When SpaceX published its S-1 on May 20, investors got what they expected: a landmark filing for a company planning the largest IPO in history. What they may not have been ready for was the compensation structure buried inside it, which reads less like a corporate pay package and more like science fiction.
The SpaceX board will grant CEO and founder Elon Musk 1 billion restricted shares of Class B common stock on one condition: He has to hit 15 market capitalization milestones up to $7.5 trillion and establish a “permanent human colony on Mars with at least 1 million inhabitants.”
