The so-called "independent board" including the "independent board members" get 50,000 shares each three times a year. There are 9 board members. On that schedule, every decade they pay out $5 billion to the board of directors, assuming the pay stays the same and stock price at $370. Elon Musk's portion is actually much higher than that.
As of right now, Tesla's debt problems would vanish if the board of directors returned that $5 billion and stopped taking 50,000 shares each three times a year. It's half a billion dollars a year, and for Q3Q4 that would make Tesla downright profitable, and they could even restart the Model Y, Tesla Semi, and the revamp programs for the existing models without having to scrape pennies. They would still need a decent management structure to make sure there isn't any overspending. I don't know how that works in a flat employee structure.
What did Doug Field really do?
I have been reading tweets from factory employees celebrating that they get rid of the "harassing" long-time employees. It sounds like a shakedown to me, moving citizens out to replace them all with foreigners. There's something fishy going on. Tesla used to be transparent and innovative, but now it just seems opaque.
I hope they continue the EV programs and do well, but Elon claiming to be worried about the factory all day every day seems false when he's busy having a party in Spain, and the little I do see going on at Tesla looks messed up. It seems floundering. Some sections work fairly right, such as their upcoming Energy division, but others just goof off, like the auto section. It fits my purchasing experience with my car. It also fits with me not getting my IR email July 2. I hope my shares find a way to become profitable enough to catch up with the progress the rest of the economy did.
