Opinion

America didn’t give Elon Musk a trillion dollars. He earned every penny

A young immigrant arrived in 1992 with ambition and built companies that transformed payments, space and transportation

By Ted Jenkin Fox News

Published June 16, 2026 5:00am EDT

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Media criticizes Elon Musk after he becomes world's first trillionaire

‘The Big Weekend Show’ co-hosts discuss the media's reaction to Elon Musk becoming the world's first trillionaire.

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When SpaceX went public on June 12 and Elon Musk became the world's first trillionaire on paper, the predictable reactions arrived almost immediately. Some viewed the milestone as a symbol of everything wrong with modern capitalism. Others celebrated it as the ultimate entrepreneurial success story.

Both sides are missing the bigger picture.

The most important aspect of Elon Musk becoming the first trillionaire is not the size of his fortune. It is the fact that his journey could only have happened in a country that continues to reward innovation, risk-taking and the freedom to pursue ideas that most people initially dismiss as impossible.

In 1992, Musk arrived in the United States as a young immigrant pursuing educational and entrepreneurial opportunities. Few could have imagined that three decades later he would build a collection of companies that would transform industries ranging from payments and transportation to aerospace, communications and artificial intelligence.

LAURA INGRAHAM HAILS ELON MUSK'S SPACEX IPO AS AMERICAN INGENUITY CHANGING THE WORLD

The success of the SpaceX IPO made Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire. He earned it. (NASA via AP/Johannes Neudecker/Picture Alliance/Getty........

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