Skip to content
Sign in
Artwork for Could It Though?
Could It Though? · Monday · 4 min

Could Elon end poverty?

EP01: Could Elon Musk End World Poverty? In 2021 the UN told Elon Musk that $6 billion could keep 42 million people alive for a year. He said show me the plan. They showed him the plan. They got nothing. Five years later he’s worth around a trillion dollars. So we ran the actual numbers: could he end world poverty? Would it even work? And should he? Three acts, one verdict. I’m Gazza, and this is Could It Though? Numbers in this episode: Musk net worth: Bloomberg Billionaires Index and Forbes, early October 2026 Taylor Swift net worth about $2 billion: Forbes, March 2026 Extreme poverty line $3/day and 837 million people: World Bank $340 billion a year to end extreme poverty: UC Berkeley, 2026 $6.6 billion WFP plan and the $5.7 billion Musk Foundation transfer: CNN, Snopes, SEC filing Feb 2022 2.3 billion to 837 million since 1990: World Bank Got a hypothetical you want us to run? Send it in. If you’re enjoying Could It Though?, hit follow and leave us a five-star rating. It really helps new people find the show. New episode every week.

0:00-4:13
Play in

transcript

No transcript — this publisher did not publish one.

show notes

EP01: Could Elon Musk End World Poverty?

In 2021 the UN told Elon Musk that $6 billion could keep 42 million people alive for a year. He said show me the plan. They showed him the plan. They got nothing.

Five years later he’s worth around a trillion dollars. So we ran the actual numbers: could he end world poverty? Would it even work? And should he?

Three acts, one verdict. I’m Gazza, and this is Could It Though?

Numbers in this episode:

  • Musk net worth: Bloomberg Billionaires Index and Forbes, early October 2026
  • Taylor Swift net worth about $2 billion: Forbes, March 2026
  • Extreme poverty line $3/day and 837 million people: World Bank
  • $340 billion a year to end extreme poverty: UC Berkeley, 2026
  • $6.6 billion WFP plan and the $5.7 billion Musk Foundation transfer: CNN, Snopes, SEC filing Feb 2022
  • 2.3 billion to 837 million since 1990: World Bank

Got a hypothetical you want us to run? Send it in.

If you’re enjoying Could It Though?, hit follow and leave us a five-star rating. It really helps new people find the show. New episode every week.

more episodes

All episodes