Elon Musk will only receive bonuses from SpaceX if he manages to colonize Mars

Elon Musk in an image from March 2025
Matt Rourke/AP
SpaceX's IPO proposal brought details worthy of science fiction. Among them, a clause that provides for the payment of a billion-dollar bonus to founder Elon Musk only if the company manages to take 1 million people to live on Mars.
The structure of the bonus, described in the prospectus presented this Wednesday (20) to United States regulators, drew attention due to its unusual nature.
Download GloboPop to watch short vertical videos from Globo
Payment depends not only on the growth of the company's market value, but also on the advancement of extremely ambitious space projects.
According to the defined goals, SpaceX will need to reach a market valuation between R$400 billion (R$2 trillion) and US$6 trillion (R$30.2 trillion).
Entrepreneur's guide: Extra income vs main business
In addition, the company would have to transport 1 million people to Mars, a planet located approximately 225 million kilometers from Earth.
Musk often states that the colonization of Mars is essential to guarantee the survival of humanity in the long term.
With the valuation estimated at US$ 1.75 trillion (R$ 8.8 trillion) for the IPO, the entrepreneur's current stake in the company would be worth around US$ 735 billion (R$ 3.7 trillion), even before any manned mission reaches the red planet.
The document also foresees a second, smaller bonus, linked to another futuristic objective: the creation of data centers in space capable of offering 100 terawatts of computing capacity per year - a volume far above that currently available on Earth.
SpaceX filed this Wednesday (20) its long-awaited IPO request and intends to list its shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the code "SPCX". If confirmed, the operation could become one of the largest IPOs in the history of NASDAQ Composite.
Starship, the company's largest rocket, was developed precisely with the aim of enabling future missions to Mars.

Source: G1