SpaceX Executive Outearns Elon Musk With Rs 800 Crore Salary A Year

SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell has earned around $85.8 million (nearly Rs 800 crore) in a single year. She even surpassed founder Elon Musk, who reportedly received a salary of just $54,080 during the same period.

Shotwell earnings include a base salary of about $1 million, while most of the amount comes from stock awards and performance-linked incentives. She owns about 0.3 percent of SpaceX. According to Forbes, she has a net worth of $3.4 billion.

Musk, who is the CEO of SpaceX and the company's biggest shareholder, paid himself a much lower amount. The billionaire usually does not take a high salary from his companies; instead, his real wealth comes from owning shares in SpaceX and Tesla.

As one of SpaceX's first employees in 2002, Shotwell has been crucial in the company's expansion. She began working for the fast-expanding firm as the seventh employee. 

She has played a key role in the success of major projects like the Falcon 9 rocket and the Starlink satellite internet network.

While Shotwell oversees the day-to-day operations of SpaceX, Musk is the company's visionary face. She is often referred to as a "Musk translator" for government authorities and manages the majority of SpaceX's day-to-day operations.

Her total compensation has also been higher than several global tech leaders, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella who earned about $79 million in 2024 and Apple CEO Tim Cook who earned about $75 million, according to the Equilar, as reported by Reuters.

Other top executives at SpaceX also earned high salaries, including CFO Bret Johnsen, who reportedly made about $9.8 million.

SpaceX is one of the world's largest space companies and is reportedly preparing for a stock market listing (IPO) soon. The company's valuation is expected to reach $1.75 trillion.