Elon Musk can be called a lot of things. He’s an industrialist with a keen interest in rockets, a potential cage fighter ready to go against Johnny Depp and even a partner in Tom Cruise’s next film… that just happens to be going to space. But as of now, Musk has just landed a pretty large honor: he’s now the richest person on the planet, and he’s responding with quite a bit of reserve and stoicism.
The Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley Twitter feed reported this news for all to hear far and wide, and naturally the man himself was going to respond. But if you were hoping for an Oscar night acceptance speech, or a video thanking his fans for helping him get there, you’d be wrong. Rather, Elon Musk’s reaction to becoming the richest person on the planet is the following, simple tweet:
“Well… back to work” is a response that’s begging to be put on a t-shirt, especially considering this response is in reference to Elon Musk’s personal wealth surpassing $185 billion. For reference, it took roughly $4 billion each for Disney to purchase Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm. If Musk wanted to make a generous offer to take those properties off of the studio’s hypothetical hands, he’d be able to easily cut a Mickey and Minnie-brand check and still have at least $177 billion left over. So more than likely, Mr. Musk would be able to buy himself an annual pass to any Disney Parks establishment he chooses; provided, of course, they’re still a thing in 2021.
The work certainly doesn’t end for someone like Elon Musk, no matter how much is reflected on those balance sheets. As mentioned before, his company, Space-X, will be assisting Tom Cruise and director Doug Liman in their latest action-adventure movie; the first Hollywood movie to be filmed past the surly bonds of Earth. Getting that production into space and back is obviously only part of the work that Musk will be putting his mind to, as his work innovating other projects in his portfolio is still ongoing.
But just imagine how cool it has to be to able to say, “Well… back to work,” the moment you found out you were the richest person in the world? You could probably purchase the rights to No Time To Die and never show the film unless some sort of demands were met. Elon Musk probably has enough money that he could purchase the entire Fox/Disney line of films set to be released this year and pass them off to the streaming service of his choice. The sky’s the limit, but that’s probably where Musk’s eyes are currently trained. Which means it’s a good time for him, and the rest of us, to get back to work.
