[hncurious]

Would SpaceX even exist if this law had been in place? Serious question. Let's think this through.

Also what if it had been in place during the dotcom boom and bust?

[karkisuni]

jesus christ, yes. Elon didn't become a billionaire including assets until 2012, well after nasa awarded them the cargo contract and two years after Falcon 9 started launching. Before that, he was barely a millionaire after PayPal and his investments in Tesla and SpaceX. This tax wouldn't have affected him at all until both SpaceX and Tesla were relatively healthy with both Falcon 9 and Model S.

There's a reason CEO's at this level take $1 in salary.