As the electric automaker Tesla grapples to recover from plummeting share value, reports are out that CEO Elon Musk is currently working for free in his electronic automotive company. As per a report by CNN, the billionaire CEO hasn’t taken any kind of cash salary since 2019. In the year 2019, Musk only received a remuneration of USD23,760, which was mandatory under the California minimum wage law. Although, Musk still has managed to stack up billions of dollars during this while, but not in the way that his regular employees make their money.
According to the report, Musk became the wealthiest person alive on the planet through lucrative packages of stock options. The packages gave him the authority to purchase hundreds of millions worth of Tesla shares for a fraction of their market price. It was the year 2012 when Musk was granted the package options, but, the options he had received expired in 2022. Hence, the Twitter Tesla CEO is currently not accumulating much to his portfolio, no matter how well his electronic automotive company does in terms of revenue. The report mentioned that this was part of the reason why he lost the position of the richest person alive, to Bernard Arnault, the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH).
Although the Tesla CEO is not taking cash wages for his work, the billionaire’s net worth still stands at USD198 billion. Since Musk has a huge stake in Tesla, the better the company does under his leadership, the more his net worth will be. Right now, Elon Musk owns 412 million shares of Tesla stock outright and holds options to buy another 304 million at a bargain-basement price of USD23.34 per share. The American news outlet CNN also said that the adjusted exercise price evaluation of these shares is USD142 billion, based on Friday market prices.
After facing a major plunge last year, things are finally looking better for Musk, as Tesla shares are recovering at a steady pace. It is also in news that the Tesla board could soon decide a new pay package for Musk. “I would expect an absolutely monster package for Musk,” Daniel Ives, a tech analyst at Wedbush Securities told CNN. “I think Musk is the lifeblood of Tesla. He’s a key part of the premium in the stock,” he added.
