Elon Musk is in the news once again. This time for something that may surprise you. Can you believe that the billionaire earned nothing from his electric vehicle (EV) company Tesla last month? This is exactly what happened, Musk claims himself. The tech mogul has denied reports that claimed he had earned $2.3 billion in stock options in 2018 from Tesla. In a Twitter conversation, Musk revealed that he earned nothing at all from Tesla last year. 

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

Musk's response came when a Tesla fan page slammed a Business Insider report that said Musk made more in 2018 than the next 65 highest-paid CEOs combined, making him the highest-paid executive among 200 CEOs of large publicly traded companies. Contradicting the story, the fan page called Tesla4Everman argued that Musk was not paid any performance-based compensation from Tesla, instead he only "made the state-mandated minimum wage," which he later donated. Backing the fan page, Musk wrote, "I paid most of my Tesla-related expenses too. Tesla last year was actually a net negative comp (compensation) for me.

"The Business Insider report had quoted a New York Times executive compensation study. It claimed that Musk had made $2.3 billion in stock options in 2018. However, the Tesla fan page argued that the amount mentioned was not cash or equity payout, but a compensation plan Tesla's board had approved last year. The compensation plan is yet to be materialised. 

As per Forbes, the net worth of Musk is USD 18 billion and he is ranked 40th on the list of top billionaires of the world. The tech mogul is working to revolutionise transportation on Earth as well as in space. With Tesla Motors, Musk is bringing fully electric vehicles to the mass market. His rocket company SpaceX is valued at over $20 billion, according to Forbes.