Elon Musk on Monday advised his Twitter followers to "own physical things" when inflation is high.- He seemed to make an exception for bitcoin, ether, and dogecoin, saying he won't sell his holdings.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the world's richest person, said it was better to own physical things instead of US dollars when inflation was running high. He appeared to make an exception for
In a Twitter thread discussing inflation, Musk said: "As a general principle, for those looking for advice from this thread, it is generally better to own physical things like a home or stock in companies you think make good products, than dollars when inflation is high."
He added: "I still own & won't sell my Bitcoin, Ethereum or Doge fwiw."
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2022Inflation in the US hit 7.9% year-on-year in February, its highest level since 1982, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
Musk said Tesla and SpaceX were "seeing significant recent inflation pressure in raw materials & logistics."
Musk announced in May 2020 that he planned to sell "almost all" his physical belongings, including his multimillion-dollar property portfolio. He sold his last remaining home in December 2021.
The billionaire entrepreneur is an advocate of cryptocurrencies, albeit with caveats. He's regularly voiced support for dogecoin and discussed the merits of crypto with leading figures from the tech industry.
Tesla said it bought about $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in early 2021, to be used as a hedge against inflation.
Tesla's share price has fallen by about 35% this year, lowering Musk's fortune by about a quarter — but he's still the richest person in the world, with a net worth of about $206 billion, Bloomberg's Billionaires Index estimated.
Commodity prices were already on the upswing on the back of supply-chain disruptions as the global economy recovers from the pandemic. Russia's invasion of Ukraine last month added to supply-side strains to the energy, metals, and grains