The issue with market caps is that they assume a demand which is unevidenced by the market. Selling one apple for $5 does not thereby mean you can make $500 if

The issue with market caps is that they assume a demand which is unevidenced by the market. Selling one apple for $5 does not thereby mean you can make $500 if you have a hundred. There is no investment bank with $200bn lying around to give to elon. In order to claim the naive "asset-price/unit * num-units" calculation of net wealth, you have to make often wild and unevidenced assumptions. It's a metic made to inflate the egos to whom it applies, and to justify ragebait headlines, little else.