{"id":14079,"date":"2023-10-31T10:55:12","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T09:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ceoinfluencers.com\/?p=14079"},"modified":"2023-10-31T10:55:12","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T09:55:12","slug":"how-much-elon-musk-make-a-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ceoinfluencers.com\/how-much-elon-musk-make-a-year\/","title":{"rendered":"How Much Elon Musk Make A Year"},"content":{"rendered":"
What kind of salary does a businessman such as Elon Musk bring in? How much money is one capable of making from a world-renowned career as one of the foremost innovators in the world? Rumors swirl about the amount of money that Musk rakes in each year, and the truth may surprise you.<\/p>\n
Musk has taken on a number of roles in his professional life. He is the founder and chief engineer of Tesla Motors. He’s also a futurist, investor, philanthropist, and renowned innovator whose works have earned him a place at the forefront of 21st century technology. But what sort of income comes with such a wide-ranging career as his?<\/p>\n
In order to answer that question, one must first understand Musk’s net worth. As of November 2020, Forbes puts Musk’s net worth at a staggering $88 billion. That number goes up as Musk’s companies and investments continue to gain success. Such a result is to be expected from a man who’s turned multiple start-up companies into multi-billion dollar enterprises.<\/p>\n
Much of Musk’s wealth comes from the success of Tesla Motors, which reported $24.6 billion in revenue in 2019. What’s even more impressive is that this number is up from $21.5 billion the year before. Owing to these gains, Musk was rewarded with an annual salary of $56,369. That’s a trifling amount compared to what Musk’s true earnings were shown to be in 2019: $2.3 billion.<\/p>\n
Of that $2.3 billion total, $2.284 billion came in the form of stock option awards. The Silicon Valley executive was paid a meager $35,360 in salary in comparison. Meanwhile, Musk has seen his immense 2018 salary package slashed by 75% this past year. The Senate Banking Committee wrote a letter to Tesla’s Board of Directors in 2019 which criticized Musk for sending “the wrong message about the Company’s priorities.”<\/p>\n
Musk has seen his immense 2018 salary package slashed by 75% this past year, limiting his annual earnings to a much more palatable $1 billion. In comparison, the average American earns $43,441 per year, a fraction of what Musk has earned this past year.<\/p>\n
This income difference speaks to the rich-poor gap in the US. Musk’s $88 billion net worth is over 20 times that of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. This fact – when combined with rising income inequality and the 2008 Great Recession – causes one to cast a wary eye towards those whose wealth seems relatively unfettered by economic hiccups.<\/p>\n
Much of Musk’s growth in wealth stems from the success of Tesla Motors, and how it integrates sustainability into every aspect of its operations. Tesla vehicles are powered by electricity, significantly reducing the company’s carbon footprint. This shift towards more eco-friendly cars has caused auto-industry leaders to focus on the development of electric vehicles, a shift that Musk and his companies have been at the forefront of.<\/p>\n
The electric car industry is predicted to reach $1 trillion by 2030, with electric cars comprising at least 50% of total vehicle sales. The increased demand for electric vehicles will have a far-reaching impact on the environment due to the lack of emissions from such cars. This shift towards a greener future is directly attributable to Musk’s impact on the industry.<\/p>\n
The potential of electric cars has also opened the door to new forms of transportation. Tesla Motors is currently developing the Hyperloop, an experimental system of transportation which will allow commuters to travel quickly between cities at speeds of up to 700 miles per hour. Musk has stated that the Hyperloop could one day transport people between San Francisco and LA in under 30 minutes.<\/p>\n
The Hyperloop is an ambitious project which seeks to revolutionize the way we move cross-country, but Musk has also set his sights on modes of interplanetary travel. SpaceX, one of the man’s many companies, is developing the Starship, a space-going vessel that is designed to one day transport humans to Mars. The launch of this vessel could potentially propel humanity into a new age of space exploration.<\/p>\n
In addition to his focus on sustainability and zero emission technology, Musk has been a visible member in the philanthropic community. In 2018, he donated $6,250,000 to multiple educational, children’s, and science-related charities. That number went up in 2019 when he willfully gave $19 million to the California Community Foundation.<\/p>\n
Musk has also been at the fore of numerous non-profit initiatives, the most famous of which is the global Giving Pledge. This pledge is centered around encouraging billionaires who are “focused on solving environmental, health and community issues”, and is personally kept by Musk himself. He has also taken initiative in creating his own foundation, the Musk Foundation, which primarily works towards the betterment of human life through education and renewable energies.<\/p>\n
Others in the scientific community have also praised Musk’s philanthropic efforts. He and his wife, Justine Musk, have been actively involved in helping struggling communities around the world through their foundations and charities. Together, the pair have donated millions of dollars to various causes that are working towards improving the lives of the less fortunate.<\/p>\n
On top of their charitable giving, the couple has proven to be staunch supporters of education. Musk has funded multiple science and engineering-related programs and scholarships which are designed to give those who are interested in a future within the STEM fields a head start on the competition. These efforts will no doubt bear fruit in the coming years, as more and more people benefit from the forward-thinking nature of the Musk Foundation.<\/p>\n
Critics of Musk tend to focus on his ability to rake in such a high-salary, but the truth remains that this income is only possible through the exploitation of those who work for him. The 2018 salary package of $56,369 was based on a 40-hour work week in which that salary would’ve only been equal to a mere $14 an hour, far below the $15 California minimum wage. In addition, this salary is supplemented by stock options which are tied directly to the performance of the company.<\/p>\n