On June 12, 2026, SpaceX went public on the NASDAQ, and its market value exceeded $2.1 trillion on the first day, making Elon Musk the first entrepreneur with a personal net worth of over $1 trillion. That same day, 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics winner Paul Krugman published a column titled "Elon Musk, Human Ponzi Scheme," arguing that Musk's wealth empire is built on unfulfilled promises like the hyperloop, fully autonomous driving, and Mars colonization. Krugman described a self-reinforcing capital cycle where investors pour in money believing "Musk can create the future," which he identified as a typical feature of a Ponzi scheme. The article sparked public debate, with supporters saying Krugman punctured the capital myth and opponents accusing him of not understanding business reality. The article notes that Krugman's judgment is not entirely unfounded, as most of Musk's visions were judged by professionals to be technically impossible and economically unfeasible, citing that in 2008 the aerospace industry consensus was that reusable rockets "violated the laws of physics."