Quote:For a self-made billionaire, Elon Musk doesn’t seem to know much about making money—at least not for himself. The Tesla CEO's new compensation package, announced Tuesday, hinges on Musk's ability to transform the budding automaker into one of the world’s most valuable companies by producing long-term increases in market value, and revenue and profits.

Musk will be paid in stock options, which will vest over ten years in a series of 12 tranches. To secure each, Musk must reach a pair of milestones, one related to Tesla's market value, the other to its revenue and profitability. With every tranche, the target market value goes up by $50 billion. If he can hit all 12 targets and grow Tesla's current value of $59 billion to an astounding $650 billion, his stock award could be worth $55 billion. That's the good part.

But, as Musk told The New York Times, “If all that happens over the next 10 years is that Tesla’s value grows by 80 or 90 percent, then my amount of compensation would be zero.” (Musk does make minimum wage salary, per California law, but he told the Times he doesn’t cash the checks.)