Photo/Illutration Elon Musk attends the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 19. (REUTERS)

One trillion dollars—or 156 trillion yen—is an amount of money that I cannot even begin to comprehend.

That is what Tesla Inc. of the United States will pay its CEO, Elon Musk, provided he clears certain performance targets. The world will have its first “trillionaire” then.

I am trying to put this amount in a perspective I can fathom. 

Let’s say a man spends 1 million yen every minute. In one hour, he would part with 60 million yen, or 1.4 billion yen per day.

For him to use up his 1 trillion yen, he would have to maintain this spending pattern for at least 300 years. Wow.

Japan, the world’s fourth largest economy, has a national budget of 115 trillion yen. I don’t mean to make simple comparisons, but Musk is probably richer than many countries of the world.

And he is totally free to do whatever he wants with his money, never having to seek the approval of anyone or any institution.

American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish, a nine-time Grammy Award winner, recently urged Musk to put his massive wealth to good use, such as ending world hunger, rebuilding Gaza, and so on.

In response, Musk coolly brushed her aside as “not the sharpest tool in the shed.”

In this day and age, I realize that the winners in our capitalist system can have an enormous influence even on global issues that no single country can easily solve.

However, since they are not the people’s elected representatives, their powerful presence remains outside the political framework—a dangerous reality that Musk’s presence starkly illustrates.

Talking of splurging, I became hungry. I went to a supermarket and bought an onigiri rice ball at a 50-yen discount. When I dropped the change in a donation box, the coins clinked.

That, certainly, was the sort of sound I could readily relate to.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 22

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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