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Elon Musk is making a habit of collecting 12-figure compensation packages.<\/p>\n
The latest come from SpaceX, which revealed in a stockmarket filing on Wednesday that Musk, the firm\u2019s founder and chief executive officer, could receive more than 1.3 billion shares if the rocket, AI and social media company hits certain market capitalisation and operational milestones.<\/p>\n
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Elon Musk could earn unprecedented rewards if SpaceX hits highly ambitious targets.AP<\/p>\n
Structured as two awards, they\u2019re worth about $US760 billion ($1.06 trillion) combined at the top of their respective market value targets, according to calculations by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.<\/p>\n
To be sure, to get the maximum payout Musk will need to achieve milestones that sound realistic only in the realm of science fiction, including establishing a permanent human colony on Mars with at least 1 million inhabitants.<\/p>\n
Along with a similarly structured pay deal at Tesla<\/a>, where Musk is also CEO, the 54-year-old now has about $US1.8 trillion of equity awards on the line if his companies meet the targets. Taken individually, each would be the most expensive compensation plan ever granted if vesting conditions are achieved.<\/p>\n Related Article The awards \u201care obviously unprecedented and it\u2019s kind of hard to wrap your brain around it,\u201d said Jason Schloetzer, associate professor of accounting at Georgetown University\u2019s McDonough School of Business.<\/p>\n Musk and SpaceX didn\u2019t reply to requests for comment.<\/p>\n The larger SpaceX package was granted by the board in January and includes as many as 1 billion performance-based restricted Class B shares split into 15 equal tranches. For Musk to get the full amount Space Exploration Technologies Corp., as the company is formally known, must achieve a market value of $US7.5 trillion. Additionally, none of the awards vest until SpaceX establishes a colony on Mars.<\/p>\n If the maximum market capitalisation is reached under that arrangement, the award would be worth roughly $US600 billion, according to Bloomberg calculations.<\/p>\n The smaller compensation package is a restructured version of a deal Musk had at xAI, his artificial intelligence and social media company that merged with SpaceX in February. It consists of 302.1 million shares split into 12 equal tranches, with market capitalisation goals ranging from $US1.065 trillion to $US6.565 trillion. For any of the tranches to vest, the company must establish \u201cnon-Earth-based data centres capable of delivering 100 terawatts of compute per year\u201d.<\/p>\n If SpaceX meets those goals, Musk\u2019s award would be worth nearly $US160 billion.<\/p>\n \u201cI think you have to look at some of these things and go, this is an aspiration,\u201d said Dan Walter, an independent pay consultant. \u201cThere\u2019s only a very few, bordering on science fiction, ways that he could make the Mars colonisation thing happen in his lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n SpaceX hasn\u2019t yet recognised any share-based compensation expenses for the two awards because \u201cboth performance milestones were considered improbable,\u201d the company said in the filing. Both deals are subject to Musk\u2019s continued employment, but aren\u2019t subject to a defined performance period, meaning there\u2019s no time limit on when the goals can be achieved.<\/p>\n Musk is the world\u2019s richest person with a net worth of $US722 billion, according to Bloomberg\u2019s wealth index, and is likely to become a trillionaire if SpaceX is valued at $US1.75 trillion or more in its IPO. His net worth calculation doesn\u2019t include his compensation packages at Tesla or SpaceX.<\/p>\n Tesla\u2019s latest pay deal for Musk was partly justified by the company as a way to ensure that he had significant voting control, a point of contention for the CEO, who said he didn\u2019t want to create \u201ca robot army\u201d if he didn\u2019t at least have strong influence.<\/p>\n At SpaceX he already controlled most of the company\u2019s votes without the compensation packages. The larger of the two awards was granted to \u201cfurther incentivise Mr Musk to achieve our long-term business objectives,\u201d according to the filing.<\/p>\n \u201cAt some point there has to be a diminishing return where the incremental dollar doesn\u2019t get you more attention,\u201d Schloetzer said.<\/p>\n Musk\u2019s second-in-command at SpaceX, President Gwynne Shotwell, had total compensation of $US86 million last year, with the bulk of that coming from a special options award granted in October, according to Wednesday\u2019s filing. Her long-term incentive compensation target is $US5 million, and she receives a salary of about $US1 million. Shotwell, 62, has been at SpaceX since 2002, the year the company was founded.<\/p>\n Related Article Excluding unvested compensation her stake in SpaceX is about 0.1 per cent, compared with Musk\u2019s 40 per cent.<\/p>\n Whether Musk\u2019s performance goals are achieved will be determined by SpaceX\u2019s board. Because he controls the majority of its voting rights, he\u2019s able to elect all board members, and the company plans to rely on exemptions from requirements that its compensation and nominating committee be composed entirely of independent directors.<\/p>\n \u201cNot only does he seem to be pushing the frontiers of space, he\u2019s also pushing the frontiers of governance,\u201d Schloetzer said.<\/p>\n The fact that the company that\u2019s likely to pull off the biggest IPO of all time is controlled by a single person has some concerned.<\/p>\n \u201cThere will be many \u2018me too\u2019 companies now that SpaceX has breached the conventional norms by creating a trillion-dollar, controlled company,\u201d said Shiva Rajgopal, professor of accounting and auditing at Columbia Business School. \u201cIt\u2019s a moment of truth for the gatekeepers of capital markets \u2014 ratings agencies, proxy advisers, index inclusion committees, and the like.\u201d<\/p>\n Bloomberg<\/p>\n The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Earlier](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/b3fc07108d4d54271d1d8e3d08f0898218d7afbf.jpeg\")
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A SpaceX rocket lifts off in Florida last month.AP<\/p>\n![\"Andrew](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779635956_324_642370a7b0fd49d8ebf7504bc898ff53be687b4e.jpeg\")
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