A Tesla Motors regulatory filing reveals that Musk was to be paid only around half the price of the company’s Model S saloon, but Musk refused to take the payment. The filing reveals that Musk has never accepted a salary from Tesla.
Elon Musk: Huge paper fortune but no 2014 salary
The salary was calculated using so-called “annualized minimum wage requirements” under Californian law. The company is based in Palo Alto. Despite not receiving any cash or stock options from Tesla last year, Musk is hardly searching down the back of the couch for change.
He received over $78 million in options and cash back in 2012. The billionaire made his money from PayPal, and is also the head of private space exploration company SpaceX. Musk currently holds 35.3 million shares in Tesla.
At the time of writing, Musk’s fortune is roughly $7.8 billion. Tesla is worth $27.6 billion right now, and Musk’s personal fortune grew by $2.6 billion last year as Tesla stock soared. As well as significant wealth held in Tesla, Musk also gets an income from SpaceX and SolarCity. Musk holds a 21% stake in the green energy firm and acts as chairman of the company.
Bright future for Tesla
Although Musk was not paid a dime by Tesla for 2014, other executives received healthy pay packets. Chief financial officer Deepak Ahuja took home $3.8 million in cash and options, and chief technology officer Jeffrey Straubel received $17.1 million.
The large pay packets were awarded off the back of a strong year for Tesla, during which it reached its target of manufacturing 35,000 vehicles and making $1.1 billion in sales, which represents a 44% increase over the previous year.
Tesla looks set for another good year, with the Model X SUV to start shipping in 6 months. Interest in the vehicle is strong and it is thought that sales will follow suit. Musk is certainly confident about future prospects for the firm. Earlier this year he claimed that Tesla could be worth $700 billion by 2025. That huge valuation is around the same size as Apple, which recently became the first U.S. company to reach that milestone.
via: CNNMoney
