Bernie Sanders Asks Elon Musk to Back a 5% Wealth Tax if He Truly Believes 'Money Won't Matter' in 2036

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Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Tuesday challenged Elon Musk to support a 5% tax on billionaires’ wealth if the Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA ) and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (NASDAQ: SPCX ) CEO truly believed “money won’t matter” in 2036.

Sanders Says Musk Should Back Billionaire Wealth Tax In a post on X, Sanders said a 5% tax on the wealth of billionaires would help ensure “all Americans have a decent standard of living. “The fact that he doesn’t tells you everything you need to know,” the senator added.

If Elon Musk, the richest man alive, really believes "money won't matter" in 2036, he'd support a 5% tax on his wealth & the wealth of other billionaires to make sure all Americans have a decent standard of living.

The fact that he doesn’t tells you everything you need to know. — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 28, 2026 Musk Says Money May Lose Meaning In an AI-Driven Economy Sanders was responding to comments Musk made during an interview with The Economist last week, where the billionaire said money could become far less important if artificial intelligence and robots make goods and services so abundant that they exceed what people can consume.

When asked how people displaced by AI would earn a living, Musk said the Treasury could simply issue checks.

He added that the economy could face deflation rather than inflation if the production of goods and services grows faster than the money supply.

Read Also: Microsoft Earnings ‘Don’t Matter,’ Says Gene Munster Because 'Battle With the Bots' Just Beginning, Analyst Sounds 'Value Trap' Warning World’s Richest Person Has Opposed Wealth Taxes On Monday, the 2024 Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu urged Musk to pledge his fortune to charity by 2036 if he truly believes money will no longer matter. “I am actually going to do something along these lines!” the billionaire said in response to Acemoglu.

Musk, the world’s richest person, currently has an estimated net worth of about $729.8 billion, according to Forbes.

He became the world’s first trillionaire in June after SpaceX went public, but soon lost the trillionaire status as the stock receded from its highs.

Musk has repeatedly opposed wealth taxes, while saying he paid more than $10 billion in taxes in a single year and that he would ultimately pay “trillions” in taxes over his lifetime.

Last week, he said taxing billionaires alone would not solve the U.S. deficit, but by “taxing the living daylights out of everyone.” edge rankings indicate SPCX has a negative price trend across the short, medium and long term.

Read Also: Betting Against Elon Musk's SpaceX Has Cleared More Than $7 Billion, Says Research Firm Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published editors.

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