Democratic lawmakers seized on Elon Musk’s new status as the world’s first trillionaire to renew calls for a wealth tax on the richest Americans as affordability concerns dominate national politics.
“The typical American household would have to work more than 11 MILLION years to make Elon Musk’s level of wealth,” Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, wrote in a post on X after the opening of trading in SpaceX shares ballooned Musk’s fortune. “We need a wealth tax.”
Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat who represents a Silicon Valley district that includes venture capitalists who are prominent backers of Musk’s fortune, said it’s a sign the economy isn’t working. “It’s a sign the system is rigged,” he wrote in an email to his supporters.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a Democratic Socialist and independent, pivoted straight to one of his own proposed bills, which would stabilize the fortunes of Social Security by lifting the payroll tax cap from its current limit of $184,500 to capture more from Musk, as well as other mere billionaires, millionaires and upper-middle-class households.
“If we end that absurdity and lift the cap on taxable income, we can make Social Security solvent for 75 years and expand benefits by $2,400,” Sanders wrote in a post on X .
The immediate reaction from the Democrats may be a sign of a prominent theme for the party’s next — and likely crowded — presidential primary. Of the trio, two have waged past White House bids and Khanna is speculated to be eyeing a 2028 run.
Warren and Sanders – longtime critics of Musk – posted their denunciations on X, the social media platform Musk owns, and which was part of the Friday stock market debut · that pushed his fortune into the 13-digit category. (Beneath Sanders’ post were anonymous replies denouncing Social Security as a Ponzi scheme.)
The breaking of the trillionaire barrier is a helpful talking point for progressives, but could also prove problematic for Democrats and independents like Sanders as Musk and his political allies increasingly use their wealth to influence elections.
Even before Friday, the richest man in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has been unabashed in his efforts to use his wealth to remake American politics, law and society according to his wishes, or his whims.
Musk dropped $291 million helping elect President Donald Trump in 2024, helping to win himself the chance to lay waste to government programs and regulatory agencies as the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. He shows every sign of staying in the game, or at least keeping his ideological allies in the Republican Party in power.
A Bloomberg News analysis from May shows he has already spent $84.8 million to boost Republicans in the midterm election cycle, second only to the financier George Soros, whose $102.6 million in contributions have gone to groups supporting the Democrats.
Read More: Soros, Musk, Yass Lead $4.7 Billion Fight for Future of Politics
The SpaceX IPO also boosts the fortunes and businesses of other figures who have encouraged the anti-regulatory agenda that Musk espouses, and fueled Trump’s rise.
Founders Fund, led by longtime Musk associate and right-wing agitator Peter Thiel, was set to see its SpaceX stake worth more than $50 billion at the IPO price – a level immediately surpassed in the first day of trading. The investment firm Andreessen Horowitz, whose founders have praised Trump and attacked his rivals, would see its stake surpass $10 billion, Bloomberg previously reported.
Earlier: SpaceX IPO Delivers Record Returns for Founders Fund, Andreessen