DISPATCHED FROM TOMORROW — The prediction markets have spoken with unusual firmness: Elon Musk, already the wealthiest man alive by most reckonings, is more likely than not to breach the trillion-dollar threshold before long. Kalshi exchange sets the probability at a commanding 76%, a figure less resembling a wager and more resembling a schedule.

For context, a trillion dollars represents roughly the annual economic output of a mid-sized nation — accumulated, mind you, by a single individual. Musk's fortune, tethered chiefly to Tesla, SpaceX, and X, has demonstrated a remarkable talent for the dramatic swing; market consensus holds that the trajectory, despite its volatility, bends upward. The operative question, per the markets, is not whether the milestone falls, but when the champagne is uncorked.

Yet markets have been humbled before. A regulatory broadside against Tesla, a SpaceX misfortune, or a broader technology rout could rewrite this arithmetic with considerable swiftness.