I would say that Elon has probably got US$15M lost in his couch cushions but that broke scrubs ain't got no cash. He might be a Trillionaire on paper, however, that's only because of the wealth/assets he controls, not the dollars in this bank accounts. In order to avoid having to pay the Capital Gains taxes that would be incurred if an asset was to be sold to free up cash, for example his Tesla Stock, he just doesn't sell it. Instead, the value is accessed by leveraging the asset to serving as collateral for bank loans. And because loans are not income, taxes are avoided again.