How long would it take for a regular American employee to catch up to Elon Musk’s wealth? It would take at least three million years, according to recent data from financial website MoneyTransfers.com. Musk is the wealthiest man in the world today. According to Forbes, the Tesla CEO’s wealth as of April 2022 stood at $262.6 billion.
Musk‘s net worth means that he makes over $430M daily, making it nearly impossible for the average American employee to work their way to his wealth. Based on 2020’s OECD data, that worker would make $69, 392 annually. They would need to work for 3M years to attain Musk’s holdings.
Furthermore, the numbers become inconceivable when adjusted for the median income. A 2020 St. Louis Federal Reserve analysis put U.S. median personal incomes at $35,805. Working with this figure would more than double the duration it would take to match Musk’s net worth.
The divide is steep beyond the borders, too. Changpeng Zhao is Canada’s wealthiest person. His ownership of Binance, the largest crypto exchange globally, has seen him amass $55B, a fortune his fellow Canadian would have to work for 1.2M years to attain.
These figures are already astronomical by Western States standards. But they become starker in countries with low average incomes and significant wealth disparities, such as India and China.
India’s wealthiest man, Mukesh Ambani, is worth around $91B. The mean annual wage in India is about $5,000. Therefore, it would take his compatriots earning the mean wage 17 million years to amass his kind of fortune.
Similarly, it’d take 15.3 years for a regular Chinese employee to raise the $66B that Zhong Shanshan is worth.
Musk is currently nearing a deal to buy out Twitter for over $45B. An agreement could be announced as soon as today, April 25.
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