this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2026
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[โ€“] jj4211@lemmy.world 7 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Not defending, just an explanation, and one that if anything would enrage Elon more.

He's still an absurdly over-wealthed taint stain, but the specific numbers over that threshold were just not quite as substantial as other (also somewhat imaginary) numbers.

Point in fact, he was a trillionaire, and now he is not, but he didn't lose anything real. He still has every bit the amount of real wealth and control over all that stuff you listed that he had before, just the number shifted by billions of dollars while preserving every last thing of import that was wrong with his wealth. He is no longer a trillionaire but that means absolutely nothing about the problems his wealth pose in real terms.

At some point, the numbers cease being a thing for meeting their needs, their comforts, and at some point even their every whim and preference they could possibly imagine. It just becomes a score and they peg their egos to the score. This is a level no one should ever be at.

[โ€“] gusgalarnyk@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

I understand and appreciate what you're getting at but the comment chain was:

  • I can't believe Elon musk is a trillionaire, that doesn't sit right with me.
  • he's not a trillionaire, his stock went down, most of his wealth is in stocks
  • i downvoted because that statement sounded like a defense of the wealthy, not the TH letter (which I actually like, sorry to the people on Lemmy who seem to have a hate boner for it).

I understand how his wealth is tied up and how volatile stocks are. The reality is Elon will be a trillionaire again this year or next, and more importantly he will not be the only trillionaire we see by the end of this decade unless something is done about it.

So I appreciate your comment. My point was only "no one should have a trillion dollars" is a far more important conversation to be having than "actshully his numbers went down this month and he's not a trillionaire".