Think Musk the billionaire was bad? Brace yourself for Musk the trillionaire | Arwa Mahdawi

Becoming the world’s first trillionaire is only going to supercharge this sense of impunity and bring us one step closer to full-blown oligarchy

“Whoever said ‘money can’t buy happiness’ really knew what they were talking about,” Elon Musk wrote in February on Twitter/X, the social network he bought for https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/19/value-elon-musk-x-rebounds-purchase-price">$44bn.

He capped the statement with a https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2019212107020136611?s=20">sad face emoji.

Alas, Musk’s information is outdated.

A https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/18/money-buys-happiness-study">2024 study found a substantial difference in happiness between the wealthy and people who are low income. “A greater feeling of control over life can explain about 75% of the association between money and happiness,” the study’s author noted.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist and the author of Strong Female Lead