Mark Cuban shares thoughts on Elon Musk's 'money can't buy happiness' claim

Does money lead to happiness? Elon Musk brought the eternal question back into discussion this week with a pessimistic perspective of his own.

"Whoever declared that 'money can't buy happiness' clearly knew the truth," the tech billionaire posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, accompanied by a sad-face emoji.

The post quickly spread widely, amassing over 92.8 million views and prompting discussions on whether wealth truly enhances life.

Another billionaire, Mark Cuban, offered a different view, stating: Money doesn't alter who you are — it just magnifies it.

"If you were joyful when you had less, you'll be incredibly happy if you become wealthy," Cuban explained in response to Musk's post later that Thursday. "If you were unhappy before, you'll remain so, but with much less financial worry."

Cuban's perspective challenges the belief that wealth alone can solve all dissatisfaction — and he speaks from experience, being 372nd on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with an estimated net worth of $9.62 billion as of Friday.

Studies reveal there's a limit to how much happiness wealth can bring.

David Bartram, a sociology associate professor at the University of Leicester noted that although money and happiness are connected, this relationship quickly decreases.

"After reaching a few million, any additional wealth doesn't contribute to happiness," Bartram noted.

For the immensely wealthy, he continued, joy often stems from having a meaningful purpose — "knowing that you've positively impacted the world and treated those around you with compassion."

Additional studies propose that the correlation between income and happiness might extend farther than initially believed, though with some conditions.

A 2021 study by Matthew Killingsworth, a senior fellow at the Wharton School, discovered that happiness and well-being continued to increase with income.

However, in a subsequent paper released in 2024, Killingsworth determined that the financial amount required to achieve happiness is constantly changing.

Musk himself has previously made similar claims. During a November episode of Nikhil Kamath's "People by WTF" podcast, he argued that merely chasing money is unlikely to provide satisfaction.