you might very well have a jet that's worth more than you paid for it.
All this notwithstanding, "toys" are precisely the types of things that fuel what you call "social hatred". The negative attention they can bring is one of the reasons why for every wealthy person who flaunts their wealth, there are multiple others who use various measures to conceal their ownership of their assets.
Toys don't generate negative attention. The biggest toy buyer in the tech industry was Paul Allen.
He collected planes, sport franchises, yachts, guitars, drumkits, Ferraris, Porsches....
Enjoying time buying toys signals the world that you are human, whereas people are really intimidated by robotic figures like Zuck, Musk, Gates and Bezos because they think they'd only rest and enjoy life when they managed to subjugate the entire world.
Everybody loved Paul Allen, instead.
When you start purchsing toys you signal society that your trajectory has reached the apogee and now you enter in consumption mode to hopefully die without any asset to your name after some "really good innings".
You get the good innings and society gets wealth redistribution which can be accelerated by discriminatory pricing given that everybody knows you re a billionaire and you are short on time, not money. Which is exaclty what happened to Paul Allen
He collected planes, sport franchises, yachts, guitars, drumkits, Ferraris, Porsches....
Enjoying time buying toys signals the world that you are human, whereas people are really intimidated by robotic figures like Zuck, Musk, Gates and Bezos because they think they'd only rest and enjoy life when they managed to subjugate the entire world.
Everybody loved Paul Allen, instead.
When you start purchsing toys you signal society that your trajectory has reached the apogee and now you enter in consumption mode to hopefully die without any asset to your name after some "really good innings".
You get the good innings and society gets wealth redistribution which can be accelerated by discriminatory pricing given that everybody knows you re a billionaire and you are short on time, not money. Which is exaclty what happened to Paul Allen
> Everybody loved Paul Allen, instead.
I bet if you surveyed a representative group of Americans, a very small portion would even know who Paul Allen is.
Anyway, in the developed world, the "social hatred" the other person referred to is generalized. The average person probably can probably name fewer billionaires than they have fingers and toes (if that), but images of mansions, yachts, private jets, supercars, lavish jewelry, etc. factor prominently in the backlash against our modern gilded age.
I bet if you surveyed a representative group of Americans, a very small portion would even know who Paul Allen is.
Anyway, in the developed world, the "social hatred" the other person referred to is generalized. The average person probably can probably name fewer billionaires than they have fingers and toes (if that), but images of mansions, yachts, private jets, supercars, lavish jewelry, etc. factor prominently in the backlash against our modern gilded age.
Generalized hatred is not real hatred. Only hatred aimed at a person counts.
Generalized hatred at unknown private jet owner doesn't count because it's not actionable .
It only counts if you can congregate on that person property (real or virtual) to make them feel the hatred in the form of insults, chants and so forth
A generalized "eat the rich!" chant won't make a billionaire lose sleep
Generalized hatred at unknown private jet owner doesn't count because it's not actionable .
It only counts if you can congregate on that person property (real or virtual) to make them feel the hatred in the form of insults, chants and so forth
A generalized "eat the rich!" chant won't make a billionaire lose sleep
Or maybe yachts and suits are just dumb, and first generation of non-boomer billionaires somewhat recognizes that?
Why would you buy a yacht if you can buy suborbital rocket?
Why would you buy a yacht if you can buy suborbital rocket?
Because you can spend leisure time on a yacht, not so much on a suborbital rocket.
Same reason why private jets like the Gulfstream are overrated IMHO.
80M for what is essentially an RV which can fly.
Our brain is not impressed with the technical feat of flying, it needs ample spaces to feel comfortable. Even a G650 is quite compact.
Yachts, 747-8 and Airbus A380 solve this problem, leisure time aboard those toys is really leisure time. Also be on the lookout for landyachts airships such as the Hindenburng
Same reason why private jets like the Gulfstream are overrated IMHO.
80M for what is essentially an RV which can fly.
Our brain is not impressed with the technical feat of flying, it needs ample spaces to feel comfortable. Even a G650 is quite compact.
Yachts, 747-8 and Airbus A380 solve this problem, leisure time aboard those toys is really leisure time. Also be on the lookout for landyachts airships such as the Hindenburng
The problem with jumbo jets is that they are limited with the number of airports they can land at. You can't land at Jackson Hole in your A380.
well last time I checked longer runways are infrastructure, so it's not like money won't be availible to make that a reality.
>Of course, Gates and Buffett would be significantly closer to Musk in the wealth rankings were it not for the duo’s philanthropic giving. Both have given away tens of billions of dollars to charitable causes over the years, while Musk has been criticized for not giving away more of his massive fortune.
Also Tesla’s P/E is 422 (!) and Amazon is 58. I suspect the weighing machine phase of the market won’t be as kind to Elon as the voting machine phase has been and his tweet of a silver medal icon to Bezos is going to look even more like peak hubris.
Also Tesla’s P/E is 422 (!) and Amazon is 58. I suspect the weighing machine phase of the market won’t be as kind to Elon as the voting machine phase has been and his tweet of a silver medal icon to Bezos is going to look even more like peak hubris.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-08/musk-just...
does unrecognized share value appreciation make for a reasonable wealth estimation?
does unrecognized share value appreciation make for a reasonable wealth estimation?
Considering they’re two companies posed to still be gigantic companies even in 50 years, I’d rather have $230b in shares of SpaceX and Tesla than $100b of random assets
Paper billonares, I wonder how much he has in doge and crypto..
he seems to have no cash or other assets, it's just SpaceX/Tesla Shares and billions of dollars of loans on those shares
Not having a yatch or even a mansion, does this make his wealth more or less palatable?