Wages Are Falling. Wealth Is Surging. No Wonder Americans Are Unhappy.

13 June 2026 at 10:02

As Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire, workers are facing higher prices and fears of A.I.-driven job losses.

Times Square on Friday, when Elon Musk’s SpaceX went public on the Nasdaq exchange.

Musk Is the World’s First Trillionaire. Who Was the First Billionaire?

NYT - Top Stories

By: John S.W. MacDonald

13 June 2026 at 01:20

John D. Rockefeller, the Gilded Age oil baron, became America’s first billionaire in 1916. Like Elon Musk’s ascension, the milestone made headlines.

John D. Rockefeller Sr., in Lakewood, N.J., in 1933. Rockefeller, the Gilded Age oil baron, became a billionaire in 1916.

Elon Musk Becomes World’s First Trillionaire as SpaceX Stock Begins Trading

NYT - Top Stories

By: Ryan Mac and Ben Casselman

12 June 2026 at 21:38

With SpaceX shares soaring 20 percent on their first day of trading, the world’s richest person crossed another milestone — one with 13 digits.

Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX, in 2022 at the company’s facility in Brownsville, Texas.

These Young Politicians Want to Fix America’s Housing Problems

NYT - Top Stories

By: Kate Zernike

11 June 2026 at 13:47

A cohort of young Millennial and Gen Z politicians have centered their campaigns this year on housing costs, and the divide is more generational than partisan.

David Morales, 27, a candidate for mayor of Providence, R.I., has made housing central to his pitch for “a city all our neighbors can afford.”

Billionaires’ Billions Are Increasing Faster Than Ever

NYT - Top Stories

By: Patricia Cohen

9 June 2026 at 16:55

Elon Musk’s potential new status as a trillionaire demonstrates in real time why there has been such a rapid rise in the concentration of wealth at the top.