Elon Musk hints at buying the UK to 'establish free speech' but one simple thing would stop him

Elon Musk has many strings to his bow, with the world's richest man having everything from SpaceX to the Boring Company, Tesla to X under his belt. While not all of his business ventures have been a hit, that hasn't stopped him from (briefly) being the world's first trillionaire.

We've seen Elon Musk's wealth take a hit in the aftermath of the somewhat overinflated SpaceX IPO, but at the time of writing, he still has a jaw-dropping $826.2 billion and is miles ahead of Google co-founder Larry Page's $281.9 billion.

While most of us would struggle to know what to do with even a fraction of that wealth, Mr. Musk has hinted at using his substantial wealth to buy the United Kingdom.

What has Elon Musk said about buying the UK?

Do you remember when Dubai built its 'The World' archipelago of small artificial islands, where you could buy sandy miniatures of individual countries, and British property developer Safi Qurashi apparently 'bought' the UK for up to $63.3 million? Musk is talking about a very different purchase of the UK, seemingly hinting at actually using his money to buy the realm as a way to promote his own free speech, as he does on X.

This comes after Labour leader Neil Kinnock said Musk should be "regarded as a national enemy," and we're sure he wouldn't be alone in hating the idea of the tech mogul buying up the UK.

US-based 'fake news' satirical website The Babylon Bee shared a The Onion-style article claiming Musk has bought the UK. The article was titled "Elon Musk Buys The United Kingdom To Establish Free Speech There", with Musk replying: "How much is it?"

This is a wink to a 2017 post where he gave the exact same response when someone suggested he buy Twitter. That purchase eventually went through for $44 billion in October 2022, but is buying the UK as easy?

How much would it cost to buy the UK?

As shared by the official Office for National Statistics (ONS) National Balance Sheet, buying the UK based strictly on its net assets would set you back £13.31 trillion, which, at $17.98 trillion, is a little out of Musk's price range.

Breaking down the numbers, that £13.31 trillion is split into three distinct sectors, with the household sector accounting for the majority. That £11.16 trillion spans all privately owned residential property, vehicles, personal savings, investments, and accrued private pensions.

Corporate assets add another £2.92 trillion in terms of financial corporations and non-financial business assets, including machinery, commercial structures, and intellectual property.

Finally, the government sector's debt knocks £761 billion off the UK's worth via public infrastructure, roads, and military equipment, as it's massively offset by the UK National Debt.

Even buying the UK's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would be impossible for Musk, as it produces about £3.28 trillion/$4.26 trillion every year as the fifth-largest economy in the world.

Theoretically, Elon Musk or a mythical trillionaire buying the UK would cost a lot more than £13.31 trillion.

The Premium Spike means buying real estate and businesses would reduce the available supply, so the last 10% would cost far more than the first 10%. You'd also be liable for the Sovereign Debt, and factor in transaction fees like Stamp Duty, Land Tax, and legal fees – adding hundreds of billions to the final bill.

If all of that wasn't enough, the actual United Kingdom is governed by a constitutional monarchy and parliament, with no legal authority to sign away the country to a private buyer.

While it's true that Musk's bulging bank balance means he could probably launch a hostile takeover of British megacorporations like Shell or HSBC, the closest he'll likely come to 'owning' a bit of the UK is buying up a football club.

Well, it was enough for Ryan Reynolds.