Renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has reiterated his long-standing prediction that asteroid mining will be the venture that creates the world’s first trillionaire. With recent advancements in space exploration and resource extraction, what once seemed like science fiction is now edging closer to reality.
Asteroids are believed to be rich in valuable metals such as platinum, nickel, and iron—often found in concentrations far exceeding those on Earth. Some are estimated to hold platinum levels of up to 15 parts per million, compared to just 0.0005 parts per million on our planet. A single asteroid could, in theory, contain enough wealth to make every person on Earth a billionaire.
These metals are crucial for renewable energy technologies and high-efficiency fuel cells, making them extremely valuable. As such, the individual or company that masters the process of extracting and returning these resources could potentially become the first to achieve trillionaire status.
In a 2015 interview with CNBC’s On the Money, Tyson remarked: “The first trillionaire there will ever be is the person who exploits the natural resources on asteroids… I look at wars fought over access to resources. That could be a thing of the past, once space becomes our backyard.”
While no individual has yet reached a net worth of £1 trillion, speculations continue around tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos as frontrunners. However, it may be asteroid miners who ultimately reach this financial milestone.
Recent progress suggests asteroid mining is more viable than ever. In February 2025, California-based AstroForge launched its Odin spacecraft aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, targeting asteroid 2022 OB5 to test core mining technologies. Although the mission experienced communication issues, it marks a key development in commercial space resource exploration.
Investor and explorer Victor Vescovo, who backs AstroForge, told the BBC that returning even microgram samples from an asteroid would be enough to prove the concept. “To fully realise asteroid mining may be a multi-decade project. But it’s just a mathematical problem,” he said.
With enormous potential wealth at stake, the race to mine asteroids may soon shift from theory to action—proving, perhaps, that greed could indeed be a force for progress.
