What it means to have a trillionaire

When I watch MSNBC’s coverage of Elon Musk’s “trillion-dollar pay package,” it eerily reminds me of Atlas Shrugged, which describes how those who actually provide the most value are cast as society’s villains.

The segment begins: “At a time when millions of people are struggling to put food on the table, Tesla is looking to make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire.” What is problematic about this line of thinking is that it equates society’s struggles with the successes of another person. What Elon Musk is being awarded for is designing a system that creates far more value than it takes in. This is the law of economic thermodynamics: a business can only exist if it creates more value than it asks for—otherwise, market participants in a free and open market would never choose to part with their money.