Elon Musk on real economy: Money is just database, Swiss accounts and Bitcoin are worthless

Elon Musk, the world’s richest individual and chief executive of Tesla, SpaceX and X, has said that people often misunderstand the economy by equating it with money, arguing instead that real economic value lies in goods, services and labour rather than currency or digital assets.

Speaking to Axel Springer chief executive Mathias Döpfner on the WELT Documentary channel in April 2022, shortly after announcing his decision to acquire Twitter, now known as X, Elon Musk stated that money itself is essentially worthless when separated from real economic activity. He informed the interviewer that money functions only as a database to facilitate the exchange of services and to shift those exchanges over time, and does not possess inherent power on its own.

Elon Musk: "People get confused sometimes they think an economy is money." pic.twitter.com/tlnctfOjyr

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) January 20, 2026

Elaborating on his view, Musk explained that in a hypothetical scenario where a person is stranded on a remote island, a trillion dollars held in a Swiss bank account would be of no use, while basic necessities such as food would hold far greater value. He added that even owning all the Bitcoin in the world would not prevent starvation in such circumstances, reinforcing his view that the actual economy consists of tangible goods and services rather than financial instruments.

Musk further stated that labour is the primary factor limiting the production of goods and services, and therefore acts as the real constraint on economic output. He said that if this limiting factor were addressed, the traditional concept of scarcity would lose significance, except in cases where scarcity is artificially created, such as in the case of unique works of art.

More recently, Musk said he believes that advances driven by artificial intelligence could fundamentally alter economic assumptions over the next 10 to 20 years. Speaking last week, he stated that in a future shaped by AI-led abundance, people may no longer need to save for retirement, as healthcare, housing and income needs would be met by a highly productive society.

He reiterated this view while speaking on the Moonshots with Peter Diamandis podcast, where he expressed optimism that artificial intelligence and robotics would enable a future of sustainable abundance, making long-term financial saving increasingly irrelevant.