If Tesla (EM) did not sell all that BTC, then it would be more accurate to say that it is an unrealized profit - and EM has stated that it has no intention of selling that BTC, although this may change at any time.
This lol. Technically, it really isn't considered as "profits" if the assets haven't been sold yet in the first place. It's quite misleading, but I guess Cointelegraph's goal was to make it misleading enough to trick people into talking about it, and here we are. 🤷♂️
We can call it a high-quality bait. As you mention, isn't profit if haven't been sold, so, it's a tricky word.
And one billion doesn't change anything to Elon Musk, he is at one point where isn't about money, his projects will keep growing and his fortune too.