In 2018, Elon Musk requested to receive no salary or bonuses from his position as CEO of Tesla, and instead received a performance-based compensation. For every $100 billion the company generated, Musk’s stock options would increase, with every dividend being hundreds of millions and in some cases billions of dollars. Many business analysts did not predict that Tesla would be as successful financially as it has become. Musk took a big risk in accepting this form of compensation but it ended up working out for him because the company performed so well.
On Jan. 7, Musk surpassed Jeff Bezos as the world’s richest person. His net worth is projected to be $185 billion. Most of his wealth is generated by the performance of Tesla. CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, is a part of a company that is doing extraordinarily well especially during the current global pandemic where many shoppers are choosing Amazon to deliver their products and services, but the company’s recent stock performance was similar to last year’s, which was less than what was generated by Tesla.
Tesla performs well because they focus on innovation. They are not selling consumers the exact same car every year. There is also new innovations within their cars. Musk shares the visions of the company of being the leader in providing fuel-efficient automobiles as well as vehicles that run on electricity. His plan is to develop automobiles that do not depend on oil, and instead runs on cleaner, more environmentally friendly forms of energy.
Musk has been focused on Tesla stock prices for very many years. Only a few years ago, he made a statement on social media that suggested that Tesla’s stock prices were exactly where they needed to be, and they were not overvalued. Just 18 months ago, analysts were suggesting that Tesla’s stock was going to fall because the company spends too much of its revenue. However, even if this were the case, the performance of the overall company allowed them to make a significant turnaround in stock value. At the start of 2020, Musk’s net worth was $27 billion. One week into 2021 and his net worth is now $185 billion. This is the fastest case in history of an entrepreneur or anyone else becoming the richest person in the world.
Business data indicates that it was the performance of the company’s stock that propelled Musk to be valued at $150 billion in addition to his other assets. He currently holds 33 million shares of Tesla. In regards to his recent success, Musk made the following statement: “I always invest my own money in the companies that I create. I don’t believe in the whole thing of just using other people’s money. I don’t think that’s right. I’m not going to ask other people to invest in something if I’m not prepared to do so myself.” This financial philosophy caused him to stick with Tesla until it could reach its peak performance, thereby making the company’s stock more enticing for investors, including those that will continue to support the company financially when the stock prices had risen on Jan 7.
Musk may be the richest person in the world, but his work is still not done. He wants to stay involved with innovations that will make the planet cleaner for people today and in the future. That is why Tesla is focusing on methods of reducing emissions. Musk and the company want to reduce CO2 NOx and others that can give people diseases of the lung and heart, and other health problems. In the science community there is a theory that air pollution can cause the spread of airborne infectious diseases like COVID-19 to spread more rapidly. Musk and Tesla are looking for solutions to these environmental issues.