At the beginning of 2020, Musk’s net worth was approximately $28.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. By the end of that year, its value had increased to approximately $167 billion, and as of September this year, his net worth was approximately $265 billionaccording to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index
The main reason why the richest get richer
As CNBC notes, the biggest Tesla shares were the driving force behind Musk’s wealth growthwhich during the Covid-19 pandemic prices have increased 10 times. In January 2020, the share price of Tesla was around USD 30, while a year later one share of the electric car manufacturer cost almost USD 300.
In a statement for CNBC, James Pethokoukis, an economic policy analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, points out that pThe reason why people on the list of the richest Americans become super-rich is that they start a business and grow it. The company’s success increases its market value, which benefits shareholders.
Wealthier people usually invest a larger portion of their assets in the stock marketwhile middle-income households tend to tie more of their wealth to real estate, CNBC notes.
1 percent the richest hold half of the US stock market
Federal Reserve data from mid-2024 shows that the richest 1 percent Americans own almost 50 percent. all stocks in the US, while the poorest 50 percent About 1% of Americans own all shares.
“Wealth inequality is largely driven by the prices of different types of assets,” John Sabelhaus, a research fellow at the Brookings Institution, told CNBC, adding that one of the things that will increase wealth inequality, as measured by wealth concentration, is the stock market.
Two views on the tax system
CNBC notes that a large contribution to…the tax system increases wealth inequality and that there is ongoing debate about the role of taxation in contributing to wealth inequality. Some, including Pethokoukis, argue that large compensation packages are the reward for building successful companiesy. Meanwhile, others such as Sabelhaus argue that loopholes in the tax system create an unlevel playing field.
“Especially in Over the last quarter-century, changes in tax policy have made it much harder to tax the wealthy. Sabelhaus told CNBC. “There are many exemptions, many ways to circumvent paying taxes,” he added.
The effect of such policies is that, on paper, the incomes of the ultra-rich are not as transparent as those of people who earn money primarily by trading their time and skills for a paycheck that is taxed based on how much a person earns.