Elon Musk replied that his wealth comes solely from holding shares in SpaceX and Tesla. The more the companies build, the higher the valuation rises, benefiting all shareholders. He referred to Bernie Sanders as a taker who has never built anything and stated that such people consistently demand from builders.

This reply was posted under John Stossel's post. Stossel noted that Musk has become a trillionaire again and argued that those advocating for government-imposed limits on his wealth are economically misguided, as the government tends to waste funds, while SpaceX and Tesla create what people want. Musk did not respond to the terms of the cap proposal, instead explaining the numbers as shareholdings.

He did not provide the percentage of shares held, cash balance, or tax amounts in this post. The rise was described by him as a change in valuation brought about by building, with beneficiaries referred to as all shareholders, not just himself. He separated takers from builders, placing Sanders on the taker side.

This same distinction has been used by him before. In response to claims that Musk's wealth exceeds that of half of American households, he wrote that he holds shares in SpaceX and Tesla, not a pile of cash. As companies do more useful things, their value rises according to expected uses, benefiting shareholders along the way, including most retirement plans. This time, he replaced retirement plans with all shareholders and targeted Sanders.

The post did not accompany any sell-offs, buybacks, or new rounds of financing. SpaceX remains a private company, while Tesla is a public company. The price of private equity comes from financing rounds and transfers, while the price of public equity comes from public trading. The book wealth on both sides will fluctuate with valuations and cannot be extracted as cash.

This is a valuation debate, not a sell-off. The buyers are shareholders and funds continuing to bid for building capacity, while the sellers frame wealth caps or tax increases as political proposals for redistribution. The beneficiaries are internal shareholders who can increase their book net worth without selling when share prices rise, while the pressured side is the proposal to count unrealized equity appreciation as taxable or limited wealth. Stocks have not been converted to cash, and the proposals have not yet materialized.

Source: Public Information