The reason he’s able to make this ask and not immediately be laughed out of the room is that Tesla’s value is massively inflated based largely on the personality cult surrounding Musk himself. If Tesla starts being valued as a car company rather than a speculative tech company with a “genius” leader at the help (quotes doing a lot of work there) , the stock price will be a fraction of what it is now.

That’s what shareholders stand to lose, and it’s why Musk has any leverage to make this ridiculous ask in the first place.