Elon Musk is worth $413.2 bn; that's more than Iron Man and Batman's net worth. Here's the one superhero who's richer

Hindustan Times

3 days ago

Elon Musk is the world's richest man. He owns X, is the CEO of Tesla and is at the helm of other fascinating ventures like Neuralink and the Boring Company. To top it off, the man wants humankind to eventually settle on Mars! After Elon Musk, Oracle's Larry Ellison has the most net worth at $296.5 billion, still over a $100 billion lesser than Musk.(Reuters)
While Musk's politics and some stances might be divisive, there's no denying that he has done well for himself. Musk, 54, is worth $413.2 billion, at the time of writing. He alone accounts for around 1 percent of the US GDP, which runs into trillions, to give a better idea of his wealth.
In comparison, the second richest person, as per Forbes is Oracle's Larry Ellison, who has a net worth of $296.5 billion – that's still over a $100 billion lesser than Musk.
Given the unfathomable amount of wealth Musk has been able to amass, one might wonder how he compares to historically rich fictional characters.
The Forbes Fictional 15 states that Scrooge McDuck – the Disney character who is Donald Duck's uncle – is the richest at $65.4 billion. The list also includes superheroes known for their eye-watering wealth.
Yes, we are talking about Tony Stark or Iron Man and Bruce Wayne or Batman. They are the respective big-money characters in Marvel and DC, with their team oftentimes relying on their wealth for resources to fight crime.
Both Batman and Iron Man also dedicate a considerable amount of their wealth into developing technology so they can fight the bad guys – given that neither of them have any superpowers of their own except for vast pockets and a more-than-admirable intelligence.
However, given that the richest fictional character is nowhere close to Musk's wealth, to level the playing field, let us consider the combined wealth of Batman and Iron Man and see how much that is.
Iron Man and Batman vs Elon Musk: Who's richer?
As per the Forbes fictional list, Tony Stark is worth $43.4 billion, while Bruce Wayne sits on a cool $39.9 billion. This takes their combined net worth to $83.3 billion.
In the comics, both of them are at the helm of sprawling companies – Stark Industries and Wayne Enterprises. However, their wealth is still well short of what Musk has achieved in real life. Talk about fact being stranger than fiction!
When it comes to net worth…can't touch this!
However, there is one character who is estimated to be worth more than Musk. In fact, the net worth of this character is more than the US projected GDP for 2025, going by the St Louis Federal Reserve Bank's estimates.
The US GDP is expected to cross $30 trillion in 2025. This Marvel character's net worth, meanwhile, is estimated to be $90 trillion, as per GoBankingRates – a personal finance site.
And, the character is none other than King T'Challa of Wakanda, better known as Black Panther. The comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe both show that T'Challa is wealthy beyond imagination – or rather, Wakanda is – due to the treasure trove of vibranium the fictional African nation sits on.
In the Marvel comics, vibranium is nearly indestructable and is extremely expensive. The Wakandans have been able to leverage this vibranium to create cutting-edge tech, while keeping themselves hidden from the eyes of those who might seek to colonize the nation to get their resource. Notably, vibranium is not a real metal.
However, if we are to compare Elon Musk's wealth to T'Challa's it would appear as though the former was worth just a drop in the ocean. Musk would have to increase his wealth over 200 times to match T'Challa's net worth, but do take it with a pinch of salt, because to actually amass billions in wealth is much harder than to have it bestowed on you by virtue of a fictional storyline.