Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is back on the offensive against Elon Musk, the CEO of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX) and Tesla Inc. (TSLA), reviving her proposal for an "ultra-millionaire tax."
In a post on the social media platform X, Warren laid out a simple math problem: if Musk paid her proposed tax on extreme wealth, the revenue could cover the cost of free community college for the entire country.
"If Elon Musk paid my ultra-millionaire tax, we could fully cover free community college in America," she wrote.
The idea isn't new for Warren. She's been pushing for a tax on the ultra-wealthy for years, arguing that it could close funding gaps in public education and make higher education more accessible. Earlier, she suggested that the same tax could also provide healthcare for every four-year-old in America.
Warren's latest comments come amid growing scrutiny of wealth inequality. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has also weighed in, calling the economy "insanely rigged" and pointing out that billionaires' fortunes keep growing while many Americans struggle to pay for basics.
Musk, for his part, has seen his wealth skyrocket. After SpaceX's blockbuster IPO, his net worth reportedly topped $1 trillion, surpassing the combined wealth of several other tech titans. That kind of number makes him an obvious target for politicians looking to fund big public programs.
Whether the ultra-millionaire tax gains traction remains to be seen, but Warren is clearly not letting up. For now, she's framing the debate in terms of trade-offs: a few billionaires paying more versus millions of students getting a free education.
