You've summed it up perfectly: "40 billion would probably get SpaceX to Mars." He could have spent that money on practically anything else and benefitted human

You've summed it up perfectly: "40 billion would probably get SpaceX to Mars." He could have spent that money on practically anything else and benefitted humanity. People would have been awarding him Nobel prizes and fawning over him for the rest of his life. Instead he bought twitter and let the fascists run riot.