Elon Musk Says Most of His Wealth Isn't 'Cash' -- Here's Why That Defense Infuriates So Many People
If you divided Elon Musk’s net worth up evenly among every American, they’d all be richer by nearly $2,400. But if you were to boil it down to Musk’s cash assets, each American would get less than $2.50.
Why the big discrepancy? Because the vast majority of Musk’s wealth is tied up in stock holdings and investments rather than liquid assets.
The Tesla CEO and world’s richest person often reminds people that his wealth is mostly numbers in a portfolio rather than piles of cash stored in some giant bank vault.
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Here’s a look at why that explanation sometimes infuriates people.
Musk’s Wealth Breakdown
As of May 12, Musk had an estimated net worth of about $818.9 billion, according to Forbes. The world’s second-richest person – Larry Page, at $315.5 billion – is worth less than half that.
As mentioned earlier, dividing Musk’s net worth by the U.S. population of about 342.5 million people means every American would see their wealth increase by almost $2,400. That doesn’t mean they’d have that much money to spend, however.
Musk’s massive wealth is mostly due to his 12% stake in Tesla, which has a market cap of roughly $1.34 trillion as of May 12. He also owns options to acquire another 8%, along with holdings in SpaceX and various other enterprises.
Only a tiny fraction of Musk’s wealth is in cash and cash equivalents. A recent article from Livemint reported that liquid assets comprise only about 0.1% of his overall net worth.
This means Musk has around $818.9 million in spending money – which is why dividing his cash assets up among every American would net them only less than $2.50.
Cash Poor?
As Livemint reported, Musk has addressed the topic of his net worth amid speculation that he could become the world’s first trillionaire.
“My ‘net worth’ is almost entirely due to my ownership stakes in Tesla and SpaceX. I have <0.1% that is cash,” Musk reportedly said.
This wasn’t the first time he addressed the topic. Back in 2019, Musk said, “Some people think I have a lot of cash. I actually don’t.”
At the time, Musk was worth about $22.3 billion on paper. Even if his 2019 liquid assets totaled only 0.1% of his overall wealth, he would’ve still had more than $22 million to spend.
That hardly qualifies as “cash poor,” considering that the average U.S. balance in liquid bank accounts was $62,410 as of 2022, according to Federal Reserve data.
Why People Are Angry
The disconnect between how Musk and others view his wealth occasionally pops up on social media and online forums.
Such was the case earlier this year, in a Reddit post titled “Billionaire says he has ‘less than $850M in cash’ like it’s relatable.” The post went on to say, “I know technically most billionaires have their wealth tied up in stock… but hearing ‘ONLY $850M in cash’ just feels infuriating in this economy.”
A few weeks later, Musk addressed his net worth (again) in an X post, writing, "My ‘net worth’ will just track SpaceX+Tesla market cap, so will be whatever that is as a percentage of GDP.”
Having your wealth viewed in terms of a “percentage of GDP” is something not many people can relate to. But it does demonstrate how wide the wealth gap has become. A report last year from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences noted that as of 2025, more than 3,000 billionaires globally collectively held about $16 trillion in wealth.
This article was provided by MoneyLion.com for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or tax advice.
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