The Reading / Listening - Trillionaire Musk - Level 4

Elon Musk is the world's first trillionaire. The initial public offering (IPO) of SpaceX added nearly $870 billion to his wealth. He has also amassed a fortune from Tesla, X, and other companies. Mr Musk is worth more than the world's next four richest people combined. Most of his wealth is tied up in stocks, rather than in cash. SpaceX's IPO was the largest in history. It raised $75 billion. It beat the previous record of $29.4 billion set by the oil company Aramco.

Elon Musk made his initial fortune with PayPal. He used money from this to start SpaceX in 2002. SpaceX now dominates the space travel industry. It launched more than half of all rockets last year. It also has 10,000 satellites in orbit. Musk's hope is to "make life multiplanetary". At the IPO, he said he wanted to take anyone who wanted to go, to the Moon or Mars "and ultimately beyond". He said: "Not just a few astronauts, I mean literally you."

Try the same news story at these levels:

    Trillionaire Musk - Level 5 or  Trillionaire Musk - Level 6

Sources
  • https://apnews.com/article/musk-spacex-tesla-ipo-trillionaire-billionaire-worth-rockets-7723f82b6063a9a17c194e25982cd66d
  • https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/article/elon-musk-becomes-worlds-first-trillionaire-143438765.html
  • https://fortune.com/2026/06/12/where-does-musk-live-spacex-stock-ipo-net-worth-trillionaire-homes-texas/


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. initial public
  2. He has also amassed a
  3. worth more than the world's next
  4. Most of his
  5. tied up in stocks,
  6. SpaceX's IPO was the
  7. It beat the previous record
  8. set by the oil
  1. rather than in cash
  2. of $29.4 billion
  3. fortune from Tesla
  4. four richest people
  5. company Aramco
  6. wealth
  7. offering
  8. largest in history

Paragraph 2

  1. Musk made his initial
  2. He used money from this
  3. SpaceX now dominates the
  4. It launched more than
  5. It also has 10,000 satellites
  6. make life
  7. he wanted to take anyone
  8. the Moon or Mars and
  1. space travel industry
  2. multiplanetary
  3. in orbit
  4. ultimately beyond
  5. fortune with PayPal
  6. who wanted to go
  7. to start SpaceX
  8. half of all rockets

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

Elon Musk is the world's first trillionaire. The initial public offering (IPO) of SpaceX added nearly $870 (1) ________________________________________________ wealth. He has also amassed a fortune from Tesla, X, and other companies. Mr Musk (2) ________________________________________________ than the world's (3) ________________________________________________ people combined. Most of his wealth is tied up in stocks, (4) ________________________________________________. SpaceX's IPO was the largest in history. It raised $75 billion. It (5) ________________________________________________ record of $29.4 billion set (6) ________________________________________________ company Aramco.

Elon Musk (7) ________________________________________________ fortune with PayPal. He used money from this to start SpaceX in 2002. SpaceX (8) ________________________________________________ space travel industry. It launched more than half of (9) ________________________________________________ year. It also has 10,000 satellites in orbit. Musk's (10) ________________________________________________ "make life multiplanetary". At the IPO, he said he wanted to take anyone who wanted to go, to the Moon or Mars "(11) ________________________________________________". He said: "Not just a few astronauts, I (12) ________________________________________________."

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

ElonMuskistheworld'sfirsttrillionaire.Theinitialpublicoffering(IPO)of
SpaceXaddednearly$870billiontohiswealth.Hehasalsoamassedafort
unefromTesla,X,andothercompanies.MrMuskisworthmorethanthew
orld'snextfourrichestpeoplecombined.Mostofhiswealthistiedupinsto
cks,ratherthanincash.SpaceX'sIPOwasthelargestinhistory.Itraised$
75billion.Itbeatthepreviousrecordof$29.4billionsetbytheoilcompan
yAramco.ElonMuskmadehisinitialfortunewithPayPal.Heusedmoneyf
romthistostartSpaceXin2002.SpaceXnowdominatesthespacetraveli
ndustry.Itlaunchedmorethanhalfofallrocketslastyear.Italsohas10,0
00satellitesinorbit.Musk'shopeisto"makelifemultiplanetary".AttheI
PO,hesaidhewantedtotakeanyonewhowantedtogo,totheMoonorMar
s"andultimatelybeyond".Hesaid:"Notjustafewastronauts,Imeanlite
rallyyou."

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion — Write your own questions

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

Write about this topic for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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_____________________________________________________________________________

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Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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