Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and xAI, is known for his immense wealth, yet according to his brother Kimbal Musk, he hasn’t drawn a salary from Tesla since around 2017. In a recent interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Kimbal revealed that Elon has gone unpaid for six to eight years. “I think my brother deserves to be paid. He has received zero pay for years. That’s not right,” Kimbal said, adding that it should ultimately be up to Tesla shareholders to decide.
Elon Musk’s compensation has never followed a traditional salary model. Instead, it is entirely performance-based, tied to Tesla achieving specific revenue, profit, or market value milestones. This structure has been the source of both his massive fortune and legal scrutiny. His controversial 2018 pay package, worth $56 billion, was recently invalidated by a Delaware court for being flawed.
Following this, Tesla’s board approved a temporary compensation plan involving 96 million shares, estimated at $29 billion, while the company appeals the ruling. Meanwhile, Musk recently stated he wants a 25% voting stake in Tesla, citing discomfort in pursuing major AI and robotics ventures without such control, intensifying tensions with the board.
