Elon Musk’s newest SpaceX compensation package may become one of the most unusual pay deals in business history.
According to SpaceX’s newly released S-1 filing, Musk received a grant of 1 billion performance-based shares. But unlike traditional CEO compensation packages tied only to revenue, stock price, or company growth, this one comes with a far more extreme condition:
To unlock the full award, Musk must help establish a permanent human colony on Mars with at least one million inhabitants.
The filing explains that the shares vest in stages based on SpaceX reaching massive market-cap milestones. However, valuation alone is not enough. For each portion of the award to vest, SpaceX must also achieve specific “human colony milestones” connected to Mars colonization.
In simple terms, Musk’s compensation now depends not only on building one of the world’s most valuable companies, but also on helping humanity become an interplanetary species.
Based on estimates tied to the filing, the package could eventually be worth around $117 billion if SpaceX reaches a $1.5 trillion valuation. If the company someday reaches the highest targets listed in the filing, the value could theoretically rise above $500 billion.