SpaceX’s board of directors has reportedly approved a pay package that would give Elon Musk a massive payday if the company succeeds in establishing a human colony on Mars.
The pay package, which received approval in January, would grant Musk a whopping 200 million super-voting restricted shares of stock – as long as the colony is permanent, has at least one million residents, and SpaceX has hit a market valuation of $7.5 trillion.
The longshot incentives were detailed in SpaceX paperwork as part of the company’s confidential filing with the SEC to go public, according to Reuters, which has reviewed the documents.
Musk, 54, had long touted a Mars colony as essential to humanity’s long-term survival and has been photographed wearing an “Occupy Mars” T-shirt on more than one occasion. SpaceX’s website acknowledges that a self-sufficient colony would “require upwards of one million people and millions of tons of cargo to be delivered to the Red planet.”
The goals are not locked to a specific timeframe – meaning Musk is eligible to receive the reward at any time so long as he remains CEO of SpaceX.
The Post has reached out to SpaceX for comment.
SpaceX’s incentive plan for Musk would also award up to 60.4 million restricted shares on March 23 tied to unspecified “valuation goals” and a requirement that the firm succeeds in Musk’s plan to launch data centers into orbit to help support his company’s AI ambitions, according to Reuters.
Those shares would be awarded in tranches based on if and when SpaceX hits valuation targets.
If the goals are reached, it would propel Musk – already the world’s richest person – to unprecedent levels of wealth. His personal fortune is estimated to be $778 billion, according to Forbes.
In November, shareholders in Musk’s other company Tesla approved a historic $1 trillion pay package. Like the SpaceX plan, it would be paid out in tranches based on Tesla hitting valuation targets and production goals tied its vehicles and Optimus humanoid robots.
SpaceX is targeting a $1.75 trillion valuation in its upcoming IPO. It is aiming to raise more than $50 billion from investors, which would establish it as the largest public debut of all time.
