Pope Leo XIV, in his first media interview, pointed to Tesla’s proposed $1 trillion pay package and warned that extreme wealth could deepen inequality.
Elon Musk responded to Pope Leo XIV on Sunday with a passage from scripture after the U.S.-born Catholic leader criticized the Tesla CEO’s pay and projected rise to trillionaire status.
“Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?” Musk wrote on X, quoting Matthew 7:3-5, and backing his post with hedge fund manager Kyle Bass’ claim about the Vatican’s own wealth.
“Estimates of the total wealth of the Vatican approach $2 trillion (including all global assets and land). The Catholic church owns 200 million acres of land across the world and enjoys tax exemptions almost everywhere. The church’s endowment contains investments over $100B,” said Bass, the founder of Hayman Capital Management, who successfully predicted and bet against the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis of 2008.
Because of the Church’s inherent secrecy, speculation about the Holy See’s wealth has grown over the years. From the start of his reign, Pope Francis, who died in April, pushed for reform and greater financial transparency.
According to the Apostolic See Heritage Administration, the Vatican branch of the Church reported a profit of more than $52 million in 2023, along with an $8 million increase in assets from the prior year. While the Pope’s personal net worth has not been disclosed, recent estimates from the Center for Research on Markets, Culture and Ethics in Rome put it at nearly $1 billion. Still, Newsweek reports that the Vatican is currently running a deficit.
Musk’s reply came after excerpts of Leo’s first media interview were released by Catholic news site Crux. The pope, the first American to lead the Church, said that CEO pay has ballooned compared to that of ordinary workers.
“CEOs that 60 years ago might have been making four to six times more than what the workers are receiving … it’s now 600 times more than the average workers are receiving,” he said, according to a report by CNN.
He cited Tesla’s proposed $1 trillion compensation package for Musk as an example, and added, “Yesterday, there was 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 compensation plan, laid out by Tesla’s board, would pay Musk over the next decade if the company hits milestones in earnings, vehicle deliveries, robotaxis and humanoid robots. The package has stirred debate over whether it is justified given Tesla’s ambitions in electric vehicles, AI and robotics.
A separate filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week revealed that Musk purchased 2.57 million Tesla shares in multiple tranches, spending nearly $1 billion, sending Tesla’s stock higher and ballooning his net worth to over $430 billion.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for Tesla was ‘extremely bullish’ amid ‘extremely high’ message volume.
Tesla’s stock, after struggling much of the year, is now up 4.5% in 2025.
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