Elon Musk is officially the wealthiest person on Earth with a fortune of $185bn

[Computernaut]

How much of that is from the government and their "incentives" to buy EVs?

[wanderingfool2]

42 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Even if it weren't easy it definitely wouldn't deserve billions in terms of merit.

How much of the valuation of Tesla is because you have a front runner like Musk though?    If you compare to something like Nikola, where you have a CEO that run's his mouth without forming a directive to actually produce a vehicle (high evaluation, but no physical products).

 

I'm not a fan of Musk, and the type of person he is...but I do have to give credit where credit is due.  Without him, I would bet the Tesla would be bankrupt or would be a super niche market.  People can often overlook how important the leadership is at a company.  I would also like to point out, the amount of money Musk is making off of Tesla in stock options is also only in the billions because in his contract he was given stocks when certain milestones were hit...given that stock soared by 1700% is what caused such a large net worth.  As a note as well, it was also the right to buy shares at $70 that he was entitled to.  So had the stock remained reasonable during that period then the total payout to him would actually have been a lot less.

 

I would also like to point out, the billions he has made as well is caused by him owning 20.7% of the company stock (which comes to him from being one of the founders/initial investors in the company)

 

45 minutes ago, Sauron said:

CEOs come and go from corporations constantly, Musk has repeatedly demonstrated he doesn't know what he's talking about regarding what his companies do.

There are a lot of companies that have revolving CEO's, but there are also a lot of those companies that have revolving CEO's because the previous CEO wasn't working out.  There area alot of stories of major companies there were hurt by their CEO's decisions.

 

To top this all off, it's like saying the massage therapist at Google doesn't deserve the millions of dollars she was paid (she accepted less pay for stock options, which turned out to be millions when Google went public)

[Sauron]

5 minutes ago, wanderingfool2 said:

How much of the valuation of Tesla is because you have a front runner like Musk though?

None of it. It stocks specifically go down every time he opens his mouth on twitter.

6 minutes ago, wanderingfool2 said:

People can often overlook how important the leadership is at a company.

Even if Musk were a good "frontman" I wouldn't care, there are plenty of people who could be just as much or as little charismatic and lead to the exact same outcome. Not everyone can be a CEO of a large company though, by definition - and so it's deeply unfair that the few who are able to do it, often through luck more than anything else, are rewarded so much more than everyone else.

9 minutes ago, wanderingfool2 said:

There are a lot of companies that have revolving CEO's, but there are also a lot of those companies that have revolving CEO's because the previous CEO wasn't working out.  There area alot of stories of major companies there were hurt by their CEO's decisions.

And yet the CEOs that "don't work out" are still at the very least millionaires. It's a job where you can't do wrong, especially if you're the owner of the company.

10 minutes ago, wanderingfool2 said:

To top this all off, it's like saying the massage therapist at Google doesn't deserve the millions of dollars she was paid (she accepted less pay for stock options, which turned out to be millions when Google went public)

I have no idea why this is relevant but yes, getting millions for being a massage therapist is absurd. I'm not only against this because I don't like Musk as a person...

[Master Delta Chief]

8 hours ago, suicidalfranco said:

If that what it takes to find a happy job that suits you, then move.

That's pathetic. If you really think someone can move on a whim to a different place that easily, you're just ignorant, simple as that. There are so many factors that a person needs to take in account that I am not gonna begin summing up. It can go can go from finances to more personal matters.

[suicidalfranco]

2 minutes ago, Master Delta Chief said:

That's pathetic. If you really think someone can move on a whim to a different place that easily, you're just ignorant, simple as that. There are so many factors that a person needs to take in account that I am not gonna begin summing up. It can go can go from finances to more personal matters.

if it's the only way then yeah, move.

Else keep staying frustrated at work place you clearly do not enjoy.

Or do a job in a sector you never planned to end in to do only to live paycheck after paycheck.

 

Options exists, it's up to you to choose what's right for you. Tesla only needs to respect labour laws, it's not up to them to conform to your needs (unless you are prove yourself to be an invaluable asset and are more than willing to come down to terms with you in order to keep you as long as possible).

[wanderingfool2]

21 minutes ago, Sauron said:

so it's deeply unfair that the few who are able to do it, often through luck more than anything else, are rewarded so much more than everyone else.

 

22 minutes ago, Sauron said:

I have no idea why this is relevant but yes, getting millions for being a massage therapist is absurd. I'm not only against this because I don't like Musk as a person...

...those who get in early are rewarded.  It's the point I am trying to make.  The question becomes, how would you like them to be paid then? (Strictly speaking, he didn't make a salary, only through stocks). The vast wealth has come from him owning a stock.  He paid over $13 million in investment in the early stages (Given that the price back then...though before the IPO, would have been less than $4/share...even basing on the current valuation it would be $2.6 billion).  So it isn't like it's totally unfair.

 

It's like saying it's unfair to the current investor's because the person who bought $1million in stocks slightly over a year ago can now sell their stock for $10 million.  Everything is a risk reward.  Just like how the therapist had a chance and took it...she risked having those options worth nothing, but was rewarded.

 

That is my whole point though.  The value of Musk at the company is what he does for the stock, and his compensation is in regards to the stock.  When it was talked about him being removed from the board (back when there was the SEC issues), the stock took quite a hit.  It's about giving credit to him for what he has done, with this direction and public fanfare created.  By not means was he given "billions" in salary, it's literally having him work for stock options (which there are many companies that allow employees to work with similar concepts...albeit at a smaller scale).

[dizmo]

15 hours ago, Sauron said:

The ways in which it is legal to obtain wealth are arbitrarily decided. I doubt you'd say the same of someone who directly stole that wealth at gunpoint, even though they put in *some* work to obtain it. The idea that anyone deserves billions is absurd and they only "have a right" to it because the society around them allows it. It wouldn't be that hard to legislate against the kind of exploitation that permits people like Musk to rack up billions off the backs of workers who might struggle to pay their rent but are nonetheless essential to the entire system.

 

Not that long ago slavery was a legal way to get rich in the US, with that kind of reasoning you'd have been on the side that wanted to keep it that way.

Yeah, I get it. You're a socialist. When you figure out a way to cap people's earning potential without stifling the economy of said country, let me know. It hasn't happened yet; every time it's been attempted, it has ended horribly.

[Hassan170]

On 1/8/2021 at 4:18 AM, gabrielcarvfer said:

Elon is probably the best crazy billionaire the world have ever seen.

Elon is Bruce Wayne with  a twitter account