Elon Musk who lives in micro-mansion wanted $55 bn from Tesla

Sopuruchi Onwuka, with agency reports

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s biographer, Walter Isaacson, has released a photo allegedly showing Musk’s kitchen and part of his living room, giving a rare glimpse at the billionaire’s simple home.

Musk announced on X in 2020, “I am selling almost all physical possessions. Will own no house.”

Musk lived up to that pronouncement. Musk’s homes, mostly in the Los Angeles area, sold fairly quickly. He sold his last home, a San Francisco mansion, reportedly for nearly $30 million in late 2021.

Musk’s former partner, and mother of three of his children, singer Grimes, says Musk lives a simple lifestyle, once saying that he “does not live like a billionaire.”

“In 2020, Musk decided to sell his five grand houses and to have as his primary residence this spartan two-bedroom house in Boca Chica, TX, where we would meet and he would sit at this wood table and make phone calls,” Isaacson captioned in a photograph he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The house, near SpaceX’s launch site, appears to have an open concept, with no barrier separating the living room and the kitchen. On the living room table are a sword, books, what appear to be board games, and a replica rocket.

On the wall near the kitchen is a poster for a science fiction pulp magazine called Amazing Stories, and slung over a chair is a Tesla Plaid Mode jacket. Plaid versions of various Tesla models pack a little extra punch.

Musk is no stranger to living below his means. As a college student, Musk lived on $1 a day for food, focusing on the essentials and sustainable consumption.

There was a mixed reaction from people who saw the picture.

One person commented, “Richest man in the world lives here. Really shows how much he cares more about others than himself and his lifestyle.”

“I somehow find it disturbing when the richest man in the world does not have a bigger kitchen than me,” another X user said,

Another stated, “Literally all you need.”

But all the comments about Musk’s simple lifestyle and modesty came in sharp contract with developing stories about his demand for whopping $55 billion pay package from one of his companies, Tesla.

A Delaware judge had on Tuesday agreed with a shareholder who had argued in a lawsuit that Elon Musk’s $55 billion pay plan was over the top, and ruled to strike down Musk’s Tesla compensation package.

Shareholder Richard Tornetta had sued Tesla and Musk over the massive pay plan in 2018, arguing that it was “beyond the bounds of reasonable judgment.”

Tornetta argued that Musk had influenced the board’s decision to set up the plan through his close personal relationships with board members, including his brother.

Meanwhile, Tesla argued that the pay was necessary to maintain Musk’s focus on Tesla and that shareholders like Tornetta have benefited from Musk’s leadership.

The Judge of Court of Chancery, Kathleen St. J. McCormick, decided in the ruling that the process leading to the approval of Musk’s compensation plan was deeply flawed, noting that Musk had extensive ties with the persons tasked with negotiating on Tesla’s behalf.

“In the final analysis, Musk launched a self-driving process, recalibrating the speed and direction along the way as he saw fit,” Judge McCormic; adding that, “The process arrived at an unfair price. And through this litigation, the plaintiff requests a recall.”

The judge said Tesla gave little reasoning in the trial for how it arrived at the price point for the compensation plan and Musk was too close with some of his board members for them to truly act independently.

The ruling means Tesla will need to propose a new compensation package for Musk, although it can appeal.

Musk does not receive a salary from Tesla and his pay package centers on a series of goalposts around the carmaker’s financial growth, initially set in place in 2018.

Specifically, the plan involves a 10-year grant of 12 tranches of stock options vested when Tesla hits certain targets. According to the carmaker, Tesla has accomplished all of the 12 targets as of 2023. When each milestone is passed, Musk gets stock equal to 1% of outstanding shares at the time of the grant.

Elon Musk had around 22% in Tesla before he sold off some of his shares to fund his Twitter purchase in 2022. His stake currently stands at about 13%.

Musk was worth about $204 billion on Tuesday, per the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. The majority of this wealth is the result of his equity in Tesla.

The billionaire has recently voiced his desire for more control over Tesla. Earlier this month, Musk said he’d like around 25% voting control in the EV company. He even appeared to give Tesla’s board an ultimatum at the time, saying that without the increased control he’ll stop growing AI development at the electric-car maker.

“Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware,” Musk wrote on X.