Tesla pays half of $700K-a-month showroom rent during coronavirus pandemic
Tesla earned a $104M profit in the second quarter
Elon Musk has become one of the richest people on the planet, so why isn't he paying the rent at his fancy showrooms that display Tesla cars?
Sources have told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo that Musk has tried to arrange a deferment of rent at some of his 80 showrooms here in the U.S. At least one of them here in New York said, "No, we cannot defer the rent."
But instead of paying the full $700,000 a month in rent for the past four months, Musk has paid only half of that, apparently promising he'll pay it off in August.
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Some are speculating it's a scheme to save as many millions as possible in the past three months so Tesla could show a profit for the fourth quarter in a row and be eligible for inclusion in the S&P 500.
Deferring half a million dollars here and half a million dollars there would certainly move the needle on earnings: The company reported net income of $104 million in the three months through June.