In June 2026, businessman and entrepreneur Elon Musk became the only person to accumulate a net worth of US$1 trillion, but his net worth has been below $1 trillion since July 2026.

A trillionaire is a person whose net worth is at least one trillion units of a given currency,[1] typically the US dollar due to its status as a world currency.[2] A trillionaire is the highest tier of ultra-high-net-worth individuals.[3] In June 2026, Elon Musk became the only US dollar trillionaire in history upon the initial public offering of his company, SpaceX, but Musk's net worth has been under $1 trillion since early July 2026, after a SpaceX stock collapse wiped hundreds of billions from his net worth.[4]

Etymology

The earliest evidence of the word trillionaire, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is from a letter to the editor published in an 1861 issue of the Huddersfield Chronicle and West Yorkshire Advertiser.[5][6] The New York Times first used the word in 1922, in reference to "trillionaires in rubles" in the Soviet Union.[7]

In US dollars

US distribution of household wealth for the first quarter of 2024. Federal Reserve data.[8][9]

Predictions before 2026

In 1999, Evan L. Marcus of Wired provided four scenarios in which Microsoft founder Bill Gates becomes not only the first trillionaire in US dollars, but also the first quadrillionaire (having a net worth of one thousand trillions or one quadrillion).[10] In 2005, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson also said that Gates would become the first trillionaire.[11] In 2017, a report from international charity Oxfam predicted that the first trillionaire would emerge within 25 years, pointing to increasing global wealth inequality and individuals such as Gates.[12]

In 2008, Peter Diamandis, founder of the Xprize foundation, predicted that the first trillionaire would be made in the space industry by asteroid mining.[13] In 2015, Tyson predicted the same,[14][13] as did US senator Ted Cruz in 2018.[13] Musk said in 2003 that asteroid mining was "bogus", and has not publicly updated that view since then,[13] and in 2018 Andrew Glester of Physics World questioned the feasibility of precious metal extraction as well as of the effect on prices that a sudden influx of a supply of precious metals might have.[13]

Entrepreneur Mark Cuban predicted in 2017 that the first trillionaire would make their fortune from artificial intelligence.[15]

A study by Approve, a platform for finance teams, predicted in 2022 that Musk would become the world's first trillionaire by 2024.[16] The same study also predicted nine other individuals would become trillionaires after Musk: Gautam Adani in 2025, Zhang Yiming in 2026, Bernard Arnault in 2029, Mukesh Ambani in 2029, Jeff Bezos in 2030, Larry Page in 2032, Sergey Brin in 2032, Steve Ballmer in 2032, and Michael Dell in 2033.[16]

A study by wealth-tracking service Informa Connect in 2024 predicted Musk would become a trillionaire in 2027, Adani in 2028, Prajogo Pangestu in 2028, Jensen Huang in 2028, Mark Zuckerberg in 2030, Arnault (and his family) in 2030, and Phil Knight (and his family) in 2030.[17]

First US dollar trillionaire

On June 12, 2026, with the initial public offering of Musk's company SpaceX at a record valuation of nearly US$1.8 trillion, he became the only person whose net worth has exceeded $1 trillion.[18][19][20][21] His ownership of 42% of SpaceX shares, combined with his multi-billion-dollar holdings in Tesla, Inc. and other companies, brought him over the threshold upon the IPO.[22] His net worth reached an intraday peak of $1.45 trillion in the week after the IPO,[23] but by late July 2026, a SpaceX stock collapse had reduced his net worth by $750 billion, the largest loss in history.[24][4][25]

Reactions

The first paragraph is an excerpt from Wealth of Elon Musk § Comparison to other wealthy individuals.[]
Net worth and 1-year growth of each of the top 16 US billionaires, and all US billionaires as a whole, as of June 16, 2026[26]

Musk's status as the first US dollar trillionaire drew historical comparisons, acclaim, and criticism. The New York Times drew the connection between Musk and John D. Rockefeller, who became the first US dollar billionaire in 1916.[27] Rockefeller's wealth was estimated at $900 million in 1913, which was 2.3% of the US gross domestic product (GDP);[28] when Musk's wealth was $970 billion in early June 2026, it was 3% of the US GDP.[29] When Musk became a trillionaire, he was nearly four times as wealthy as the second richest person, Larry Page.[30] American political figures such as Elizabeth Warren[31] and Zohran Mamdani[32] used the milestone to call for the implementation of a wealth tax.

The emergence of a trillionaire has prompted criticism from groups concerned with global wealth inequality.[33] In June 2026, Oxfam said that a $1 trillion fortune would make Musk wealthier than the combined net worth of the poorest 46% of the world's population, or 3.8 billion people.[34] Oxfam described the milestone as an example of extreme wealth concentration and called for higher taxation of ultra-high-net-worth individuals.[34] Economist Gabriel Zucman argued that extreme wealth will always lead to extreme power and threatens the very possibility of democracy.[35]

In other currencies

100 trillion Zimbabwean dollars, an example of hyperinflation

People have been considered trillionaires in other currencies, often due to hyperinflation, such as the Hungarian pengő in 1946 and the Zimbabwean dollar in 2008.[36][37]

The net worth of people outside the US is often calculated in their respective currencies, creating dong trillionaires,[38] ruble trillionaires,[39] peso trillionaires,[40] yen trillionaires,[41] and others.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "trillionaire". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. OCLC 1120411289. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
  2. ↑ Clark, Josh; Bryant, Chuck (November 24, 2020). Stuff You Should Know: An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things. Flatiron Books. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-250-26851-8. Obviously when we talk about the possibility of trillionaires, we don't mean by the measure of just any currency. [...] But since the US dollar is considered the world's currency, it is the currency upon which any consistent measure of wealth would have to be based.
  3. ↑ Klawans, Justin (September 17, 2024). "The rise of the world's first trillionaire". The Week. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Trillionaire No More. SpaceX Collapse Loses Elon Musk $600 Billion in One Month". Yahoo Finance. Archived from the original on July 27, 2026. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  5. ↑ "trillionaire". Oxford English Dictionary (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OED/3884835417. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  6. ↑ Jones, Frederick Robert (November 30, 1861). "The pinch of Sir John Ramsden's position with tenant-right". Huddersfield Chronicle and West Yorkshire Advertiser – via British Newspaper Archive. And thus Sir John sees clearly that to whip the poor wretches now will be, as a first "benefit," to enable him to exact higher ground-rents for 99 years; and, as a second "benefit," to render his fortunate successor a trillionaire!
  7. ↑ "TRILLIONAIRES IN RUBLES.; Soviet System Gives Speculators Fortunes of Gigantic Figures". The New York Times. July 31, 1922. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  8. ↑ James R. Martin. "Distribution of Wealth 2024". maaw.info. Archived from the original on August 16, 2025 – via University of South Florida. Ph.D in Business Administration. The pie chart is based on this Federal Reserve page here.
  9. ↑ "The Fed - Distribution: Distribution of Household Wealth in the U.S. since 1989". www.federalreserve.gov. Federal Reserve.
  10. ↑ Marcus, Evan L. (September 1, 1999). "The World's First Trillionaire". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved June 14, 2026.
  11. ↑ Tyson 2005, p. 22.
  12. ↑ Hardoon 2017, pp. 5, 20.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Glester, Andrew (June 11, 2018). "The asteroid trillionaires". Physics World. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
  14. ↑ Kramer, Katie (May 3, 2015). "Neil deGrasse Tyson Says Space Ventures Will Spawn First Trillionaire". NBC News. Retrieved June 14, 2026.
  15. ↑ Clifford, Catherine (March 13, 2017). "Mark Cuban: The world's first trillionaire will be an artificial intelligence entrepreneur". CNBC. Retrieved June 14, 2026.
  16. 1 2 Batchelor, Marlena (June 16, 2022). "Who will become the world's first trillionaire?". The CEO Magazine. Retrieved June 14, 2026.
  17. ↑ Morris, Chris (January 16, 2024). "Trillionaire? One study says we'll see them within a decade". Fortune. Retrieved June 14, 2026.
  18. ↑ Ovide, Shira; Siddiqui, Faiz (June 11, 2026). "See how Elon Musk became the world's first trillionaire thanks to the SpaceX IPO". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  19. ↑ Nishant, Niket; Saini, Manya (June 11, 2026). "SpaceX IPO makes Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire". Reuters. Retrieved June 12, 2026.
  20. ↑ "SpaceX Filing Starts Countdown to Massive IPO". The Wall Street Journal. May 20, 2026. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
  21. ↑ Ma, Jason (May 22, 2026). "Musk may already be a trillionaire while these SpaceX employees and investors will hit multibillion-dollar jackpots after blockbuster IPO". Fortune. Retrieved May 27, 2026.
  22. ↑ Hays, Kali; Crew, Jemma (June 12, 2026). "Elon Musk's SpaceX raises $75bn ahead of record stock market debut". BBC. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  23. ↑ "Elon Musk". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 16, 2026. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  24. ↑ Roush, Ty (July 1, 2026). "Elon Musk No Longer A Trillionaire As SpaceX Stock Falls". Forbes. Retrieved July 18, 2026.
  25. ↑ Gioino, Catherina (July 29, 2026). "Elon Musk said money doesn't matter. Then he rolled out X Money and admitted he's a 'former trillionaire'". Fortune. Retrieved July 31, 2026.
  26. ↑ "Billionaire Wealth Surges Past $9 Trillion for First Time". Americans For Tax Fairness. June 16, 2026. From Forbes data on billionaires.
  27. ↑ MacDonald, John S. W. (June 13, 2026). "Musk Is the World's First Trillionaire. Who Was the First Billionaire?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  28. ↑ Gordon, John Steele (November 12, 1999). "The Rich Were Different". www.forbes.com. Archived from the original on September 17, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2026. John D. Rockefeller's $900 million in 1913 represented one forty-fourth [2.3%] of the GNP of that year.
  29. ↑ "$3.6 Million an Hour—and Other Ways to Measure Elon Musk's Fortune". The Wall Street Journal. June 3, 2026. Retrieved June 20, 2026.
  30. ↑ "Elon Musk, the world's first trillionaire - his stratospheric rise in charts". BBC. June 12, 2026. Retrieved June 20, 2026.
  31. ↑ Pequeño IV, Antonio (June 12, 2026). "Elon Musk's Trillionaire Status Blasted By Lawmakers—Here Are The Strongest Reactions". Forbes.
  32. ↑ Vlamis, Kelsey (June 12, 2026). "Zohran Mamdani has thoughts on Elon Musk becoming the world's first trillionaire". Business Insider. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  33. ↑ Greene, Connor (November 11, 2025). "What the Rise of Trillionaires Could Mean for the World". TIME. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  34. 1 2 Durot, Matt. "Elon Musk Just Lost His Trillionaire Status". Forbes. Retrieved July 2, 2026.
  35. ↑ Zucman, Gabriel (June 16, 2026). "The era of trillionaires will be dire for democracy. Here is how we can fight back". The Guardian. Retrieved July 16, 2026.
  36. ↑ "Zimbabwe: Country of trillionaires couldn't buy bread - Zimbabwe | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. June 29, 2009. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  37. ↑ "What can you buy for $100 trillion in Zimbabwe? Not even a candy bar". The World from PRX. June 12, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  38. ↑ VCCorp.vn (May 18, 2025). "Tài sản của tỷ phú Phạm Nhật Vượng bằng tổng 8 người giàu kế tiếp, 'nắm tay' vợ vào top 10 người giàu nhất, CEO Gelex xuất hiện sau nhiều năm vắng bóng". cafef (in Vietnamese). Retrieved July 2, 2026.
  39. ↑ "Леонид Михельсон занял четвертое место в топе российских миллиардеров". РБК (in Russian). Retrieved July 2, 2026.
  40. ↑ Trejo, Roberto (March 10, 2026). "Del cobre a Cinemex: los negocios millonarios de Germán Larrea, el segundo más rico de México". Expansión (in Spanish). Retrieved July 2, 2026.
  41. ↑ "日本長者番付 日本で最もリッチな人物は誰だ？". 日本長者番付 by Forbes JAPAN（フォーブス ジャパン） (in Japanese). Retrieved July 2, 2026.

Bibliography

allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trillionaire