Elon Musk has all the right answers in the 'Who Wants to be a Trillionaire' game of life
Tesla CEO Elon Musk(Image: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)Could it be that crazy Elon has been right all this time? That maybe it’s all just been one big game?Played out on our little third rock from the sun for the amusement of a superior alien intelligence?That is what the planet’s richest man Elon Musk once admitted he believed was a possible answer to the meaning of life.And if he’s right, we think we may have figured out what this big game show of life must be billed as on some extra-terrestrial channel in the stars - welcome to ‘Who Wants to be a Trillionaire?’The quiz masters pose a series of dilemmas and questions to eight billion unwitting contestants to see who can come up with the answers to succeed and bag the big cash prize.Elon Musk(Image: AFP via Getty Images)A small few have been doing very well so far.The combined wealth of the billionaire class is around $15 trillion.Meanwhile around four billion people share the same amount as the top 4,000, because they fail to come up with the right answers to the game.But it is Elon who has emerged from the pack and is so close now to the final question.A report last week revealed he is set to become earth’s first trillionaire, thanks to a deal being offered to him by Tesla shareholders. (If you have a pension you are probably among them without even knowing so you can take some pride in this miraculous achievement)That would make him the outright winner of the big game of life.Elon Musk, already the world's richest man, is on track to potentially become the first trillionaire within the next decade(Image: ALLISON ROBBERT, AFP via Getty Images)He’s got this far by having all the right answers that the rest of us just flunked.Take for a start: “What’s the best way to spend a trillion dollars?”(a) Prevent a future pandemic.(b) Save All Endangered Species.(c) End global poverty.(d) Hoard a personal fortune to yourself that you can never spend and use it inflate your own power, ego and influence?While the suckers were reaching for answers a, b or c, Elon was quickly moving on up the money ladder to the next question.Your money buys you control of a social media information superhighway: Should you:(a) Protect truth and facts and reality.(b) Not use your influence to fan flames of civil unrest(c) Not interfere in the elections of sovereign nations.(d) Use this ultimate power to foster hate and misinformation and the rise of authoritarianism.Easy peasy. No need even for a 50-50 lifeline there for our Elon. ‘D’ it is. Next question.You’re enjoying yourself watching a racially motivated riot online. Should you:A Garda car set on fire during the riots in Dublin.(Image: Collins Photo Agency Dublin)(a) Use your considerable influence to call for calm(b) Make sure inflammatory and untrue content is moderated by the organisation you control(c) Stay out of it and be careful not to throw far right salutes on TV(d) Weigh in ignorantly to make a volatile situation even more dangerous and make sure you monetise the outrage to keep growing your own bottom line?‘Ask the Audience Elon’? ‘Eh, not when I’m the one who tells the audience what they think. ‘D’ final answer’.On a roll. Let’s go again.The planet that you’ve extracted your billions from is on life support and pushing societies close to the edge of collapse. Do you:(a) Use your vast wealth to try reverse the damage(b) Stop making the problem worse with your own obscene lifestyle(c) Recognise that the shadow of inequality your cash pile casts is a huge part of the problem(d) Blow a chunk of the world’s precious resources on an ego driven fantasy that you can move to Mars.‘D’ is the correct answer Elon!Tesla shareholders have approved a pay package that could propel the CEO's wealth into the 13-digits if he meets a set of lofty corporate quotas(Image: AP)And so we’ve arrived at the trillion-dollar question. Silence please.You’re an immigrant who won big on the lottery of life. You are given power over the lives of millions of little people desperate for a slice of that same dream. Do you:(a) Help protect their jobs and livelihoods.(b) Ensure aid gets to the poorest places on the planet(c) Value human dignity(d) Declare “empathy is a weakness”, slash, burn and fire all around you and just keep sucking more cashWell now, we know even the surest of players can have a moment of self-doubt. Maybe no harm to use one of those lifelines now? Phone a few friends?Yes let’s phone Donald, Bezos, Zuck and the lads in the billionaires club.‘Hi Elon. We’ve got you. It’s ‘D’ all day long.’“Thanks boys. D, just keep sucking more cash. Final Answer.”Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
