Pope Leo XIV singled out Elon Musk and his staggering fortune while warning against extreme wealth inequality.
The Pontiff said in his first interview since assuming the role that the Tesla CEO’s reported trillion-dollar pay package was symbolic of “the loss of a higher sense of what human life is about.”
“Yesterday the news that Elon Musk is going to be the first trillionaire in the world. What does that mean and what’s that about? If that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we’re in big trouble,” the pope told Crux in an interview published Sunday.
The pope, 70, noted that over half a century ago, CEOs were making four to six times their workers, but current rates showed CEOs making 600 times their average workers’ salaries.
Earlier this month, Tesla’s board requested the trillion dollar pay package from investors to give the world’s wealthiest man 423.7 million more shares of the company’s stocks over the next decade. At the very least, the shares amount to $148.7 billion, but if the shares appreciate as forecasted, Musk is well on his way to become the world’s first trillionaire.
According to the board, “Mr. Musk singularly possesses the leadership characteristics necessary to transform Tesla and realize its long-term mission at an unparalleled level.”
The compensation is contingent on Tesla meeting several lofty goals. The company laid out 12 “operational milestones” for Tesla to reach, including: 20 million Tesla vehicles delivered, one million robots delivered, one million Robotaxis in operation, and various Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) targets.
The tech billionaire, 54, previously made the case for greater control of Tesla and a higher pay grade with an X post back in Jan. 2024, saying he would “build…outside of Tesla” if he didn’t have at least a quarter of the voting control.
“I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having ~25% voting control,” he wrote. “Enough to be influential, but not so much that I can’t be overturned. Unless that is the case, I would prefer to build products outside of Tesla.”
I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having ~25% voting control. Enough to be influential, but not so much that I can’t be overturned.Unless that is the case, I would prefer to build products outside of Tesla. You don’t seem to understand…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 15, 2024
Musk, who is worth $476 billion, currently holds 13% stake of the car company.
The pope was asked in the interview how polarization could be solved. He noted that it was important to ask why polarization happened and cited reasons like the 2020 pandemic along with extreme wealth disparities.
“Add on top of that a couple of other factors, one which I think is very significant is the continuously wider gap between the income levels of the working class and the money that the wealthiest receive,” he said.
This is not the first time Pope Leo has scrutinized extreme wealth. Earlier this year, the pope called on global leaders to fix the wealth gap at the Jubilee of Governments.
“This would mean, for example, working to overcome the unacceptable disproportion between the immense wealth concentrated in the hands of a few and the world’s poor,” he said. “This imbalance generates situations of persistent injustice, which readily lead to violence and, sooner or later, to the tragedy of war.”
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