Elon Musk's younger brother, Kimbal Musk, told CNBC on Friday, August 22, 2025, that his brother received "zero pay" from Tesla for the past six to eight years. The Tesla CEO reportedly was not paid a salary or cash bonuses by the company. Instead, his compensation comes via "performance awards" of valuable stock options, which are only granted if the company hits specific milestones.However, according to Kimbal Musk, his brother "deserves to be paid." He told CNBC:"I think my brother deserves to be paid. He has zero pay for the past six to eight years. I don't think that's right. I'll let Tesla shareholders make that decision, but I believe that it does need to be. He needs to be paid."Kimbal's statement comes after Tesla granted Elon Musk 96 million shares of an interim package earlier this month. The package would be worth around $29 billion, according to the news outlet. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostThat said, despite not receiving any salary as Tesla CEO, Elon Musk is worth $368 billion, according to Celebrity Net Worth. He is currently the richest man in the world and has topped the list of the richest people for the past couple of years.Elon Musk's net worth and Tesla pay package exploredElon Musk's net worth reached the hundred-billion-dollar mark in November 2020, and by October the following year, the tech billionaire was already worth $300 billion after market valuation for Tesla and SpaceX soared. And while he lost his title of the richest person in the world in 2022, ending the year with around a $200 billion drop from the previous year, he's back at the top since 2024.Elon Musk's staggering $368 billion net worth largely comes from his business ventures and stakes in businesses he founded. Per Celebrity Net Worth, the majority of the tech billionaire's fortune comes from his roughly 21% stake in Tesla, around 412 million shares (13% equity) that he directly owns, and about 304 million exercisable options in the company.Elon Musk is the richest man on the planet (Image via Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)That said, 58% of his Tesla shares are being used as collateral against his personal loans worth $3.5 billion. A portion of his shares, worth $40 billion, was also sold in 2022 to purchase the social media platform Twitter, now X. Also, the $56 billion part of the Tesla options that he indirectly owns was given to him in 2018 as an executive compensation package.The package was some sort of a reward scheme for being the CEO and is awarded every time Tesla increases its market cap by $50 billion within a 10-year time limit, and only up to $600 billion. It only took Musk two years to grow the company from $50 billion to $600 billion, hence he was awarded $56 billion.However, after a shareholder lawsuit in saying it was "excessive," a Delaware judge revoked the package in December 2024. It's only early in August 2025 that Musk is awarded an "interim award" of 95 million new shares to keep him at the helm of the company. That said, Tesla is not the only reason Elon Musk reached the top spot of the richest people on Earth list.His 43% shares (around $77 billion) in SpaceX, which is worth around $180 billion, are a big chunk of his overall net worth. He also owns X by roughly 79%, and the company was worth $44 billion, although the company's overall valuation had nosedived to $19 billion since his ownership, per Celebrity Net Worth.Elon Musk also has some assets in the Boring Company and Neuralink.