VATICAN CITY (Realist English). Pope Leo has condemned the widening gap between the world’s richest executives and ordinary workers, warning that soaring inequality is eroding social cohesion and undermining the value of human life.
In his first interview since succeeding Francis in May, the US-born pontiff singled out Elon Musk, calling the Tesla and SpaceX founder a symbol of runaway wealth accumulation. “Yesterday, the news [arrived] that Elon Musk is going to be the first trillionaire in the world,” Leo told Catholic news website Crux. “What does that mean, and what’s that about? If that is the only thing that has any value any more, then we are in big trouble.”
Musk’s fortune is currently estimated at $367bn, but analysts at Informa Connect Academy project it could surpass $1tn by 2027. Tesla has already laid out a decade-long incentive plan that could deliver Musk such wealth if production and technology targets — including robotaxis and AI-powered robotics — are met.
Leo stressed that Musk was only one example of a systemic problem: “CEOs that 60 years ago might have been making four to six times what the workers are receiving, the last figure I saw, it’s 600 times what average workers are receiving.”
The pope, who grew up in Chicago and served in Peru before moving to Rome in 2023, framed the issue as not just economic but spiritual. He warned that society risked “losing a higher sense of what human life is about” by equating success with extreme wealth.
The interview also touched on geopolitics. Leo lamented the inability of the United Nations to mediate major conflicts, citing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and said the Vatican was working to promote dialogue. “It seems to be generally recognised that the United Nations, at least at this moment in time, has lost its ability to bring people together on multilateral issues,” he said.
The release of the pope’s remarks coincided with a Vatican gathering on “human fraternity,” which concluded with a concert in St Peter’s Square — featuring a drone light show staged by Nova Sky Stories, a company owned by Musk’s brother, Kimbal Musk.
