Even if I didn’t know that, after 10 seconds of thinking it would be clear that a company that made about $46bn in the last four years can’t just pay out more than that in actual money, they don’t have the cash reserves.

For him, he can borrow against the stocks, so it’s about as good as money, maybe not 100%, but still a sizeable amount.

I think it’s dumb to agree to goals and compensation / rewards after the goals have already been met. I can’t go to my employer and retroactively demand more pay for previously agreed work, even if it turned out better than he or the customer expected.

I think Tesla stock holders were mislead and / or stupid, there’s no dividend so the only way to profit is to sell at one point, and Tesla’s position in the market is only getting weaker by the year. Outside of their car business, they have nothing of interest, though some people will never tire to emphasized that Tesla is a tech company - just what that concrete tech is that other companies or customers will want is still somewhat of a mystery. Same if it justifies current market evaluation.

I wouldn’t bet against Tesla stocks - I know the market can stay irrational longer than I can stay solvent.

Given Musk’s recent behavior alienating his potential core customers, he is a liability rather than an asset. The cybertruck damaged the brand, the semi which was delayed by 3 years does not fit the needs ICE trucks do, rental and other companies are phasing out Teslas because of their fast depreciation- but robotaxis will fix it, right?

How anyone has a positive outlook on their performance with him as the CEO is almost beyond me, but if you assume there’s a personality cult, it makes sense.