Elon Musk’s wealth dropped by $11 billion after the announcement of reciprocal tariffs by US President Donald Trump , further contributing to Tesla CEOs $110 billion losses in 2025. Nevertheless, with a net worth of $330 billion as of March 2025 (Bloomberg Billionaires Index), he maintains his status as the world's richest person. To illustrate the magnitude of this wealth, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has employed an interesting hypothetical scenario.
“Not that anybody asked, but if @ElonMusk’s wealth as of today ($330B) were entirely hundred-dollar bills, then laid end-to-end, they'd circle Earth three times,” he said in a post on X.
“...and with what’s left over, if taped end-to-end, will make a ribbon long enough to ascend into space and reach the Moon,” he added.
How Neil deGrasse Tyson may have made these calculations
The calculation purpotedly assumes each hundred-dollar bill is 6.14 inches long, which means that $330 billion will have 330 crore pieces of $100 bills, essentially making a 20,262,000,000-inch (over 20 billion inches) long trail. The Earth’s circumference is about 40,075 kilometres, which is equivalent to approx 24,901 miles.
To convert this distance into inches, we'll multiply Earth's circumference (24,901.461 miles) by 63,360 (inches per mile). This gives us 1,577,598,549 inches. When we divide 20,262,000,000 inches by the resultant number, we get 12.84 - which means that the $100 bills can be wrapped around Earth over 12 times.
But Neil deGrasse Tyson says that the the bills can “circle Earth three times” and make a ribbon that can reach moon. If we do the math, the number comes to be over 15.5 billion inches.
Comparing the remaining length of the bills after three Earth circumferences (15,529,548,007.2 inches) with the average distance to the Moon (15,134,722,240 inches) reveals that the remaining length is indeed greater than the average Earth-Moon distance.
The difference is 15,529,548,007.2 - 15,134,722,240 = 394,825,767.2 inches, or approximately 6,232 miles. This essentially confirms the second part of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s statement, that the leftover amount would be long enough to reach the Moon.
“Not that anybody asked, but if @ElonMusk’s wealth as of today ($330B) were entirely hundred-dollar bills, then laid end-to-end, they'd circle Earth three times,” he said in a post on X.
“...and with what’s left over, if taped end-to-end, will make a ribbon long enough to ascend into space and reach the Moon,” he added.
Not that anybody asked, but if @ElonMusk’s wealth as of today ($330B) were entirely hundred-dollar bills, then laid end-to-end, they'd circle Earth three times, and with what’s left over, if taped end-to-end, will make a ribbon long enough to ascend into space and reach the Moon. pic.twitter.com/WZumj9abaH
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) April 7, 2025
How Neil deGrasse Tyson may have made these calculations
The calculation purpotedly assumes each hundred-dollar bill is 6.14 inches long, which means that $330 billion will have 330 crore pieces of $100 bills, essentially making a 20,262,000,000-inch (over 20 billion inches) long trail. The Earth’s circumference is about 40,075 kilometres, which is equivalent to approx 24,901 miles.
To convert this distance into inches, we'll multiply Earth's circumference (24,901.461 miles) by 63,360 (inches per mile). This gives us 1,577,598,549 inches. When we divide 20,262,000,000 inches by the resultant number, we get 12.84 - which means that the $100 bills can be wrapped around Earth over 12 times.
But Neil deGrasse Tyson says that the the bills can “circle Earth three times” and make a ribbon that can reach moon. If we do the math, the number comes to be over 15.5 billion inches.
Comparing the remaining length of the bills after three Earth circumferences (15,529,548,007.2 inches) with the average distance to the Moon (15,134,722,240 inches) reveals that the remaining length is indeed greater than the average Earth-Moon distance.
The difference is 15,529,548,007.2 - 15,134,722,240 = 394,825,767.2 inches, or approximately 6,232 miles. This essentially confirms the second part of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s statement, that the leftover amount would be long enough to reach the Moon.
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