--- title: "Elon Musk Gets $700 Million Payday After Twitter Meltdown" description: "Tesla achieved a six-month average of above $100 billion, resulting in Musk qualifying for his massive $700 million payday, despite a Twitter meltdown." date: "2020-05-05" modified: "2020-05-05" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-700-million-payday-after-twitter-meltdown" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk Gets $700 Million Payday After Twitter Meltdown ![Tesla achieved a six-month average of above $100 billion, resulting in Musk qualifying for his massive $700 million payday, despite a Twitter meltdown.]() *\Image: NORAD/USNORTHCOM/Victor Tangermann\* ## Oops After a self-sabotaging move of extraordinary proportions, Tesla CEO Elon Musk managed to [wipe out billions]() in Tesla's value — but now, days later, he's getting an epic payday. "Tesla stock price is too high imo," the eccentric billionaire [tweeted]() last Friday, in a series of mysterious tweets that sent share values plummeting and left shareholders shaking their heads. ## Payday Yet Tesla values still [beat earnings expectations]() this week, with share values rebounding to late-April levels, closing at $761.19 yesterday. That also means Tesla achieved a six-month average of a hair over $100 billion, resulting in Musk qualifying for a sizeable $700 million payday, [*Reuters* reports]() — if he's willing to part with 1.69 million Tesla shares. Outside of the pay package that was first agreed upon in 2018, Musk does not receive a salary or cash bonuses from either SpaceX or Tesla. ## Baby Blues The news also comes the same day Musk's partner and artist Grimes gave birth to a healthy baby. According to musk, the baby will be named ["X Æ A-12 Musk."]() **READ MORE:** [Tesla stock rise appears to qualify CEO Musk for $700 million payday]() \[*Reuters*\] **More on Musk:** *[Elon Musk’s Weird Tweets Are Sending Tesla Stocks Into a Nosedive]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()