Trying to predict Elon Musk’s vision of the future can feel like reading the last chapter before the rest of the book has been written.
One day he’s talking about a company becoming more valuable than the planet.
The next, he’s suggesting money itself may eventually lose its importance.
The apparent contradiction surfaced on July 9, when the SpaceX (SPCX) CEO responded to a user on X who questioned the company’s multibillion-dollar AI compute partnership with Anthropic.
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“You don’t seem to understand that SpaceX will be worth more than the rest of Earth if we accomplish our goals,” Musk wrote.
The comment quickly spread across social media, not least because it dwarfed even the loftiest corporate valuations.
SpaceX’s market capitalization climbed above $2 trillion following its June 2026 initial public offering (IPO), but Musk wasn’t talking about the next earnings report.
He was describing a future where the company underpins much of humanity’s economic infrastructure.
At first glance, though, the statement seemed to clash with something else Musk has said.
Around the time of SpaceX’s IPO, entrepreneur Peter Diamandis asked Musk about the long-term implications of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation.
Rather than focusing on wealth, Musk argued that wealth itself could become a less meaningful concept.
“I think money will stop being relevant at some point in the future,” he said.
Musk explained that AI and robots could eventually create so much abundance that “the output of goods and services will exceed the supply of money,” creating persistent deflation and reducing the importance of traditional currency.
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Diamandis couldn’t help but point out the irony.
Musk had just become the world’s first trillionaire through SpaceX’s IPO.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Musk replied.
Those comments may sound incompatible, but they’re rooted in the same idea.
Value Beyond Dollars
Musk has repeatedly argued that, while money may become less important, physical constraints won’t disappear.
