Elon Musk is a rich, rich man. How rich? Well, if you take him at his word, he’ll owe the tax man a significant sum this year.
Musk tweeted about his tax situation, leading to decidedly mixed responses on Twitter.
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It’s been a big year for the entrepreneur.
Time magazine named Musk its person of the year for 2021. They summed him up thusly:
*The richest man in the world does not own a house and has recently been selling off his fortune. He tosses satellites into orbit and harnesses the sun; he drives a car he created that uses no gas and barely needs a driver.
“With a flick of his finger, the stock market soars or swoons. An army of devotees hangs on his every utterance.*
SpaceX had a big year, too.
Musk may have made his name with Tesla, but he seems set on making SpaceX his legacy. His private spaceflight company has developed reusable rockets that can land themselves and is leading the way on humanity’s efforts to colonize Mars.
So what is Elon Musk’s tax burden?
Musk summed things up in a straightforward tweet, bluntly stating that he would pay a whopping $11 billion in taxes this year. For those keeping track at home, Musk is the richest person in the world, with a net worth of $278 billion.
Responses on Twitter were mixed.
Musk has a lot of fans, so it stands to reason that some of them would rather see him use this cash to innovate in some way rather than paying it out to the taxman.
It kind of boils down to this.
While $11 billion is a lot to pay in taxes, it doesn’t seem that extreme if it still leaves Elon Musk with literally hundreds of billions of dollars of walking-around money. It’s a lot, but it won’t bankrupt him.
Musk’s ventures have received billions in funding.
While the $4.9 billion stated here is less than half of the $11 billion in taxes, it raises a good point: when we’re talking about billionaire money, the sums are pretty ridiculous.
He hasn’t released his tax returns.
He might not be the most famous person to refuse to release his tax returns, but it would still be interesting to see the breakdown. Odds are good that Musk’s legal team brought the tax burden down through accounting.
No one likes paying taxes.
Taxes can be a real kick in the teeth when you’re trying to get by and get hit with a hefty bill. But unlike many of us, Musk can comfortably pay off his taxes this year.
You have to make money to pay taxes.
At the end of the day, while paying taxes can hurt the pocketbook, it’s a sure sign that you’re making money.
If you’re paying $11 billion in taxes, it’s a sure sign that you’re making a lot of money.
What do you think?
Is Musk’s tax burden fair? Too high? Too low? Should a billionaire complain about having to pay taxes? Make sure to let us know what you think of this story, and of taxes in general, in the comments!
