Elon Musk don make history on Friday as e become the first person for the world to reach net worth of $1 trillion. Na after im rocket and satellite company, SpaceX, do public listing for stock market, wey be the biggest IPO ever.
Musk wey six years ago worth less than $25 billion and five years back $150 billion, now im wealth don blow pass every record. Many people dey inspired, investors dey happy, but some dey vex and dey call for higher taxes for ultra-rich.
America don dey march toward this moment since John Jacob Astor arrive for 1780s and start to trade fur, tea and Manhattan real estate. Astor likely become first self-made millionaire. After am, American ingenuity produce millionaires for tobacco, steel, banking and refrigerated railcars.
E take more than 100 years to go from first millionaire to first billionaire. For 1918, Forbes magazine survey the foremost bankers and find John D. Rockefeller worth $1.2 billion. If dem convert that money to cash and share am equally, every American go get $10, wey be like $240 today. For Musk, every American go get $2,300.
Henry Ford follow Rockefeller, but for many years billionaires few because taxes high. Howard Hughes, J. Paul Getty and Aristotle Onassis become famous. Hughes want be top golfer and aviator. Getty make money for oil and dey famous for secrecy. Onassis marry Jackie Kennedy for 1968.
When Forbes publish first Forbes 400 list for 1982, America get only 13 billionaires. Daniel Ludwig wey worth $2 billion be number 214 for that list. But by 1987, Forbes World’s Billionaires list find 140 billionaires around globe worth $295 billion combined, including more than 40 Americans.
Billionaire population double to 291 within five years, then reach nearly 500 as dotcom bubble inflate fortunes for late 1990s. Bill Gates become first person worth $25 billion by 1997, $50 billion by 1998, and for 1999 e briefly reach $100 billion before market crash.
E take nearly 20 years until Jeff Bezos for 2017 hit $100 billion. Then Bezos take just three years to double am, become first person worth $200 billion for 2020. Now Musk make those numbers look small.
Musk first appear for Forbes billionaires list for 2012 with $2 billion, two years after Tesla IPO. Within nine years e become richest person for January 2021 with nearly $190 billion as Tesla shares soar more than 20,000% since IPO. For late 2021, e become first person worth $300 billion.
Musk trade wealth crown with Bezos and Bernard Arnault for some years, but since June 2024 e hold title tight. Thanks to Tesla high price and SpaceX skyrocketing valuation, Musk reach $400 billion for December 2024, $500 billion for October, $600 billion and $700 billion for September, $800 billion for February, and finally $1 trillion on June 12.
Billionaires everywhere dey smash records. Forbes find that planet add more than one new billionaire per day for past year. Now record 3,400-plus billionaires worldwide, up 50% from decade ago. Record 19 people worth $100 billion or more, each at least three times richer than Rockefeller for 1918 after inflation.
Larry Page, world second-richest person, worth $291 billion—as much as all billionaires for 1987 combined and nearly twice Bill Gates at peak of dotcom bubble. Sergey Brin nearly as rich. Pace dey quicken. Sports stars dey become billionaires. Prediction markets get huge valuations. Demand dey unlimited for any business wey tie to AI—chips, chatbots, data centers.
Taylor Swift spend year and half as world richest self-made woman billionaire until Lucy Guo of Scale AI unseat am for eight months, until Kalshi Luana Lopes Lara join. Guo cofounder Alexandr Wang become youngest self-made billionaire for 2024. Then Shayne Coplan of Polymarket hold title until 22-year-old Mercor cofounder Surya Midha become billionaire 20 days later.
