When SpaceX made headlines and Elon Musk became the first trillionaire, many Americans celebrated. However, not everyone shared in the joy. Adam Schiff, a Democratic senator, saw it as a crime scene. He expressed his concern about an economy that creates such immense wealth while people struggle to access basic healthcare.
Schiff described the situation as “terribly wrong,” suggesting that the system is corrupt and that wealth accumulates at the expense of poverty. He voiced these concerns on X, the platform owned by Musk. In a twist of irony, Musk himself responded to the engagement, highlighting the complexities of the situation.
It’s important to consider where this wealth came from and whether it was truly earned. The money originated from Hawthorne, where engineers and machinists who built the rockets held shares. When the stock began trading, their paper assets turned into tangible benefits, such as down payments and college funds for those working in the industry.
A welder with stock options doesn’t need a senator to explain the costs of a corrupt system. They simply used their shares to pay off their house.
Musk is widely regarded as a visionary and America’s greatest builder. He took a launch business that the government had abandoned and taught it to land boosters on a barge at sea, then reuse them the next week. While California struggles to house its own people or maintain its grid during heat waves, it seems to hold a grudge indefinitely.
Tax policy is a topic open for discussion. People can argue about brackets and carried interest until they are hoarse. However, a senator from a state that lost SpaceX has little credibility to lecture anyone on who deserves to be rich.
California has been losing employers for years. Its well-known companies continue to move to Austin. SpaceX joined this trend in 2024, relocating to Texas, a place where approval processes are simpler and less time-consuming. If a state becomes too slow and expensive, builders stop asking why. They simply book a moving truck.
There is also the matter of X, the platform Schiff used to voice his grievances. Before Musk’s ownership, the site functioned like a faculty lounge with login requirements, where only approved opinions received a blue checkmark and others faced timeouts. People like Schiff relied on it to control what Americans could say.
After Musk bought the platform, he changed the locks. The critics retained their accounts but lost their monopoly. Everyone else gained the floor. For a certain type of senator, free speech on a site he cannot control begins to look like a threat to the republic. He trusted the old platform to silence his opponents. The new one allows them to respond, which is the underlying issue.
Schiff is not alone in his discontent. Bernie Sanders, a millionaire who criticizes millionaires, criticized Musk’s success. Paul Krugman went further, calling SpaceX a “Ponzi scheme” fueled by a rigged market. This is the same man who once advised Enron.
The chorus criticizes Musk while ignoring the fact that his fortune was built over many years of hard work. SpaceX introduced reusable rockets and a satellite grid that reaches remote villages. NASA now purchases rides to orbit from him because the alternative was buying seats from Russia. Musk’s launch rate embarrasses every national space program. You can dislike the man and still recognize his achievements. The left excels at criticism but often fails to acknowledge the accomplishments.
California helped create SpaceX and then made staying there a punishment. Musk understood he had to leave. So did Schiff’s late father. A salesman who spent his life chasing the California dream chose to spend his last years in Florida, a state with no income tax and reliable air conditioning. The son still campaigns on the dream his father left the state to keep.
A man who came from South Africa built a car company and a rocket company, and now stands as the country’s first trillionaire. The wealth is large because the ambition was larger.
Two hundred fifty years ago, the founders designed the country for this. They wanted the man who showed up without a name to out-build those who inherited one.
The experiment still works, and Musk is what it was built to produce.
John Mac Ghlionn is a researcher and essayist.