. . . World's First Trillionaire     

But the Real Story Is the Quarter-Century Before Him

On June 12, 2026, SpaceX began trading on the Nasdaq and pushed Elon Musk past a number nobody in human history had ever reached.  A trillion dollars.  A one - followed by twelve zeros.

1 Minute Video

I'm not here to write about Elon Musk

I went back through the Forbes list of the world's richest people — year by year, from 2000 to today — and followed where the money came from.  What jumps out isn't one man.  It's the staircase.  The price of being rich has been climbing the entire time… and *the kind of wealth* that gets you to the top has quietly flipped.  That's the part worth understanding, because it tells you where value actually comes from now.

The Price of Admission Keeps Going Up

Here's the simplest way to see it.  Forget 1st place.  Look at 10th slot of the Top 10 — the very last seat at the table.  That's the floor.  That's what it cost just to *make* the top ten in any given year.

• In 2000, about $16 billion got you in.
• By 2010, around $24 billion.
• By 2018, about $59 billion.
• By 2024, about $114 billion.
• By 2026, about $148 billion.

Read that again.  At the start of the century, sixteen billion bought you a seat.  A quarter-century later, the *cheapest* chair in the room cost nearly ten times that — and every single person in the top ten was worth more than $100 billion.  The floor didn't just rise… the whole building got taller.

Did your paycheck magically 10x since 2020?

The Map Keeps Getting Redrawn

Consider the pace.  Musk wasn't even among the ten richest people in the world in 2020.  He broke into that list in 2021… and reached a trillion dollars just five years later.  If that's the new speed, the next one may not take a quarter-century to arrive.  It may already be on its way.

Either way — the smart move isn't to watch the record-setters.  It's to notice what they're standing on… and to make sure you own a little of it yourself.

Dancing Robots

For more than sixty years, robots and artificial intelligence have entertained us from our television screens and movie theaters. Some made us laugh, like Rosie from The Jetsons. Others became trusted companions, such as Robot B-9 from Lost in Space, R2-D2 from Star Wars, Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Johnny 5 from Short Circuit. They weren't just machines; they became characters we cared about and remembered long after the credits rolled.

For decades, these mechanical characters existed only in the world of science fiction. They were limited by the special effects and technology of their time. But today, something remarkable is happening. The robots we once watched on screen are beginning to step into the real world.

The video below is a perfect example. On the hit television show America's Got Talent, a young dancer performs an incredible synchronized routine alongside eight human-like robots. The precision, timing, and coordination are so impressive that it feels as though science fiction has come to life right before our eyes.

What was once entertainment is quickly becoming reality. Advances in robotics and artificial intelligence are moving faster than ever before. In the coming years, robots may become companions, housekeepers, caregivers, assistants, and butlers. We may adopt autonomous robotic pets, work alongside robotic coworkers, and see robots participating in activities that were once considered uniquely human.

Who knows? One day we might even see them competing on Dancing with the Stars.

Copyright ©2026 - America's Got Talent

6 Minute Video

Classic Television Robots

Rosie the Robot  (1962 - 1963)

• Series: The Jetsons
• The Jetson family's robotic maid and housekeeper.

Robot B-9  (1965 - 1968)

• Series: Lost in Space
• Famous for "Danger, Will Robinson!"

Twiki  (1979 - 1981)

• Series: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
• Comic-relief robot companion.

KITT  (1982 - 1986)

• Series: Knight Rider
• An AI-controlled car that was essentially the show's second star.

Star Trek Androids and Artificial Life

Data  (1987 - 1994)

• Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation
• Perhaps television's most beloved android.

Lore  (1987 - 1994)

• Data's more dangerous counterpart.

The Doctor  (1995 - 2001)

• Series: Star Trek: Voyager
• A holographic AI who evolved into a full-fledged character.

Star Wars Droids

R2-D2  (1977 - Present)

• One of the most recognizable robots ever created.

C-3PO  (1977 - Present)

• Protocol droid and comic sidekick.

BB-8  (2015 - Present)

• Modern successor to R2-D2.

K-2SO  (2016 - Present)

• Sarcastic security droid who became a fan favorite.

Movie Robots and AI Characters

HAL 9000  (1968)

• Movie: 2001: A Space Odyssey
• One of the most influential AI characters in cinema history.
• HAL wasn't a robot body—it was the ship's computer.
• Famous line: "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that."

Johnny 5  (1968)

• Movie: Short Circuit
• A military robot that develops self-awareness.

WALL-E    (1986)

• Movie: WALL-E
• A trash-compacting robot with a huge personality.

EVE    (2008)

• WALL-E's companion.

Bishop  (1986)

• Movie: Aliens
• An android crew member who proves trustworthy.

Ash  (1979)

• Movie: Alien
• One of cinema's most memorable android villains.

T-800  (1984)

• Movie: The Terminator
• The machine that changed action movies forever.

RoboCop  (1987)

• Movie: RoboCop
• Human and machine combined.

Animated Robots

Bender  (1999 - Present)

• Series: Futurama
• A robot with questionable morals and unforgettable one-liners.

Optimus Prime  (1984 - Present)

• Series: The Transformers
• Leader of the Autobots.

Megatron  (1984 - Present)

• Optimus Prextime's nemesis.

. . . And "Your Presence" on the Internet is the SOUL of you business.  I know what you're thinking right now.  You're thinking "Why would I need The HBA Funnel Builder" ?  That's exactly what I said over a decade ago.

It's when I attended a Network Marketing convention over a decade ago, and Mike Hobbs representing The Home Business Academy was a guest speaker.  Watch the 5 minute video with an open mind, where I explain how this $25 month tool turned my business from struggling to successful.    

5 Minute Video 

. . . And LEADS are the lifeblood that fuels that business.  In the beginning you're excited, you're pumped, and you were taught to make a list of everybody you know.  Your friends, your family, your co-workers, and more.  That's the old-school way, and that don't work anymore !! 

4 Minute Video

Check out this program where you get 100 leads per day, everyday.  That's 3000 leads per month and they're yours to keep.  The system comes with a bulk emailer program that you can send your offer to 'your list' without needing a seperate auto-responder. 

Even if you don't have a business yet, or your offer or your funnel is set up, this could be a stand alone Business-In-A-Box, with an affiliate program.

Copyright ©2026

3 Minute Video

6 Minute Video

©CNBC

Personal Note:  Tim Sales has been one of my mentors for more than 2 decades.   His knowledge and trainings in the Network Marketing industry are 2nd to none.

The video Brilliant Compensation was the 1st video (and still the best video) I've used to show entreprenuers, business people, sales people, and professionals that the Network Marketing industry is a legitimate business model.

Run Time - 19 Minutes

Chapter 25

Future Shock

In this penultimate chapter, we connect all of the learnings across the “three E’s” of the Crash Course to make a case for seeing our problems as interrelated in order to start to build solutions.  We need to come to terms with the fact that we’ve been living well beyond our economic, energy, and ecological budgets and the time to change that is now.

Chapter 26: 

What Should I Do?

The challenges and predicaments outlined in the Crash Course may feel daunting, but the good news is that we already have all that we need in order to create a better future – all of the understanding, resources, technology, ideas, systems, institutions, and thinking.  In this chapter, we explore the hope that remains and lay out some concrete steps you can take toward building resilience in your own life.

Run Time - 28 Minutes

Chapter 22

Energy & the Economy

This chapter synthesizes the pathbreaking work of many researchers who have tirelessly worked to advance our understanding of the role of energy in our lives and as the lifeblood of all economies.  We need to pay special attention to energy in our exponential debt-based money system that is based on exponentially increasing energy supplies.  In this chapter on Peak Cheap Oil, we’ll tease apart different energy sources and especially highlight the importance of transportation fuels.

Chapter 23

The Environment Depleting Resources

While we expect to be able to exponentially extract resources from the environment, essential resources are fast becoming more expensive to produce, harder to find, or both – from oil and precious metals to water and soil.  Learn about the concept of net energy and the crucial argument for money and debt to be held in some sort of relationship with primary and secondary wealth.

Chapter 24

The Environment Increasing Waste

Part of the disheartening part of the story of “Environment” is the waste streams we put back into it and the impact they have on the ecosystems upon which we – and all organisms – depend.