On 12 June, Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX’s initial public offering on the US stock exchange.

He joined a select group of the richest people who have ever lived. Most have been leaders of large empires, such as Augustus Caesar and Emperor Shenzong. Musk, however, hasn’t needed an army or a physical empire to amass his riches. He has become stupendously wealthy through technological innovation, a globalised economy and the dizzying levels of inequality that are baked into the free market’s reward mechanisms. Meanwhile, more than 800 million people around the world are surviving on less than the equivalent of $3 per day in local spending power.

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