In 2018, Elon Musk negotiated a pay package that was the subject of much controversy.
At the time, Elon Musk agreed not to receive a salary for his role as CEO of Tesla. He also agreed not to receive a bonus.
Instead of the traditional CEO compensation package, Elon Musk requested a financial compensation package based solely on performance.
This is something that fits perfectly with Elon Musk's mentality.
Each time Tesla's market cap would pass certain milestones, Elon Musk would then receive stock options from Tesla.
It would start at $100 billion and go up to $650 billion.

At the time, Tesla's market cap was $50 billion. Few people thought Elon Musk would come out a winner in such a deal.
And then the year 2020 came along. A pandemic hit the world. The Fed's response to the economic crisis that hit the world created a tech bubble that allowed Tesla's market cap to increase tenfold in one year.
In early 2021, Elon Musk became the richest man on the planet. His gamble paid off.
As a matter of fact, daring always pays off in life. A beautiful lesson for the rest of us.