Yes, it's surreal.
But it's about the days, when his friend made a video of rockets exploding & gave it to Elon.
And despite of other astronauts talking against his project & him still going for the final fourth launch (& being out of money),.
It's there where ones worth/value is determined.
How many of such individuals there is in those 50% ,- who knows. Until we know, the system keeps rewarding those who have proven their worth. Not a perfect system, but the best that we got.
Most of the rewards (Net Worth) did not come from any of the above achievements. Again, what did he add to humanity from just 1 year ago to add $160 billion to his net worth? Just saying. The system is certainly not perfect I agree and this is a perfect example of it.
. Your rocket example that you used is a perfect example of what he is trying to say.