You've said it better than I ever could have. Musk is trying to demonstrate that the entire valuation system for companies is broken. WalMart is successful because they pay people less than a living wage, and the government picks up the slack. The entire assets and future of Tesla is not now, and never will be, worth $420 a share. But the idea of Tesla? The goals of Tesla/Musk? I'll buy that shit at $1000 and be pleased as fucking punch to have a tiny a part in it. I think Musk's whole idea is to destroy Wall Street and the rapacious culture of "profits over people", and force people to weigh the entire benefit/impact of a company and their products and culture, rather than solely basing value on quarterly earnings.
I know this is just an off-hand comment, but it's not right. There are a gajillion ways he could make money, and by no measure is any of his businesses profitable right now. So they are not Making Money... they may, at some point in the future, and that is the intent. But they aren't. Anyone can make money. I think Musk is trying to make a Difference.