# The Calculation: Elon Musk Could Have Been 4 Times Wealthier Under A Wealth Tax
**URL:** https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/the-calculation-elon-musk-could-have-been-4-times-wealthier-under-a-wealth-tax/4904
**Category:** General Discussion
**Created:** [22 September 2024 20:20 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/the-calculation-elon-musk-could-have-been-4-times-wealthier-under-a-wealth-tax/4904 "2024-09-22T20:20:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@jabowery](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/jabowery)
#### Post date: [22 September 2024 20:20 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/the-calculation-elon-musk-could-have-been-4-times-wealthier-under-a-wealth-tax/4904/1 "2024-09-22T20:20:39Z")
UPDATE
Rather than assuming Musk paid corporate tax rate every year I looked up personal long-term capital gains tax rates over the period. Even with that lower capital gains tax rate, he still comes out about 4 times wealthier; which is more in line with my prior recent estimates than the factor of 50 which assumed he paid 35% corporate capital gains.
END UPDATE
When I saw Elon Musk retweet this video of his “net worth” vs hair growth since 1996…
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It provided the critical column of a spreadsheet I wanted to put together to convince him he should endorse my proposed replacement of the 16th Amendment with a net asset tax.
Here it is for your peer review.
> **[Elon Musk Could Have Been 4 Times Wealthier Under A Wealth Tax](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BIyFjk0-YXG37dc1oKFmRXlHyTEUUN0Q38f1QIBQpiE/edit?usp=sharing)**
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> This Sheet is private
The specific net asset tax rate I used in the spreadsheet is the 30-year Treasury rate in the prior year. The rationale is that rational government investments, if any there be, should have long-term paybacks such as human capital as in Total Fertility Rates of the middle class.
I originally proposed such a tax reform in an attempt to get capital markets to start supporting commercial launch services. So it is no coincidence that I’m targeting Elon Musk as an example of a capitalist that should support it.
[https://ota.polyonymo.us/others-papers/NetAssetTax\_Bowery.txt](https://ota.polyonymo.us/others-papers/NetAssetTax_Bowery.txt)
I could have done a similar calculation for the total national wealth which would have blown people’s socks off – including people who are afraid of having their economic rents “expropriated” by a wealth tax. On the contrary, by shifting the economy to favor guys like Musk, demand for such lazy investments as land value would have gone up dramatically as well – and even lazy investors would be better off.
> **[The Appreciation Condition For a Single Tax On Wealth](https://jimbowery.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-expropriation-condition-for-single.html)**
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> What if, during her 2020 Presidential Campaign, Elizabeth Warren had advocated, instead of adding a new tax on wealth, eliminating all taxes...
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### Author:  [@jabowery](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/jabowery)
#### Post date: [17 April 2026 10:59 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/the-calculation-elon-musk-could-have-been-4-times-wealthier-under-a-wealth-tax/4904/2 "2026-04-17T10:59:25Z")
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