FundéuRAE advises 'billonario' over 'trillonario' for US English 'trillionaire'

The Foundation of Urgent Spanish (FundéuRAE) advises using the Spanish term 'billonario' when referring to individuals whose wealth exceeds one trillion units of currency, a concept known in US English as a 'trillionaire.' This recommendation aims to clarify a common point of confusion in financial reporting.

Recent news surrounding Elon Musk's wealth, particularly after SpaceX's stock surge, has seen the term 'trillonario' frequently used in Spanish media. Examples include headlines like 'SpaceX shares soar on debut, making Elon Musk the first trillionaire' and 'Is a new generation of tech trillionaires being born?'

FundéuRAE emphasizes that 'trillion' in US English signifies a one followed by twelve zeros (1,000,000,000,000), equivalent to a million million or 'un billón' in general Spanish. Conversely, 'un trillón' in Spanish represents a one followed by eighteen zeros. While 'trillón' is sometimes used to mean 'billón' in US Spanish, the 'Diccionario panhispánico de dudas' discourages this usage.

Therefore, the foundation suggests that the aforementioned headlines would be more accurately translated as 'Las acciones de SpaceX se disparan en su debut y convierten a Elon Musk en el primer billonario' and '¿Nace una nueva generación de billonarios tecnológicos?'. Furthermore, FundéuRAE reminds readers that the English 'billion' translates to 'mil millones' in general Spanish, making 'billionaire' equivalent to 'milmillonario'. FundéuRAE, a joint initiative of the EFE agency and the Royal Spanish Academy, focuses on promoting the correct use of Spanish in media.