Elon Musk defended his wealth after Senator Bernie Sanders said Musk owns more wealth than the bottom half of American households. Musk said his fortune is held mainly in SpaceX and Tesla stock rather than cash, arguing that rising company values benefit all shareholders, including pension and retirement funds. Forbes currently values Musk’s wealth at about $908 billion, down from roughly $1.1 trillion in June and below $700 billion in July before a rebound in Tesla and SpaceX shares. Sanders’ broader democratic socialist platform includes a proposed tax increase on AI giants to seed a $7 trillion public fund, a position gaining visibility alongside political figures such as Zohran Mamdani and Abdul El-Sayed.