I Just did Some Math

In my previous post, I mentioned how Zac and Jesse, big fans of Elon Musk and Tesla, said that what Musk has done to help restore Puerto Rico's hurricane-ravaged grid could be great PR for Tesla. Something I didn't mention is that Zac and Jesse also made a big deal about how Musk personally donated $250,000 to charities working in Puerto Rico. I'm not sure, but I think the phrase "right out of his own pocket" may have been bandied about.

I think it's good that Musk donated that money. I think that money helped a lot of people. Assuming it wasn't stolen by corrupt officials, and I have no knowledge of that sort of thing happening in Puerto Rico.

The math referred to in the title of this post has to do with just exactly how deep Musk's own pocket is. The math has to do with to what extent a quarter of a million dollars, for Musk, constitutes giving until it hurts.

If the reports are true that Musk got bonuses from Tesla in 2018 totaling $2.6 billion, then $250,000 would be less than 1/10,000th of his annual pay. If we stipulate that Musk works twice as long as a mere mortal, 80 hours a week, that means that he works 4000 hours a year, and THAT means that $250,000 is less than what he makes in a half hour.

Look at it another way: if Musk somehow came face-to-face with 685 panhandlers a day, every single day, 7 days every single week, and he gave a $100 bill to each one of them every time they met, in a year, it would add up to -- $250,000, less than Musk makes in a half-hour, assuming he works 80 hours a week. If he works 40 hours a week, then $250,000 is less than he makes in 15 minutes. [PS, 2 November 2019: Oops! And I'm always bragging on this blog about my superhero-level autistic arithmetic skills. Let's try that again: $100 each to 685 panhandlers a day is $68,500 a day, times 365 is $25 million a year. And it takes Musk a whole half of a week to earn $25 million.]

I have a feeling that Musk very rarely sees any panhandlers or homeless people. I could be wrong. Maybe he volunteers 20 hours a week in homeless shelters. It's just a feeling.

I'm not saying that billionaires are horrible people. Plenty of people will tell you that, but not me. I think billionaires can be horrible or wonderful, and I'm not sure what to think of Elon Musk. If I had to guess right now, I would guess that there is a mix of horrible and wonderful in him, and that his reality is so different than mine that I can't imagine all of the implications of being him. I'm just saying this: $250,000, for someone who makes $2.6 billion a year, is half an hour's pay if he works 80 hours a week, and 15 minutes' pay if he works 40 hours a week. I'm saying: if you think Elon Musk is just a down-to-Earth, folksy, regular guy, maybe you should keep on thinking.