Musk is one of the world's most well-known entrepreneurs and billionaires, and his wealth and influence are staggering. He is not only the founder and CEO of many innovative companies such as Tesla, SpaceX, and Boring Company, but also a frequent visitor to the world's richest man, and his worth once exceeded 200 billion US dollars (about 1.4 trillion yuan). However, recently, Musk's fortune suffered a major blow, and his sky-high compensation package of 56 billion US dollars (about 400 billion yuan) was ruled invalid by a US court, which means that he will lose this huge amount of income. So, how much wealth does Musk really have? Is he still the richest man in the world? Why did he get paid so much? How did he react to the verdict? Let's take a look.
Musk's wealth comes mainly from his stakes in Tesla and SpaceX. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as of January 31, 2024, Musk holds about 17% of Tesla's shares, worth about $104 billion (about 730 billion yuan), and holds about 48% of SpaceX's shares, worth about $92 billion (about 640 billion yuan). In addition to this, Musk also holds about 90% of the shares of the Boring Company, worth about $1 billion (about 7 billion yuan), as well as a number of other assets and liabilities. Therefore, Musk's total wealth is about 197 billion US dollars (about 1.38 trillion yuan), which is still the richest man in the world, far exceeding the 177 billion US dollars (about 1.24 trillion yuan) of Bezos, the second-place Amazon founder.
Musk's sky-high compensation package of $56 billion was approved by Tesla's board of directors in 2018 and is an option incentive plan linked to the company's performance. According to this plan, if Tesla's market capitalization reaches a series of targets, from $100 billion to $650 billion, with each additional $50 billion in stages, Musk can get a batch of options to buy Tesla's ** at a low price, and can sell it for a profit. The program is divided into 12 phases, each with an option value of approximately 4600 million US dollars (about 3.2 billion yuan), with a total value of about 56 billion US dollars (about 400 billion yuan). This plan is considered the largest CEO compensation package in history and is Musk's main income**. However, the plan has also sparked discontent from some shareholders, who believe it is too generous and does not take into account Musk's other work and interests, as well as fairness to the company and shareholders. As a result, a minority shareholder filed a lawsuit against the plan in 2019, asking the court to rescind it. In November 2022, the case was heard in the U.S. state of Delaware court**, and on January 30, 2024, the court issued a judgment finding the plan invalid because Tesla's board of directors failed to prove that the plan was fair and did not obtain shareholder consent.
Musk expressed strong dissatisfaction and anger at the verdict, posting on the social platform X, "Never register your company in Delaware. He also stated that he suggested registering a company in Nevada or Texas as the laws in these states are more friendly and flexible. He also launched a poll on X, asking netizens if they supported Tesla's move to Texas, where Tesla's headquarters are located. So far, more than 340,000 people have voted, with 90% of them saying they support moving their place of registration. Musk's move has sparked concern and speculation about whether he really intends to move Tesla's registered place from Delaware to Texas, what impact this will have on Tesla's operations and development, and whether he will give up Tesla's CEO position for the sake of this verdict.
Musk's sky-high compensation package of $56 billion was ruled invalid, which is a major setback to his wealth and prestige, but it does not mean that he has no money, he is still the richest man in the world and still at the helm of Tesla.
After this incident, I don't know if Mr. Ma's Mars plan will be stranded because of the lack of funds.