Sen. Adam Schiff slammed what he called a “corrupt system” after SpaceX‘s (NASDAQ:SPCX) historic Nasdaq debut made CEO Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire.
Trillionaire Wealth, No Health Care
“There is something terribly wrong about an economy that produces its first trillionaire, but cannot provide health care for its people,” Schiff wrote in an X post late Friday.
He added that “the richest handful of families have the combined wealth of almost forty percent of the rest of the country,” calling it “the cost of a corrupt system, where wealth perpetuates itself, and poverty, at the same time.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom echoed the criticism, calling the system “rigged,” citing high grocery and gas prices.
Ackman Pushes Back
Not everyone shared Schiff’s view.
Investor Bill Ackman pushed back on Sen. Bernie Sanders‘ criticism of Musk’s wealth in his Saturday post, arguing it reflects value creation, not cash.
“Elon is not sitting on a trillion dollar pile of cash, jewelry and gold. He is using his controlling stakes in his companies to advance mankind. Elon’s companies don’t pay dividends,” Ackman wrote, adding that the firms reinvest capital into innovation. He credited SpaceX with making thousands of employees millionaires.
Amid a wave of high-profile initial public offerings by companies such as SpaceX and OpenAI, Warren and Rep. Sarah Jacobs renewed calls for a wealth tax.
Sanders had separately argued income inequality has “never” been so extreme, citing data showing the top 0.001% gained $20 million each last year while the bottom 50% lost $27 on average.
SPCX shares closed up 19.22% on their trading debut at $160.95, pushing its market cap past $2 trillion.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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