Elon Musk the trillionaire... does the global economy need him to succeed?
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What is the significance of Elon Musk becoming a trillionaire?
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He's widely recognised as one of the greatest footballers in history.
He's won the prestigious Ballon d'Or award five times. He's the all-time leading goal scorer in professional football. And according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he's the first active footballer in history to achieve billionaire status.
Guess who we're talking about yet?
That's right. Good Bad Billionaire is exploring the life and fortune of football icon Cristiano Ronaldo. That's Good Bad Billionaire from the BBC World Service. Listen now wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Tosi hyvän operaattorin, tosi hyvät kesätarjoukset. Hanki kesätarjouksista uusi puhelin, tabletti tai kuulokkeet. Suuntaa Telia kauppaan tai osoitteeseen telia.fi. Hei, mä lähden nyt oikeesti. Mä oon lomalla.
Hello, it's Anthony, and you're about to hear AmeriCast. We're delighted to have you with us. And if you enjoy what you hear, please do consider subscribing to the podcast. That way, you'll never miss an episode. Now, on with today.
We're going to go behind the scenes today, looking at why Elon Musk has become a trillionaire and why the U.S. needs him to succeed as financial institutions and investors all around the world take a huge gamble on his unique vision becoming reality.
We want to be able to take anyone who wants to go to the moon, anyone who wants to go to Mars, or anyone in the solar system, and maybe beyond the solar system at some point, we want to be able to take you there. Not just a few astronauts, I mean you, literally you.
So as financial institutions, investors across the world put their money behind Elon Musk and his sci-fi strategy, which includes putting artificial intelligence data centres into space as well, as well as sending people, of course, how risky is all of it? And it's not just Elon Musk, with big AI companies also planning to float on the stock exchange later this year with promises of what AI will do. What does it mean, not just for the US economy, but the global economy as well? Welcome to AmeriCast.
America's America's from BBC News.
You hear that? Oh, I think when I hear that sound, it reminds me of money. We didn't start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it.
This is a big cover up and this administration is engaged in it. This guy has Trump arrangement syndrome.
I have four words for you. Turn the volume up.
Hello, it's Justin in the worldwide headquarters of AmeriCast in London, England. And it is just me, at least just me in the worldwide headquarters. But I'm delighted to say I'm joined on the line by Ryan Mack, who is an investigative technology reporter and an author as well at The New York Times. He's been investigating not just Elon Musk, but the tech companies, the tech billionaires, pharma, for years. So he's exactly the right guest to talk to about Elon Musk, but also about the wider world that is beginning to take shape around us and indeed the wider world that is beginning to take shape potentially outside this world as well. So Ryan, so good to talk to you. Thanks for joining us.
Thanks for having me.
Let's start with this word trillionaire, because I'm not sure I even know what a trillion of anything is. And sometimes it's different in English, English and American English. What is a trillionaire? And has he actually got a trillion dollars in the bank?
A trillionaire is someone with 13 figures in their net worth. We've never had anyone hit that level of wealth before. You asked, does he have that amount of money in his bank account? Technically, no. Most of that is in shares of SpaceX, which is not easily liquid. But on paper, he has reached the mark of trillionaire.
And the point you make about the shares is important, isn't it? Because we should explain what has just happened and why he is now, at least on paper, so wealthy. So it was a private company, wasn't it, SpaceX? What has changed?
Yeah, so SpaceX has been a private company since its founding in 2002. And, you know, recently at the beginning of this year, the company decided we want to sell our shares to the public, allow people to own this company and have an IPO, an initial public offering.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the significance of Elon Musk becoming a trillionaire?
0:00–5:37
2
How does SpaceX's IPO impact the US economy?
5:37–8:49
3
What are the risks associated with investing in SpaceX and AI companies?
8:49–10:37
4
What does a trillionaire's wealth mean for global financial stability?
10:37–18:14
5
How do Elon Musk's visions for space travel influence investor confidence?
18:14–25:35
Speakers
5 identifiedMore from Americast
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