Shares of SpaceX are set to skyrocket, and the headlines predict Elon Musk will become the richest man alive. The buzz around the IPO is louder than rockets, and that’s all right—at least, that’s what every trader says.
Yet beyond the numbers sits a darker history. A year ago, Musk’s decisions reportedly caused the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives. The claims point directly to his role in dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development, a program that had funded crucial health battles worldwide.
It started during the first months of Donald Trump’s second term. Musk, acting as head of the so‑called Department of Government Efficiency—DOGE—labelled USAID a “criminal organization.” He joked, “Let’s feed USAID into the wood chipper.” The statement was more than hyperbole; it echoed official actions that led to massive budget cuts.
Experts say the chopping of USAID wages off huge support streams. A tracker built by Boston University’s Brooke Nichols projects more than 780,000 deaths—mostly children—owing to those cuts. The list includes malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, and other preventable diseases. The numbers weren’t a surprise to those who followed the timeline of policy changes.
While Musk’s rockets charge towards the stars, his political moves have stayed firmly grounded in Earth‑bound devastation. The associated health losses appear to be a consequence he accepted, perhaps even celebrated, as he brushed off risk with his characteristic bluntness.
The narrative oscillates: one side shows him as a unifier of humanity’s frontiers, the other, as a gatekeeper of lethal policy. The unanswered question is whether any billionaire can live with two titles—first a driver of progress, then a silent architect of death.
