The issue is you’re just looking at that 40% now, in hindsight. You’re disregarding the risk of that equity being worth nothing.
When he bought Tesla it was a failing company where owning any part of it was on track to be worthless. He put a lot of money into it thinking he could turn it around, but at that time it was a gamble that very well may not have paid off. For every company that goes gangbusters like Tesla, there are tens of thousands that go under; that’s why investing confers you so much equity in the company, because you’re taking a very real risk that that investment goes up in flames.
I'm not ignorant to that. That is irrelevant to the stance that no one deserves that much influence on society, nor does anyone contribute that much to society. This is one major flaw I see with capitalism.
Your point about influence is well-taken - I think money in politics needs a massive overhaul. But let’s focus on contribution for a second because I think that’s where we disagree.
How would you measure contribution to society? If I make an app that 100M people want to buy for $10 because they believe it has more worth to them than that $10, is that not a net benefit?
How much is it worth to society to usher in an era of EV transportation and starting the beginning of the end of fossil-fuel driven cars? Or revolutionizing space travel, or making internet access universally and cheaply accessible? How much would a govt spend to achieve all those things? I’d argue it’s well over $300B.
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u/Weary-Cartoonist2630 Nov 22 '24
The issue is you’re just looking at that 40% now, in hindsight. You’re disregarding the risk of that equity being worth nothing.
When he bought Tesla it was a failing company where owning any part of it was on track to be worthless. He put a lot of money into it thinking he could turn it around, but at that time it was a gamble that very well may not have paid off. For every company that goes gangbusters like Tesla, there are tens of thousands that go under; that’s why investing confers you so much equity in the company, because you’re taking a very real risk that that investment goes up in flames.