176,000,000,000,000 yen. ($1.089 trillion).

Even when written out in full, the figure defeats comprehension.

That is the net worth American entrepreneur Elon Musk reached when SpaceX—his rocket, satellite and artificial intelligence infrastructure company—completed its record-shattering initial public offering this month.

This stock market debut for the ages made him the first trillionaire in human history.

A fortune of 176 trillion yen does not invite understanding so much as surrender. As one Indian media outlet observed, even if you spent $1 million (roughly 160 million yen) every single day, it would still take more than 3,000 years to run through such a sum.

To finish the task on schedule, you would have had to begin your spending........

© The Asahi Shimbun