Angela Giuffrida, The Guardian ; ‘We’re in big trouble’: pope concerned at Elon Musk’s trillion-dollar proposed pay
[Kip Currier: Kudos to Pope Leo for speaking to the issue of ever-widening income gaps between the super rich and everyone else, especially billions of fellow human beings who are economically impoverished and in dire need of basic survival necessities, like food, water, shelter, and healthcare.
With massive levels of human need and suffering in this world, to even consider compensating one of the world's very richest persons (the distinction of richest person on Earth recently went to Oracle's Larry Ellison on September 10, 2025 before Musk reclaimed the title) with a trillion-dollar pay package smacks of abject ethical bankruptcy.
The proposal is even more galling when one considers the past year's Trump 2.0 Musk-supported DOGE-slashing of U.S. governmental services that address food scarcity, healthcare needs, and countless programs that benefit and provide safety nets for vulnerable populations, like the elderly, disabled persons, and veterans.]
[Excerpt]
"Pope Leo said “we’re in big trouble” when it comes to the ever-widening pay gap between the rich and poor, citing Elon Musk, who may be on course to become the world’s first trillionaire.
Leo made the remarks while criticising executive pay packages during his first interview with the media.
Reflecting on why the world was so polarised, he said one significant factor was the “continuously wider gap between the income levels of the working class and the money that the wealthiest receive”.
“CEOs that 60 years ago might have been making four to six times more than what the workers are receiving … 600 times more [now],” the pontiff said in excerpts of the interview conducted by Elise Ann Allen, a senior correspondent with the Catholic newspaper Crux as part of a forthcoming biography.
“Yesterday [there was] the news that Elon Musk is going to be the first trillionaire in the world. What does that mean and what’s that about? If that is the only thing that has value any more, then we’re in big trouble.”
Earlier this month, the board of the electric car maker Tesla said it had proposed a new trillion-dollar pay package for Musk, its chief executive and largest shareholder, if he hit targets set by the company."
