Elon Musk Has So Much Money That Printing $1 Million A Day Since 1440 Can't Catch Him

The printing press is considered to be one of the greatest inventions of all time. It kick-started a revolution and transformed the way ideas are communicated across the globe.

Here’s an interesting statistic about the printing press as it relates to Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk, the world’s richest person.

What Happened: Musk is worth more than $200 billion and at one point in 2021 was worth so much that he could buy every MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL team.

Fast forward to 2023 and Musk is the richest person in the world, worth $244 billion, according to Bloomberg. The billionaire has watched his wealth increase by $107 billion year-to-date in 2023.

The increase comes even after Tesla shares fell over 60%, with their biggest calendar-year drop since going public. Musk saw his wealth fall by hundreds of billions from his peak in November 2021 to the end of 2022.

Musk saw his wealth fall by so much that he was awarded a Guinness World Record for the biggest one-year drop in net worth.

After being passed in 2022 by Bernard Arnault and falling to the second richest person in the world, Musk is back on top and has a $74 billion lead over Arnault. 

Related Link: Elon Musk Wants More Babies Being Born, Now He's Forking Over Millions For The Cause

Catching Elon Musk: Musk is currently worth an estimated $244 billion due to his owning 15% of Tesla and around 40% ownership of SpaceX.

Musk passed several notable investors and company founders over the years to top the list.

Here’s a fun statistic: 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.

The Gutenberg printing press was invented in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg 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.

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.

Here’s the math:

• The printing press was invented 583 years ago
• Depending on the date it was invented, it could have been 213,058 days ago (based on Jan 1. 1440 and Sept. 20, 2023)
• 213,058 x $1 million daily gets a total of $213.06 billion

That falls short of the $244 billion Musk is currently valued at.

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.

Read Next: 52 Fun Facts And Figures About Elon Musk 

Photos: Phanurak Rubpol and Ken Wolter on Shutterstock