Elon Musk on Friday said that SpaceX could one day be worth orders of magnitude more than the current global economy, sparking mixed reactions on social media. Musk wrote on X, "This will sound super crazy, but I see a path to SpaceX being worth orders of magnitude more than the current Earth economy."
Musk is the chief executive officer and largest shareholder of Tesla and SpaceX. The trillionaire was awarded the National Medal of Science at a ceremony in Washington on Thursday.
His statement triggered a range of reactions from X users, with some expressing support for his vision while others questioned his predictions.
"Earth's GDP is ~110 T. One order of magnitude above that is already > $1 quadrillion. Is the path mainly Starship cadence + orbital refueling enabling asteroid mining and space-based solar, or something else?" one user commented.
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Another user expressed confidence in Musk's companies, writing, "I invest in your companies just in case your crazy projections like this come true... SpaceX to the moon! Literally."
"It's the gateway to the resources of the universe," a third user wrote.
However, some users questioned Musk's track record and the feasibility of his ambitious projections. "Your predictions over the last 10 years have a poor record of success. Borderline Jim Cramer level," one user wrote, listing several of Musk's earlier predictions about Tesla, autonomous driving, Mars colonisation and Starship that they believe have yet to materialise.
Another user expressed scepticism, commenting, "It sounds... a little bit crazy. Like a few whiskey's on a crazy Friday night. Like, it's not that it won't happen but you're certainly feeling it."
A separate user also questioned whether such a statement was legally permissible for the chief executive of a publicly traded company, writing, "Is it legal to say this as a public CEO?"
Meanwhile, during Thursday's ceremony, US President Donald Trump called Musk a 'national treasure' and compared him to American inventor Thomas Edison. "Elon is our modern-day Thomas Edison,” Trump said, referring to the inventor associated with the development of the practical light bulb.
"Elon, I want to congratulate you. You're my friend, and all of that, but you are a very, very special guy," Trump added at the event, titled 'Science: A New Golden Age.'
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