And even if there is a future liquidity event, what could the return possibly be? Musk already bought Twitter at a premium over the market, then the whole market backslid, then he took control and cratered the company even further. Any equity is already a small fraction of what it would have been worth before this whole ordeal. To get any startup like return, Musk doesn't have to just right the ship, he has to make Twitter drastically more successful than it was before.

Part of the deal of going "hardcore" working at a startup is that you get a small chance of becoming rich. I don't think working 80 hrs/wk is worth it when the upside is adding an extra 20% or whatever onto your salary.