Despite serving as chief executive at the world’s most valuable automaker Tesla, second-largest private company SpaceX and one of the largest social media platforms Twitter, the planet’s wealthiest man Elon Musk played coy about his C-suite ambitions Wednesday as part of a trial examining his controversial 2018 incentive-based pay package from Tesla.
The Big Number: US$4.3 billion. That’s how much the final tranche of Musk’s Tesla compensation package was worth as of Tuesday’s close.
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Musk to be worth $196 billion, by far the largest fortune in the world. About two-thirds of his net worth is tied to Tesla stock and options.
“Comedy is legal,” Musk said while cross-examined about his 2021 assertion that CEO is a “made-up title” and he prefers to go by “technoking” instead. The comedy quip is an allusion to his viral tweet, “Comedy is now legal on Twitter,” last month following the completion of his takeover.
The judge presiding over this case, Kathaleen McCormick, is the same judge who oversaw Twitter’s lawsuit against Musk looking to push through his $44 billion acquisition of the social media firm. That case ultimately never went to trial after Musk agreed last month to close the deal at the original agreement of $54.20 per share.
This article was first published on forbes.com
Further Reading
Behind The Billions: Elon Musk (Forbes)