He doesn't deserve to "control" the company. The stocks should be shared between the employees who are making the product which is what really creates the value of the company.

The idea that elon musk's name alone is what is creating the value of his shares is the most glaringly stupid take in this. Besides the fact that he's talking about a house as an investment, which in the majority of people's lives that is not the point of them.

But even then, they can just rent the fucking house and make loads of money so I'm really not sure why he's making this comparison.

Theoretically if he just sold all of his stocks at once, yes he would end up not gaining the full value of them, but that is never the plan. He'll sell them off at certain periods, after a marginal increase in the amount of stocks is decided by the shareholders, which he has majority control of, and will increase his cash in hand worth this way, whenever he wants, in a near infinite cycle until he is finally dead.

The guy you're talking to doesn't understand that wealth isn't just cash in a briefcase stashed under a bed.