Elon Musk Becomes First Trillionaire, Yet Still Rents a $50K Tiny Home in Texas
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A trillion dollars can buy nearly anything — except, it seems, a new home for Elon Musk.
The SpaceX founder has officially crossed a threshold once considered impossible: his net worth topped $1 trillion, making him the first confirmed trillionaire in modern history. Depending on the estimate, Musk’s fortune now sits between roughly $1.1 trillion and $1.4 trillion.
To put that in perspective: the median U.S. household has a net worth of about $192,900, according to Federal Reserve data. Musk is worth roughly 5.7 million times that figure.
Yet despite this unimaginable wealth, Musk’s primary residence is a modest rented home near SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. He bought it for around $50,000 — less than a fraction of what many Americans spend on their first car.
“My primary home is literally a ~$50k house in Boca Chica / Starbase that I rent from SpaceX,” Musk wrote on X in 2021. “It’s kinda awesome though.”
He has long embraced minimalism, adding in another post: “Feels more homey to live in a small house.”
Most billionaires buy bigger homes, yachts and jets. Musk went the other direction.
After announcing in 2020 that he planned to sell “almost all physical possessions,” he offloaded a string of California properties worth tens of millions of dollars. He then relocated to Texas, where SpaceX’s Starbase became the center of his push toward Mars. The tiny home sits just minutes from the rocket factory and launch site.
Journalist Walter Isaacson, who shadowed Musk for his biography, described the residence as remarkably sparse — more like a practical base of operations than a billionaire showcase.
Even Musk’s mother, Maye Musk, seemed surprised. “There is no food in the fridge,” she posted on X after a visit in March. “The garage where I slept is on the right. The shower only has one towel so I left it for Elon.”
Those details paint a picture far removed from the image many associate with the world’s richest person.
Part of the explanation lies in how Musk’s wealth is structured. Most of his fortune comes from ownership stakes in companies like SpaceX, Tesla, xAI, Neuralink and The Boring Company. As those businesses grow in value, so does his net worth — but the reverse is also true: a major decline could erase hundreds of billions of dollars on paper. Musk has described himself as relatively cash-poor compared with the size of his net worth; the wealth exists primarily in equity, not cash.
Still, someone worth more than $1 trillion has long since passed the point where additional money changes daily life. Musk could buy virtually any house on Earth and still remain among the wealthiest people in history. Instead, he prioritizes proximity to SpaceX’s mission over luxury — being steps away from Starship development and launch operations is worth more to him than any mansion.
That mindset echoes a principle that fellow billionaire Warren Buffett has long championed. In Berkshire Hathaway’s 2010 shareholder letter, Buffett wrote that while buying his Omaha home was his third-best investment, he “would have made far more money had I instead rented and used the purchase money to buy stocks.” The lesson: wealth often comes from owning productive assets, not just expensive things.
For most Americans, building wealth on Musk’s scale isn’t realistic — but building ownership is. While buying an entire rental property requires significant capital, some investors turn to platforms that allow fractional ownership for as little as $100. These platforms let individuals buy shares of rental properties, collect rental income, and build equity without the headaches of direct management.
The strategy won’t create another Elon Musk. But it follows the same principle that has powered many of the world’s largest fortunes: putting money into assets that can grow, rather than simply spending more as wealth increases.
For those looking to build a long-term strategy, financial advisors can help determine how such opportunities fit into an overall plan. Below are several platforms that offer access to real estate, private credit, precious metals, and other alternative assets — each designed to help diversify beyond traditional stocks and bonds.
Arrived — backed by Jeff Bezos — lets investors buy fractional shares of single-family rentals and vacation homes starting at $100. BluSky AI is building modular AI data centers to meet demand for compute infrastructure. ARK7 offers fractional shares of rental properties with no property management needed. Immersed is developing spatial-computing tools for remote work, including the lightweight Visor headset. Miso Robotics creates AI-powered kitchen robots for commercial restaurants. Vinovest manages authenticated portfolios of fine wine and rare whiskey starting at $5,000. FarmTogether (for accredited investors) provides access to U.S. farmland starting at $15,000. EquityMultiple offers vetted commercial real estate deals from $5,000. Fundrise sells diversified private real estate and credit strategies. American Hartford Gold allows buyers to purchase physical gold and silver for direct delivery or within self-directed IRAs. Mode Mobile lets users earn money from everyday smartphone activity by sharing advertising revenue.
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This article originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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