Elon Musk says he will still be Tesla chief executive in five years - unless he dies

He claims his $100bn pay package is justified

Elon Musk said on Tuesday that he is committed to being the chief executive of Tesla Motors for another five years, unless he "dies", while threatening jail time to those who have turned against the company over his role in the US government.

"I can't be CEO if I'm dead," the world's wealthiest person said in an online interview to delegates at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha.

He said his $100 billion pay package, and whatever compensation he may get in the future, is justified and does not affect his intention to remain at the helm of the company.

Mr Musk touted Tesla's sales and financial performance – despite it tanking in recent months – and the "millions" of humanoid robots the company is building.

"I think, obviously, there should be compensation for if ... something incredible was done," he said. "I'm confident that whatever some activist posing as a judge in Delaware happens to do will not affect the future compensation," he added, referring to Chancery Court Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick, who struck down Mr Musk's pay package in December when it was worth $56 billion.

"I can't be sitting there and wanting to get tossed out for political reasons by activists," he added, while declining to discuss the matter further.

Mr Musk has also threatened people who have damaged Tesla stores and sent him death threats, saying that authorities will come after them and they "deserve" to go to jail.

"They're on the wrong side of history and that's an evil thing to do ... I've not harmed anyone, so something needs to be done about them, and a number of them are going to prison and they deserve it," he said. "The people that funded them and organised them will also go to prison."

Mr Musk said he was pushing through with his lawsuit against OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT and of which he was an early backer. Mr Musk and OpenAI boss Sam Altman have exchanged barbs and insults, after the former accused the company of diverging from its non-profit goal. Mr Altman responded by saying Mr Musk was insecure and regretted leaving the company.

“I came up with the name OpenAI as open-source … intended to be a non-profit company, and now, they're trying to change that for their own financial benefit into a for-profit company that is closed-source,” said Mr Musk, who provided about $50 million in initial funding.

“So this would be like, let's say you funded a non-profit to help preserve the Amazon rainforest, but instead of doing that, they became a lumber company, took down the forest and sold the wood.”

Things turned testy when Mr Musk was asked if there was any conflict of interest with Starlink’s potential entry into South Africa, where he was born, especially after a Bloomberg report on Tuesday said Johannesburg might bend the rules for his company, especially as President Cyril Ramaphosa arrived in Washington to meet US President Donald Trump.

He griped against the country’s Black Economic Empowerment laws, which require that black company ownership ranges between 25 per cent and 100 per cent.

“Why are there racist laws in South Africa? That’s the first question,” he said, challenging the host, Bloomberg Weekend editor-at-large Mishal Husain, to answer the question on conflict of interest.

“I'm in this absurd situation where I was born in South Africa but can't get a licence to operate Starlink because I'm not black,” he added. Mr Musk also did not rule out a potential initial public offering for Starlink.

As for his role in the US government – he is a special government employee leading the Department of Government Efficiency – he defended his actions to slash federal spending that have cost people jobs and prompted widespread anger, saying he and his team are not "dictators" and merely serve as advisers to the government, which ultimately has the final decision.

He also pushed back at reports that the vast downsizing at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) would result in the deaths of more people, with vital supplies cut off.

Mr Musk also took aim at Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who two weeks ago accused Mr Musk of “killing” children with cuts made to USAID.

“Who does Bill Gates think he is to make comments about the welfare of children, given that he was close friends with Jeffrey Epstein?” Mr Musk said, referring to the disgraced US financier who died in prison while awaiting trial on child sex-trafficking charges.