Billionaire Bill Ackman shut down the loud criticism against Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, after SpaceX’s blockbuster IPO turned him into the first-ever trillionaire. Taking a swipe at US Senator Bernie Sanders for saying there was no reason to celebrate the tech titan’s ultra-wealthy status, the American hedge fund manager praised Musk for creating “enormous value for society” and turning thousands of employees into overnight millionaires.
Ackman defended Elon Musk on social media after numerous people, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other American political figures, called out the vast wealth gap between the by-products of the same economy—a trillionaire and many who lack access to health care and other basic resources and services. The divisive debate was triggered by SpaceX’s historic initial public offering upon its June 12 Nasdaq debut.
As the rocket maker’s stock closed at around $161 on Friday, the company was valued at $2.1 trillion. This record-breaking milestone not only made the richest billionaire the world’s first trillionaire but also turned more than 4,400 current and former employees, including engineers and welders, into millionaires. As the numbers spoke volumes, Ackman applauded Musk’s SpaceX and its technologies for causing an “acceleration in the growth of wages and wealth creation globally.”
Bill Ackman celebrates Elon Musk and SpaceX’s success story
Directly responding to Bernie Sanders, Ackman wrote on X, “It is a time to celebrate. @elonmusk has created enormous value for society by building @SpaceX, driving down the cost of rocket launches and creating a global satellite communication network that has brought high-speed, low-cost internet and communication access to hundreds of millions and eventually billions of people, along with critical advantages for our military and our nation’s defence.”
.@BernieSanders , it is a time to celebrate. @elonmusk has created enormous value for society by building @SpaceX, driving down the cost of rocket launches and creating a global satellite communication network that has brought high speed, low-cost internet and communication… https://t.co/cXszxqi70T
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) June 13, 2026
Hailing the tech giant’s contributions, the hedge fund manager said that by offering access to low-cost, high-speed communications everywhere, SpaceX will “allow children around the world to be educated, families to build businesses, and life-saving medical knowledge and care to be available everywhere.” He also credited the company with significantly bringing down the cost of computing and advancing artificial intelligence and humanity.
Simultaneously, he highlighted how the SpaceX IPO boosted the financial status of thousands of employees, including floor staff. Collectively describing business moguls behind money-making companies as the “Elon Musks of the world,” Ackman said they are the ones who can “drive growth, global GDP, and provide access to goods and services at lower cost that would otherwise not exist.”
Turning his attention to Musk’s newfound financial peak, Ackman listed his numerous companies and initiatives that add quality to day-to-day lifestyle. “Elon’s nominal trillionaire status is due to his ownership of SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, the Boring Company and his other initiatives that have brought new technologies that improve our everyday lives,” he added in the post.
Breathlessly speaking in favour of Musk, Bill Ackman continued, “Elon is not sitting on a trillion-dollar pile of cash, jewelry and gold. He is using his controlling stakes in his companies to advance mankind. Elon’s companies don’t pay dividends. They reinvest all of their capital to accelerate innovation and value creation. Elon is working 24/7 for all of us. He deserves respect and appreciation, not smears.”
Yet again name-dropping Sanders, Ackman wrote further, “Bernie, your socialism would never allow a SpaceX to be built. Socialism has only proven to impoverish mankind and lead to death and destruction. We need to create the conditions for more SpaceXs to be built, not attack the great entrepreneurs who are helping to advance our country.”
The surge of anti-Elon Musk narratives on social media after SpaceX IPO
Ackman’s message targeted Bernie Sanders’ criticism of Elon Musk on the day of the SpaceX IPO. The Brooklyn native, alongside Indian-origin lawmaker Ro Khanna, introduced the ‘Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act’ earlier this year. If implemented, the bill would impact 938 billionaires across the US who collectively own $8.2 trillion in wealth.
The US senator’s full tweet read: “Elon Musk’s rise to trillionaire status is not a time to celebrate. It’s a call to action to take on the unprecedented income and wealth inequality that now exists and the greed and power of a ruling class that is destroying the social fabric of America.
“Our democracy cannot survive when one man, who contributed $290 million to get Trump elected, becomes $700 billion richer since Trump’s election.
“Our economy cannot sustain itself when one man owns more wealth than the bottom half of our society, when 60% of our people live paycheck to paycheck, when we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major nation and when our kids will have a lower standard of living than their parents.
“This is not just about wealth. It’s about power. Musk and his fellow Oligarchs want it ALL.
“Together, we must fight back. We can and must create an economy and a government that worlds for all of us, not just Elon Musk and his fellow billionaires.”
Elsewhere, he highlighted the need for his Social Security expansion bill to be passed as well, while calling out the SpaceX boss. “Today, Elon Musk, a trillionaire, pays the same amount into Social Security as someone making $184,500,” the senator wrote on X. “If we end that absurdity and lift the cap on taxable income, we can make Social Security solvent for 75 years and expand benefits by $2,400. My Social Security bill does that.”
Sanders wasn’t the only one to offer sharp commentary targeting Musk in a post-SpaceX IPO world. Democratic Senator Adam Schiff spoke along the same lines, taking aim at a “corrupt system” producing the world’s first trillionaire while not being able to provide health care for its people.
“There is something terribly wrong about an economy that produces its first trillionaire, but cannot provide health care for its people,” he wrote on X, referring to a New York Times article breaking the news about Musk’s staggering net worth surge. “Or one in which the richest handful of families have the combined wealth of almost forty percent of the rest of the country.”
He added, “This is the cost of a corrupt system, where wealth perpetuates itself, and poverty, at the same time.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren also sounded the alarm over the development, saying, “The typical American household would have to work more than 11 MILLION years to make Elon Musk’s level of wealth. We need a wealth tax.”
Similarly, Rep. Sarah Jacobs tweeted, “It’s beyond sickening that Elon Musk — the world’s first trillionaire — pays a lower effective tax rate than truck drivers, firefighters, or nurses. It’s not complicated — we need to actually TAX THE RICH.”
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani also made the most of the opportunity to stress his ‘tax the rich’ agenda. Pointing to Musk’s soaring fortune, Mamdani wrote on X, “Reason #1,000,000,000,000 why we should tax the rich.”
Regardless of the heavy backlash, it remains an undeniable fact that SpaceX’s Nasdaq debut changed thousands of lives. Even beyond its sizeable contribution to Musk’s own wealth, the largest IPO in Wall Street history also helped once-invisible employees like contractor welder Juan Hernandez attain near-millionaire status.
US reports now show that the Mexican-origin immigrant, who joined SpaceX in 2015, was granted company stock (and additionally purchased shares). Although he was earning about $28 an hour earlier, his present-day stake in the company is believed to be worth approximately $900,000.