又中又英 | Ｍinimalist lifestyle | 褚簡寧

　　In my previous column I said Elon Musk, the world's richest person, now has a chance to be the world's first trillionaire. Musk’s wealth is about US$400 billion, which is US$400,000,000,000 in numbers. US$1trillion is US$1,000,000,000,000 in numbers. That means he must add one more zero to the money he already has! Musk is the co-founder and CEO of electric vehicle company Tesla. As I said previously, Tesla’s board has offered him a pay package of US$1 trillion. That amount is out of this world! If something is out of this world, it means it is extremely impressive.

　　But there's a catch. The expression "there's a catch" used this way means there is a difficult condition. Musk must increase Tesla’s stock market value eight times, from the current US$1.1 trillion to US$8.5 trillion, within ten years to qualify for the pay package. Even Musk must be unsure if he can multiply Tesla’s stock by that much. But don't expect him to buy more luxury mansions or mega yachts if he becomes a trillionaire. Many people may be surprised to know that Musk doesn't have mega yachts and no longer owns luxury mansions.

　　He sold all his mansions some years ago and now rents a modest 3-bedroom house that's worth only US$50,000 in Texas near his SpaceX aerospace headquarters. He does own several private planes for his business trips. He said he prefers a minimalist lifestyle so he can focus on his businesses. A minimalist lifestyle means choosing to live a simple life with only the minimal necessities. People who choose such a lifestyle say it reduces stress and makes them happier.

　　在上一篇文章中我提及，世上最富有的馬斯克，現在有機會成為全球第一個萬億富翁。馬斯克的身家有約4000億美元，即是US$400,000,000,000。一萬億美元就是US$1,000,000,000,000。這意味着他需要在自己已有的錢上再加一個零！馬斯克是電動車公司特斯拉的共同創辦人以及行政總裁。正如我之前說過的，特斯拉的董事會已向他提出一個一萬億美元的薪酬方案，這個數字是out of this world！若某事是out of this world，意即不同凡響的。

　　可是，there's a catch——習語there's a catch在這裏是指當中有一個棘手的條件。馬斯克必須在10年內將特斯拉股價市值增加8倍，就是從現時的1.1萬億美元增至8.5萬億美元，才能符合這個薪酬方案的領取資格。即使是馬斯克自己，也必不確定自己是否能讓特斯拉的股票如此翻倍。然而，若他真的成為萬億富翁，可不用指望他會買更多的豪宅或超級遊艇。馬斯克並沒有超級遊艇，也不再擁有豪華大宅，許多人知道的時候都會感到驚訝。

　　他在好些年前已經賣掉他所有大宅，現在於德州他那太空探索技術公司SpaceX的太空飛行總部附近，租用了一個簡樸的3間睡房大屋，市值僅5萬美元。他確實擁有幾架私人飛機，作商務公幹之用。他說，他偏好簡約主義的生活方式（minimalist lifestyle），以至可以專注於他的事業之上。A minimalist lifestyle的意思是去選擇過一個簡約的生活，只需要最小限度的必需品。那些選擇過這種生活的人說，這能減少壓力，令自己更快樂。

[email protected]
Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻