Would You Vote Against Your Own 500% Gain?

Goodness. A trillion dollars—$1,000,000,000,000.00 That’s a massive potential compensation package and an awful lot of zeros. I guess if you’re already worth 400 billion, you might as well take a leap of faith and shoot for the stars. I really doubt Elon Musk will hit all the numbers to unlock the full amount. The sales and profit targets seem very ambitious, maybe even beyond Musk’s ability to achieve.

Although I personally think the possible compensation package is an obscene amount of money, I’ve actually got my fingers crossed for the guy. I hope he threads the needle and scales the performance peaks required to get his grubby mitts on the dollars.

Uncomfortable as my hopes for Musk make me feel, the simple fact of the matter is this: if he achieves the near-pipedream hopes of Tesla’s board, my current holding in the business will inflate in value by an estimated 500%. That’s a tidy sum of money. Get to it, Elon—my bank balance is rooting for you even if my mind is morally uncomfortable with the amounts.

Capitalism is a sneaky little monster, worming its way into my retirement accounts. Unfortunately, I find myself aligned with its goals and aims for Mr. Musk. Some circles are harder to square than others with deep moral and ethical considerations, and to my mind, this one is a real doozy.

I’m invested through an index fund, which means Vanguard voted on my behalf—almost certainly for the package. I think I would have voted against it if my vote had actually counted, even knowing it might cost me that 500% gain. What would you have done?