A trillionaire is a person whose net worth is at least one trillion units of a given currency, typically the US dollar due to its status as a world currency. The only person to reach trillionaire status in terms of US dollars is Elon Musk, who first reached trillionaire status upon the initial public offering of his company SpaceX in 2026. Musk's net worth is highly concentrated in SpaceX, and SpaceX debuted at a record valuation of nearly US$2 trillion. Since then, SpaceX's volatile stock price has primarily influenced Musk's net worth, with its fluctuations causing him to lose and reclaim trillionaire status several times. Several other currencies have had their own trillionaires, sometimes owing to hyperinflation.
Etymology The earliest evidence of the word trillionaire, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is from a letter to the editor published in an 1861 issue of the Huddersfield Chronicle and West Yorkshire Advertiser.
In US dollars
Predictions for the first trillionaire In 1999, Evan L. Marcus of Wired provided four scenarios in which Microsoft founder Bill Gates becomes not only the first trillionaire in US dollars, but also the first quadrillionaire (having a net worth of one thousand trillions or one quadrillion). In 2005, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson also said that Gates would become the first trillionaire. In 2017, a report from international charity Oxfam predicted that the first trillionaire would emerge within 25 years, pointing to increasing global wealth inequality and individuals such as Gates.
In 2008, Peter Diamandis, founder of the Xprize foundation, predicted that the first trillionaire would be made in the space industry by asteroid mining. In 2015, Tyson predicted the same, as did US senator Ted Cruz in 2018. Musk said in 2003 that asteroid mining was "bogus", and has not publicly updated that view since then, and in 2018 Andrew Glester of Physics World questioned the feasibility of precious metal extraction as well as of the effect on prices that a sudden influx of a supply of precious metals might have.
Entrepreneur Mark Cuban predicted in 2017 that the first trillionaire would make their fortune from artificial intelligence.
A study by Approve, a platform for finance teams, predicted in 2022 that Musk would become the world's first trillionaire by 2024. The same study also predicted nine other individuals would become trillionaires after Musk: Gautam Adani in 2025, Zhang Yiming in 2026, Bernard Arnault in 2029, Mukesh Ambani in 2029, Jeff Bezos in 2030, Larry Page in 2032, Sergey Brin in 2032, Steve Ballmer in 2032, and Michael Dell in 2033.
A study by wealth-tracking service Informa Connect in 2024 predicted Musk would become a trillionaire in 2027, Adani in 2028, Prajogo Pangestu in 2028, Jensen Huang in 2028, Mark Zuckerberg in 2030, Arnault (and his family) in 2030, and Phil Knight (and his family) in 2030.
First trillionaire
On June 12, 2026, with the initial public offering of Musk's company SpaceX at a record valuation of nearly US$1.8 trillion, he became the only person whose net worth has exceeded $1 trillion. His ownership of 42% of SpaceX shares, combined with his multi-billion-dollar holdings in Tesla, Inc. and other companies, brought him over the threshold upon the IPO. His net worth reached an intraday peak of $1.45 trillion in the week after the IPO, but by late July 2026, a SpaceX stock collapse had reduced his net worth by $750 billion, the largest loss in history. By early October 2026, SpaceX stocks had rebounded sufficiently to restore Musk's trillionaire status.
Reactions
The emergence of a trillionaire has prompted criticism from groups concerned with global wealth inequality. In June 2026, Oxfam said that a $1 trillion fortune would make Musk wealthier than the combined net worth of the poorest 46% of the world's population, or 3.8 billion people. Oxfam described the milestone as an example of extreme wealth concentration and called for higher taxation of ultra-high-net-worth individuals. Economist Gabriel Zucman argued that extreme wealth will always lead to extreme power and threatens the very possibility of democracy.
In other currencies
People have been considered trillionaires in other currencies, often due to hyperinflation, such as the Hungarian pengő in 1946 and the Zimbabwean dollar in 2008.
The net worth of people outside the US is often calculated in their respective currencies, creating dong trillionaires, ruble trillionaires, peso trillionaires, yen trillionaires, and others.
See also Billionaire Millionaire List of wealthiest families List of centibillionaires Inflation
References
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