SpaceX's board has approved a sweeping compensation plan for founder Elon Musk, linking his pay to the company's most ambitious goals: colonizing Mars and running data centers in outer space.
The package, revealed in a confidential SEC filing, awards Musk 200 million super-voting restricted shares if SpaceX reaches a $7.5 trillion market value and establishes a permanent Mars colony with at least one million people. An additional 60.4 million shares are tied to meeting valuation targets and operating space data centers with 100 terawatts of compute capacity.
These performance-based awards, carrying 10 votes per share, vest as the company's value increases. However, Musk receives no shares if the board's valuation targets are not met. His nominal salary from SpaceX has been $54,080 annually since 2019.
Executive compensation experts note the unprecedented nature of these goals, which extend beyond traditional financial metrics. The structure highlights the challenge of retaining Musk, who also leads Tesla, and could create potential tensions between SpaceX and Tesla shareholders.