The Age of Founder Control

When tech billionaires govern the sky: Musk, Thiel, Altman and the privatisation of space

First published in Respekt. The company SpaceX recently entered the stock market with record figures, with a plan to move AI into space and transform internet communication. What were its beginnings, and what does its success mean for the planet today? In 2001, a party for PayPal employees took place in Las Vegas. Among those present was its former director, 30‑year‑old programmer and visionary Elon Musk, who held bachelor’s degrees in physics a…

Relative Poverty Versus Absolute Poverty

Elon Musk recently became the world’s first trillionaire, at least on paper.  His wealth now exceeds the annual gross domestic product of all, but 21 countries. This figure dwarfs the annual personnel income in the United States (just under $70,000) by a whopping 1.4 billion percent.  Musk’s wealth is not just large, it is incomprehensible....

COLUMN: The growing chasm between rich and poor

Elon Musk, the richest man on the planet, achieved a new milestone in June when he became the world’s first trillionaire. This happened following the initial public offering of his rocket and AI company, SpaceX. His net worth is now around US$1.3 and trillion, according to information from Forbes. To understand the enormity of this figure, if one were counting this amount money at the rate of $1 million per hour, it would take more than 150 year…

The Age of Founder Control

Last month, SpaceX went for the largest stock market listing in history worth $1.77 trillion. Taken together with his shares in Tesla, Musk’s equity stake of around 42 percent in SpaceX made him the first trillionaire. Venture capitalists like Peter Thiel who invested early in SpaceX are set to make a killing when they are allowed to sell their shares over the next few months.But beyond the obscene concentration of capitalist wealth in the hands…