Size of his holdings: $250B. That's about the same size as the entire GDP of Portugal or New Zealand. 75% of all countries in the world have less GDP.

If he says "sell it all", the perceived value of the stock will go down since he has decided to dump it. There's nothing in this world that requires $250B in cash right away, so it could only mean lack of faith in his companies which will translate to a drop in perceived value. When major shareholders sell chunks, it is news and that has to be reported. it is a signal that others should get out, too.

The buyers aren't sitting on $250B of ready cash, either. So where do they get that cash? The only place with enough value and liquidity will be other stocks. They decide to sell those other stocks, which lowers those values. Who buys all those stocks? It cascades.

Essentially, big founder type shareholders like Musk, Bezos, etc have "paper" wealth that is due almost entirely to perceived value of a stock. In order to keep that value, they can't use it, a catch 22.

Tesla's market cap is about $1.25T. Musk holds about 20%. If he dumps lowering the value of Tesla stock, 80% of that impact with be others. There are side effects for any move he makes.

There is a huge difference between what someone is "worth" and how much "cash" they have when you operate at the multi billionaire level. The public thinks it is obscene that any one person has $250B in cash. They don't think it is obscene that a founder creates a $1.25T value company from nothing that hires 70,000 employees and makes an industry leading product. Many don't get the difference.

Mike C.

Give us an example of someone who isn't paying their fair share and has income.

Creating the false aura that they make income without paying taxes is a form of demonization.


For most of human history, the wealthiest people were kings and their cronies that oppressed others.

Today, they are people who got wealthy because the general public chose to buy their life enhancing products.

Why wouldn't we celebrate that?

Mike C.

Give us an example of someone who isn't paying their fair share and has income.

Creating the false aura that they make income without paying taxes is a form of demonization.

Would you trade whatever Bezos and Amazon pays the government in a year for what you pay the government?

If you wouldn’t, that is the very definition of fair.

I’ve taught all of my children that fair does not mean equitable.

It’s easy to believe these guys won the lottery and then cheated to keep the money, the truth couldn’t be any further from that. Again, I don’t like either one of them… but they were innovators who sacrificed everything and worked their tails off.

Most of us have no idea what their daily lives are like and wouldn’t trade places with them if we could.

Between 2014 and 2018, Bezos paid $973M in taxes on $4.22B in income.

Source:

https://www.propublica.org/article/the- ... income-tax

The income and tax of the wealthy vary a lot from year to year, so it is possible to cherry pick years where they pay little to no tax. But overall, they pay taxes.

The article confuses virtual paper wealth with income, like many folks who want to be angry at someone for something.

If you want to see a true economic disaster, push these entrepreneurs away from the USA.

Mike C.

Yes, I would, since they paid nothing. So Musk gets $4.9 billion in subsidies. Where is my $4.9B? That is fair, by your argument. Your argument that we should pay the same is ludicrous. He uses far more more resources than I delivering his product, but we should pay the same? I get why you endorse these tax laws that benefit the rich. Without them you might be out of business.

How many people have been employed in IT and associated companies since MS was created? How about Dell, etc., that provided the hardware platforms? Internet anyone?How many people have jobs that are enabled by Gate's and Allen's vision?

Almost 1000000 US people work directly for Amazon, to say nothing of other businesses created to support it. They pay tax on their wages and profits.

How much wealth has Elon created by the value of his stock? If not for his wealth, we'd still be waiting on NASA to go back to Space.

How much revenue has all of that provided to the States and Feds in the last 45+ years?



Funny how you never see the above in the Chyron crawl on CNN, MSNBC, et al.

Between 2014 and 2018, Bezos paid $973M in taxes on $4.22B in income.

Source:

https://www.propublica.org/article/the- ... income-tax

The income and tax of the wealthy vary a lot from year to year, so it is possible to cherry pick years where they pay little to no tax. But overall, they pay taxes.

The article confuses virtual paper wealth with income, like many folks who want to be angry at someone for something.

If you want to see a true economic disaster, push these entrepreneurs away from the USA.

Mike C.

How many people have been employed in IT and associated companies since MS was created? How about Dell, etc., that provided the hardware platforms? Internet anyone?How many people have jobs that are enabled by Gate's and Allen's vision?

Almost 1000000 US people work directly for Amazon, to say nothing of other businesses created to support it. They pay tax on their wages and profits.

How much wealth has Elon created by the value of his stock? If not for his wealth, we'd still be waiting on NASA to go back to Space.

How much revenue has all of that provided to the States and Feds in the last 45+ years?



Funny how you never see the above in the Chyron crawl on CNN, MSNBC, et al.

Fair share comes from the border dude, end of story.

I'm a believer in the free market system. I agree with pretty much everything Milton Friedman and the Austrian economic theories.

However, the older I get, the more I also see how much the system is rigged to keep the peasants poor. There is zero denying that. I'll give you the moist egregious example: Banks can borrow money at 0.25% interest from the Feds. Why can't you and I borrow at that same rate directly from them for our mortgage? Why are banks allowed to resell and pocket an extra 2-4% interest rates as go-betweeners?

Just answer me that one question in a satisfactory way. Please, I beg anyone.

And btw, very many so called successful businessmen are like Trump - they started their little outfit "from nothing" with just a little $1M loan from their father.... Nothing wrong with inheritance (it was earned by someone), but then don't pretend you started from the gutter.

OK, I'll take his .98% effective tax rate. That's fair.

You confuse virtual paper wealth with actual income.

If your house appreciates $50,000 this year in market value, do you want to pay taxes on that "income"? At some point, that requires you to sell your house to pay the taxes!

Mike C.

We all know, as capitalists, that if the demand exists someone else would have stepped in to fill the void. We wouldn't be stuck in the 80's without them.

Become a bank and find out what it takes to do retail loans, and handle the under performing ones.

Banks are highly competitive.

Your question is basically why are wholesale prices less than retail.

Mike C.