Elon Musk on paying nearly half his income in taxes：

"Well， in the taxes that I pay， for my stock options， I pay 40% income tax on a national basis. Because I spend about 30% of my time in California， thereabouts， I pay another roughly one-third of the California state taxes， which are now about 15%. So I pay about 45% in taxes， just so people know this. It's roughly half. Then， when I die， there'll be another roughly 45%， about half， that will be taxed. So， at the end of the day， I'll probably have a quarter of whatever I have. I think the only thing it gives me is that， for some period of time， I have control over the direction of the companies. That's pretty much what it gets me， until， I guess， AI becomes so smart that it's in charge. At that point， controlling companies won't really matter."