Tesla’s all-time accumulated net income is far below the $55 billion CEO compensation package Elon Musk is trying to secure.
We built a tracker to follow Tesla’s income catching up to Musk’s compensation, which sounds like a ridiculous thing to say about a major company.
Musk’s lawyers recently launched a second effort to reinstate his 2018 Tesla CEO compensation plan, which is worth $55 billion in Tesla stocks, through a sponsored state bill on top of the Delaware Supreme Court appeal.
A Delaware judge canceled the package after lawyers sued on behalf of Tesla shareholders. The judge determined that Tesla wasn’t upfront when it presented the package to shareholders as Musk was in control of Tesla’s board and basically “negotiated” the package with himself.
Musk claimed that the judge’s decision was politically motivated, but he never directly addressed any of the governance issues highlighted in the decision.
Regardless of the merit of the case, there’s a metric that is hard to argue when it comes to the compensation package: it’s worth more than Tesla’s entire accumulated net income since inception.
We created a tracker to check the progress on when Tesla’s net income could reach the level of Musk’s compensation plan:
Tesla’s net income
since inception
Tesla earns
$222.5/sec
$0
0% of $55B
Projected to reach $55B: …
Based on Tesla’s accumulated net income as of Jan 1, 2025
As of now, Tesla’s net income will reach $55 billion around the end of 2027. That’s based on Tesla’s 2024 net income, which was down 50% compared to 2023.
If Musk’s appeal is successful, Tesla would have given its CEO the equivalent of 1.6 times its net income since inception.
We will update the tracker every quarter with a different rate based on the latest net income.
Electrek’s Take
In other words, Tesla plans to give Elon Musk more money than it has positively generated since its inception.
People often like to justify Musk’s outrageous compensation package by comparing it to Tesla’s rise in stock price, but that’s not the appropriate metric. The stock price and company valuation are purely based on what people are willing to pay for it.
The company’s net income is the only accurate metric to follow Tesla’s profits:
| Year | Net Income (USD Millions) |
|---|---|
| 2003 | – (n/a) |
| 2004 | -2.4 |
| 2005 | -11.6 |
| 2006 | -30.0 |
| 2007 | -78.2 |
| 2008 | -82.8 |
| 2009 | -55.7 |
| 2010 | -154.3 |
| 2011 | -254.4 |
| 2012 | -396.2 |
| 2013 | -74 |
| 2014 | -294 |
| 2015 | -889 |
| 2016 | -675 |
| 2017 | -1,962 |
| 2018 | -976 |
| 2019 | -862 |
| 2020 | 690 |
| 2021 | 5,524 |
| 2022 | 12,583 |
| 2023 | 14,999 |
| 2024 | 7,130 |
If it wasn’t for the Delaware judge, Musk would already have the package as of early last year when Tesla’s net income was at less than half of his package.
Based on the latest estimates for the first quarter, I would expect the completion date to $55 billion to be pushed into the next decade.
It gives value to the argument of Musk’s critics that Tesla is his personal piggy bank.
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