When it comes to work ethic, Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) has some strong opinions about where Tesla Inc. (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk ranks. And spoiler alert: it's not at the top.

The Math That Started the Controversy

Here's how this latest dust-up began. On Wednesday, More Perfect Union—a nonprofit newsroom—shared a Washington Post report on social media claiming that Musk was set to "make more than every U.S. elementary school teacher combined." The numbers are eye-popping: if Musk's compensation package hits the $1 trillion mark over the next decade, he'd pull in $100 billion annually. That's more than $3 billion above the combined income of 1.4 million elementary school teachers across America.

The pay package itself is structured around 12 different tranches tied to specific milestones that Tesla needs to hit. Even if the company doesn't reach all the targets, Musk could still pocket billions from the "easier" achievements along the way. Tesla shareholders approved the package earlier this month, reigniting debates about executive compensation and income inequality.

Fernandez Doesn't Hold Back

Rep. Fernandez jumped into the conversation with both feet. Quoting the post, she declared: "Any school teacher has more work ethic in their pinky finger than Elon Musk has in his entire body." She didn't stop there, adding that billionaires should be required to pay their fair share of taxes.

It's the kind of visceral comparison that cuts through the usual policy-speak, putting the abstract concept of income inequality into sharply personal terms.

Musk's Rebuttal

Never one to let criticism go unanswered, Musk responded directly to the More Perfect Union post. "I have earned none of that so far," he pointed out, adding that anyone confident about Tesla becoming the "most valuable company on Earth" was welcome to invest in the company.

It's technically accurate—the compensation is performance-based and contingent on Tesla hitting aggressive growth targets. But the potential size of the payout is what has critics fired up.

A Divided House

Musk's pay package has created unusual alliances and strange bedfellows. On the criticism side, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) recently took aim at the package while highlighting wealth disparity between billionaires and average Americans. The senator has also warned about tech companies developing AI and robotics with the goal of replacing workers.

Major institutional investors raised red flags too. Norway's Sovereign Wealth Fund NBIM and the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) questioned the package before the shareholder vote. Proxy advisors Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis—whom Musk colorfully dubbed "corporate terrorists"—also expressed concerns.

But the package has supporters as well. ARK Invest's Cathie Wood backed the plan, as did U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who called Musk "one of the great entrepreneurs" of this generation.

More Musk Drama

Because no week in Elon Musk's world is complete without multiple controversies, the Tesla CEO recently sparred with Grammy-winning singer Billie Eilish. Musk posted on X that Eilish was "not the sharpest tool in the shed" after she criticized his pay package in a series of Instagram stories. Eilish has also urged billionaires to donate to causes addressing social problems.

Meanwhile, Musk shared his vision that Tesla could experience its own Nvidia Corp (NVDA) moment when the company successfully operates Unsupervised Full Self-Driving technology at scale—comparing Tesla's potential breakthrough to Nvidia's AI-driven explosion in value.

The Bottom Line

The debate over Musk's compensation crystallizes broader tensions about executive pay, wealth concentration, and how we value different types of work. Whether you think Musk deserves every penny for building a trillion-dollar company or agree with Fernandez that teachers deserve more recognition—and compensation—probably depends on your views about capitalism, innovation, and what constitutes real work.

Price Action: TSLA climbed 0.68% to $403.99 at market close, then gained another 1.61% to $410.50 in after-hours trading, according to Benzinga Pro data.