Elon Musk becomes first person worth $700 billion following pay package ruling

[Polybius]

Source: Reuters

Dec 20 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk's net worth surged to $749 billion late Friday after the Delaware Supreme Court reinstated Tesla stock options worth $139 billion that were voided last year, according to Forbes' billionaires index.

Musk's 2018 pay package, once worth $56 billion, was restored by the Delaware Supreme Court on Friday, two years after a lower court struck down the compensation deal as "unfathomable."

The Supreme Court said that a 2024 ruling that rescinded the pay package had been improper and inequitable to Musk.

Earlier this week, Musk became the first person ever to surpass $600 billion in net worth on the heels of reports that his aerospace startup SpaceX was likely to go public.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/elon-musk-becomes-first-person-worth-700-billion-after-court-ruling-pay-package-2025-12-20/

[Turbineguy]

1. The nice thing about having lots of money

is that you can do good things with it.

[struggle4progress]

2. World's richest man trying to destroy social safety nets

[Stargleamer]

3. We so need to have a maximum wage. . .

to lessen capitalism's damage and the rule of plutocrats

[Seinan Sensei]

6. YES !!!!!!!!!!

[Polybius]

7. Or maximum total earnings

A maximum wage would be yearly earnings only. What would you set it at?

[Stargleamer]

12. Working out the details of limiting wealth will take much thought and collaboration. . .

Last edited Sun Jan 4, 2026, 09:01 PM - Edit history (1)

but Ingrid Robeyns' has taken a good first step it would seem:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/jan/21/limitarianism-the-case-against-extreme-wealth-ingrid-robeyns-extract.

Note however that Robeyns' approach might be insufficiently egalitarian:

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10677-022-10337-1.pdf

[RandySF]

4. He's still worthless.

[Polybius]

5. He could gave me a billion, and not even realize that it was missing

Crazy to think about.

[travelingthrulife]

8. Deport Elon for illegally obtaining citizenship.

Seize his assets to pay for all the damage he has cost us.

[Polybius]

9. Well, at least he got a lot of right-wingers to go electric

I remember it being just a scant 3 or 4 years ago that Republicans said they would never get an electric car.

[LudwigPastorius]

10. Time to post this again.

Realize, though, that you have to increase the stack at the end of the video by 272.5% to get to $700 billion.

This makes Musk's pile of money more than 5 miles high, or higher than the 6th highest mountain in the world Cho Oyu.

[Maeve]

11. I will continue to oppose this wording

While his "net worth" may be that high, he is not worth that amount--he controls that amount.

Elon Musk is barely worth the price of a cup of cheap coffee.