Pope Leo: 'If money is all that has value, we're in big trouble'

Mon, 15 Sep, 2025 - 16:51

Angela Giuffrida

Pope Leo has said “we’re in big trouble” when it comes to the ever-widening pay gap between the rich and poor, citing Elon Musk, who may be on course to become the world’s first trillionaire.

Leo made the remarks while criticising executive pay packages during his first interview with the media.

Reflecting on why the world was so polarised, he said one significant factor was the “continuously wider gap between the income levels of the working class and the money that the wealthiest receive”.

“CEOs that 60 years ago might have been making four to six times more than what the workers are receiving … 600 times more [now],” he said in excerpts of the interview conducted by Elise Ann Allen, a senior correspondent with the Catholic newspaper Crux as part of a forthcoming biography.

Yesterday [there was] the news that Elon Musk is going to be the first trillionaire in the world. What does that mean and what’s that about? If that is the only thing that has value any more, then we’re in big trouble.

Earlier this month, the board of Tesla said it had proposed a new trillion-dollar pay package for Musk, its chief executive and largest shareholder, if he hit targets set by the company.

Outlining the incentive package, which is unprecedented in corporate history, in a stock market update, the company said: “Yes, you read that correctly.” Musk, who also owns X.com and SpaceX, will have to increase the value of Tesla from just over $1tn now to $8.5tn over 10 years.

Leo, elected in May as the first US pope after the death of Pope Francis, also spoke about his first few months as pontiff, saying: “There’s still a huge learning curve ahead of me.”