It’s exhausting to not think about all of the methods the richest man on the planet, Elon Musk, might use his huge wealth to make different individuals’s lives simpler. Whereas the perks of free-market capitalism don’t require him to take action, such thought experiments are exhausting to keep away from.
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Take scholar mortgage debt, for instance. Whereas federal scholar loans should not as predatory as personal lenders, with the typical rate of interest at present holding at round 6.8% for a federal mortgage versus a personal mortgage, which might hit as excessive as 15% or extra, many really feel that college students shouldn’t be saddled with ever-mounting curiosity to get an excellent schooling.
To take this thought experiment additional, GOBankingRates discovered how a lot scholar mortgage debt Elon Musk might repay (and for a way many individuals) and nonetheless stay a billionaire.
As of Jun. 20, 2025, Elon Musk’s internet value weighed in at $410.5 billion, in accordance with Forbes. That’s more cash than virtually anybody can conceive of or remotely spend! To place this in context, it could take an individual incomes $100,000 per 12 months over 4 million years to earn that a lot cash, if such a factor have been potential.
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Within the U.S., as of the tip of 2024, excellent scholar mortgage debt totaled over $1.77 trillion {dollars}. Trillion is a quantity so massive it virtually sounds pretend, like one thing a baby made up. Round 42.7 million individuals collectively maintain that debt. Now, excellent debt doesn’t imply it’s in default, solely that it’s being paid slowly, month-to-month and generally in forbearance. A few of it might be in collections, nonetheless.
Of that $1.77 trillion, 92.2% is comprised of federal scholar loans, in accordance with the Training Information Initiative, with one other almost 8% in privately held loans.
When you carve away 92.2% of $1.77 trillion you get round $1.63 trillion. And with 42.7 million individuals carrying federal debt, the typical federal scholar mortgage debt stability is round $38,375 per individual. For simpler math, let’s spherical all the way down to $38,000.
If Elon Musk stored simply $1.5 billion of his fortune, sustaining billionaire standing, he might repay 10,789,473 individuals’s federal loans.
Given current makes an attempt by the U.S. authorities to forgive and even forestall scholar loans, it’s good to think about a world wherein the world’s richest man places his cash towards making life extra reasonably priced for the typical American in service of schooling. An individual can dream.