Elon Musk crossed a milestone few thought possible earlier this month when SpaceX (SPCX) completed its long-awaited initial public offering (IPO), helping push his net worth past the $1 trillion mark.
The achievement sparked familiar criticism about billionaire wealth. Mark Cuban responded with a different argument: Musk’s fortune exists because millions of Americans decided they wanted a piece of the stock market.
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“The reason anyone gets insanely rich is almost always because of the stock market,” Cuban wrote in a post on X on June 13.
That statement wasn’t aimed solely at Musk. Cuban’s broader point was that billionaire fortunes and ordinary Americans’ retirement accounts are more connected than many people realize.
It Starts With 150 Million Investors
Cuban pointed to the roughly 150 million Americans who own stocks either directly or through retirement plans, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
“And the reason they get rich from the stock market,” he wrote, “is because 150m Americans decided they wanted to own shares of stocks directly, or through their retirement plans, or through other approaches as a way of building their net worth and trying to create a better life for themselves.”
Recent Gallup data tells a similar story. Between 58% and 62% of U.S. adults own stocks in some form, whether through brokerage accounts, workplace retirement plans or investment funds.
For many households, stock ownership isn’t a daily activity. It happens quietly through 401(k)s, IRAs and pension plans. Yet those investments have become one of the primary ways Americans build wealth over time.
Cuban believes that’s an important distinction in conversations about billionaire wealth.
“One Hundred Fifty Million Americans. About 60% of adults,” he wrote. “Effectively believing that [Elon Musk] and many billionaires could make them wealthier and help them achieve a better life.”
The Market Powers More Than Billionaires
Stock ownership remains uneven across income groups. The top 10% of Americans own roughly 87% to 90% of stock market wealth, while the bottom half owns about 1%.
Even so, market participation has become widespread.
Federal Reserve data shows stocks now account for roughly one-third of U.S. household financial assets. While only about 21% of families own individual stocks directly, ownership rises significantly when retirement accounts and investment funds are included.
