Elon Musk is now worth more than Pakistan's GDP; internet ask 'will he buy it?'

At the outset of Elon Musk heading to become the world's first person with a net worth of USD 300 billion after the recent spike in Tesla shares, Twitterati were quick to draw parallels between the 50-year-old entrepreneur's worth at USD 287 billion and Pakistan's Gross Domestic Product with a population exceeding 225.2 million. A Financial Times journalist shared the net worth of Musk to compare the same with the GDP of a country in 'grey list' under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

"Elon Musk's net worth now greater than Pakistan's GDP"

Taking to Twitter, the US-based columnist wrote, "Elon Musk's net worth now greater than Pakistan's gross domestic product - a country with 220 million people."

"Can Elon Musk buy Pakistan?"

Humorously, National Award-winning feature filmmaker and producer Ramesh Sharma replied to the FT journalist asking, "Can Elon Musk buy Pakistan? The first trillionaire to own a sovereign nation!"

"220 million really pissed off people (Pakistan) & excellent T20 team"

Adding to the string of jibes taken at PM Imran Khan-led Pakistan's economy, the Financial Times writer replied to Sharma's tweet stating, "Then he’d be left with nothing (other than 220 million really pissed off people and an excellent T20 team)." 

Elon Musk's wealth increases by USD 36 million in one-day gain

It is pertinent to note that on October 27, Elon Musk became USD 91 billion richer than the second wealthiest person in the world, Jeff Bezos. Following a sharp rally in Tesla shares on October 25, Musk added USD 36 billion to his fortune as Tesla shares surged 12.7%. Reports suggest that it so happened after car rental entity Hertz confirmed a deal of one lakh electric vehicles built by Tesla which are set to be realised by the end of 2022. According to daily rankings of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the same was recorded as the highest single-day spike in net worth in history.

Elon Musk's net worth is equivalent to 1.37% of US' GDP and 3.37% of the total wealth of the 500 richest persons in the world. Musk's net worth is more than one of the world's largest automakers, Toyota's, net worth as Tesla has earned nine consecutive quarterly profits as against soaring demands for its vehicles globally.

Pakistan's derailed economy and FATF 'grey list'

Since June 2018, Pakistan has been on FATF's grey list, which is maintained for 'jurisdictions under increased monitoring' owing to its failure in prosecuting the operatives of designated and banned terror outfits and organisations, to counter money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing. Upon being declared as the 'grey list' nation, the country committed to rectifying the identified strategic deficits. Pakistan is committed to eradicating these deficits for over three years now so as to increase credibility in the global terrorist-financing watchdog association.

Basis terror-related transactions worldwide, Pakistan retained on the said list even though Islamabad complied with 26 of the 27 pre-requisites that were set out in an action plan such as making it harder for competent authorities to involve illicit funds.

In fact, a desperate and cash-strapped Pakistan was compelled to auction everything, from luxury cars to premium watches to keep the debt crisis and cash crunch at bay. As per Opposition parties' claims, PM Khan had to auction his watch worth USD 1 million to keep Pakistan's economy afloat. Reports suggest that Saudi Arabia has pledged to aid Pakistan with USD 4.2 billion to help shore up its reserves. Further, Pakistan is purportedly desperate to reach a deal with the International Monetary Fund for reviving a USD 6 billion to evade the brink of failure and bankruptcy.