Elon Musk Is So Rich That If You Printed $1M a Day Since The Renaissance, You Still Wouldn't Catch Up

Elon Musk became a billionaire at the age of 41 thanks to his leadership at Tesla Inc TSLA and several other companies and today is considered one of the greatest innovators of all time.

The Gutenberg printing press was introduced in 1440 and is considered one of the greatest inventions of all time.

Here's an interesting statistic that ties Musk, his wealth and the printing press together.

What Happened: Musk has been one of the richest people in the world for several years thanks to the strong performance of Tesla stock and the rising valuation of his private companies like SpaceX over the years.

Today, Musk is the richest man in the world, with an estimated wealth of $233 billion according to Bloomberg.

Musk has been behind or helped accelerate several of the great innovations of the last century like mass produced electric vehicles and reusable rockets, which could put his name in history books someday alongside Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the Gutenberg printing press.

The Gutenberg printing press was invented in 1440 in Germany.

Ten years later, the printing machine was ready for commercial use. Among the first items printed by Gutenberg were calendars and pamphlets. In 1452, Gutenberg began printing a Bible, with an estimated 180 copies printed. An estimated 21 complete copies have survived.

The printing press would also become integral in printing books as well as money.

The fun statistic that links Musk and the printing press is the fact that if you bought a Gutenberg printing press in 1440 and started printing $1 million every day, you still wouldn't be worth as much as Musk.

Here's the math:

• The printing press was invented 584 years ago
• Depending on the date it was invented, it could have been 213,401 days ago (based on Jan 1. 1440 and Aug. 29, 2024)
• 213,401 x $1 million daily gets a total of $213.40 billion

That falls short of the $233 billion Musk is currently valued at.

Now, printing money with the Gutenberg printing press is illegal. However, even if you were able to do it, it still might not make you the richest person in the world.

The dollar wasn't around until the Mint Act established the official U.S. coinage system in 1792. For the purposes of this hypothetical wealth building, let’s say you could print U.S. dollars in 1440.

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Why It's Important: It's crazy to think that Musk is worth more than someone printing $1 million every day since 1440, but that's what history tells us.

Becoming a billionaire at the age of 41 and later becoming the world's richest person shows that it can take years for hard work, inventions and innovations to pay off.

Musk was worth so much at one point in 2021 that he could buy every MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL team.

A drop in Tesla's share price in 2022 took Musk's wealth down so much that he was awarded a Guinness World Record for the biggest one-year drop in net worth.

After being passed by Bernard Arnault and falling to the second richest person in the world, Musk regained the title of richest man in the world in 2023 thanks to a recovery in Tesla's share price.

Musk's wealth increased by $92.0 billion in 2023 in one of the biggest one-year jumps ever. Ending 2023 with a wealth of $229 billion, Musk has added $4.2 billion to his wealth in 2024 to remain at the top of the list.

The majority of Musk's wealth comes from his owning around 20% of Tesla and around 40% of SpaceX.

Tesla shares have fallen 17% in 2024, but the rising valuation of SpaceX and other ventures have helped Musk add to his wealth during the year.

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This article was previously published by Benzinga and has been updated.

Photo: Shutterstock