‘If You’re a Billionaire, Why?’ Is Musk’s Trillionaire Graduation a Sign of the Times?

Image Credit: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons

Two weeks ago, Billie Eilish took to the stage of the Wall Street Journal Innovator Awards in a now viral moment saying: “If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties.” But this wasn’t some reactionary PR stunt; Eilish really has put her money where her mouth is, giving away USD 11.8 million (20% of her net worth) to worthy causes such as food poverty. 

Only a week later, Elon Musk announced a Tesla pay package which may pave the way for his graduation to trillionaire status within the next ten years. To help you conceptualise how much money that is, Musk would be able to give around USD 121 to each and every human on Earth. 

It truly is a sign of the Dickensian times when most of the world lives pay-check to pay-check, sometimes holding down multiple jobs to feed their kids, while billionaire behemoths hoard the money they generate from simply sitting back and grinning as little green lines oscillate up their screens. And here, I emphasise the word ‘hoarding’. By placing all of his money in the shares of his many companies, Musk avoids paying much of the tax he would typically owe. Thus, very little of the wealth he accumulates gets redistributed to the public and to the very services and infrastructure that sustain his workers and underpin his companies’ success. 

But Musk isn’t simply a business tycoon; his money is inherently political. Vast wealth can fund political campaigns, lobby for policies that reduce tax burdens, and buy up social media companies to set the terms of the debate. Musk has added fuel to the rise of the far-right around the world. But this is only him. As of 2024, Forbes has recorded 3028 billionaires, which is only set to rise, slowly concentrating immense amounts of wealth at the minuscule top while simultaneously undermining and subverting the very thing we call democracy. 

It is difficult not to be pessimistic, with the rise of the far-right rhetoric plastered on the front of every newspaper and Nigel Farage gurning down our television screens. We are left asking: who is there left to fight for us? Alongside Eilish’s significant donations, Zohran Mamdani’s election to the New York mayoralty on a manifesto of wealth taxes provides a glimmer of hope that we may tackle the wealth inequality dredged within our communities, and possibly even dismantle the capitalist oligarchy reigning over public life. Zack Polanski reflects a similar sentiment here in the UK, working to build a solid opposition against the billionaire shill that is Nigel Farage. 

So, with all not yet lost, where do we go from here? Gary Stevenson, the economist, trader, and YouTuber, says that taxing “wealth, not work” is one way to alleviate the pressures of wealth inequality through wealth re-distribution. But for this to work, we need solutions to the various loopholes that allow the very wealthy to avoid paying their dues. Stevenson suggests a possible solution to offshore tax avoidance (a common tax loophole utilised by the rich) could be taxing assets. Besides being the primary way billionaires stash their wealth, if you make your money through owning property in the UK, you can’t just up and take that property to the Cayman Islands. You’d need a very big plane.  

Now, I’m no economist, so I’m not well-versed with the ins and outs of property and taxes but surely this is where experts should be focusing their efforts because, although it might not seem so now, we still have a chance to shape a future for the people rather than the rich few.