How Elon Musk Made His Billions | CNBC Marathon

CNBC Marathon explores how tech titan Elon Musk dominated space, cars, social media, supercomputers, to become the richest person in the world.

Starlink is SpaceX’s answer to providing global, high-speed internet coverage using a network of thousands of satellites buzzing around the planet in a region known as low Earth orbit (LEO), about 342 miles above the Earth’s surface. SpaceX launched its first batch of Starlink satellites back in 2019, and since then, adoption of the service has ballooned. Starlink now has over 4.6 million active customers and is available on all 7 continents and in over 60 countries. Starlink has been praised for its ability to connect remote parts of the world that would otherwise not have access to reliable internet. The service has also become indispensable in areas hit by natural disasters, and, more recently, during times of war, particularly the Russia-Ukraine war. But Starlink’s growing influence is garnering condemnation from some who say that SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk is meddling in geopolitics, while the scientific community is raising alarms of the effect of thousands of satellites on radio and optical astronomy.

Elon Musk has big plans for how artificial intelligence can help to propel his businesses forward. The tech titan founded xAI, a new AI venture, in 2023 to develop large language models and AI products, like its chatbot Grok, as an alternative to AI tools being created by OpenAI, Microsoft and Google. In June 2024, it was announced that xAI would build a multi-billion dollar supercomputer, called Colossus, in Memphis, Tennessee to carry out the task of training Grok. Musk thinks supercomputers can also transform Tesla from a car company to an AI and robotics company. In August 2024, Musk teased Tesla’s AI supercomputer cluster called “Cortex” on X. Watch the video to learn more about why Musk has been building a slew of supercomputers.

Elon Musk is on track to becoming the world's first trillionaire by 2027, according to a report from Informa Connect Academy. The biggest driver of Musk's wealth has been Tesla stock and his ownership of SpaceX. Federal Reserve data shows the share of wealth controlled by the top 1% has grown dramatically, while the wealth of the bottom 50% has stagnated. Some feel that rising tides lift all boats, while others think wealth concentration can be harmful to society.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:09 How Elon Musk’s Starlink Is Bringing In Billions For SpaceX (Published Nov 2023)
19:45 Why Elon Musk Is Betting Big On Supercomputers To Boost Tesla And xAI (Published Sep 2024)
35:36 Why The Rich Keep Getting Richer In The U.S. (Published Oct 2024)

Produced and Edited by: Carlos Waters, Charlotte Morabito
Senior Director of Video: Lindsey Jacobson
Senior Managing Producer: Shawn Baldwin
Additional Camera: Jordan Smith
Graphics & Animation: Jason Reginato, Christine Kim
Additional Footage: Getty Images
Additional Sources: Allianz, Bolton Partners, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Clinton Aluminum, Council on Foreign Relations, Fidelity, Federal Register, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Grant Thornton, Howard Precision Metals Inc., International Aluminum Association, Morningstar, National Association of Home Builders, National Mining Association, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Peterson Institute for International Economics, Reynolds, Center for Strategic Industrial Materials, S&P Global, U.S. Geological Survey, and U.S. International Trade Administration.

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How Elon Musk Made His Billions | CNBC Marathon