DISPATCHES FROM TOMORROW — The ledgers of Kalshi exchange tell a remarkable tale: Elon Musk, already the wealthiest man alive, stands a commanding 76% chance of becoming history's first trillionaire. The prediction markets have spoken with unusual conviction, and the arithmetic of his empire — Tesla, SpaceX, X, and a constellation of ventures besides — appears to be doing the persuading.

To reach a trillion dollars is to more than double Musk's present fortune, itself a sum that dwarfs the treasuries of small nations. Market consensus holds this not as fantasy but as probability, with Kalshi recording $1,333 in fresh volume in a single day as speculators quietly place their bets. The engine driving the wager is SpaceX alone, whose private valuation has climbed toward $350 billion, with Starlink commercialisation and government contracts still in early innings.

Yet fortune's wheel turns without warning.