Elon Musk explains why he cannot be fired from SpaceX

Elon Musk confirmed plans to structurally shield his leadership at SpaceX, ensuring he cannot be fired while tying a potential trillion-dollar compensation package to the company’s long-term goal of establishing a self-sustaining colony on Mars, according to reporting from Teslarati on Friday, May 15, 2026. Musk addressed the governance shift in a post on X, explaining that the company must remain focused on making humanity a multiplanetary species rather than pandering to short-term financial returns.

The revelation stems from a Financial Times report detailing SpaceX's intention to restructure its governance and compensation frameworks. Founded in 2002, SpaceX has consistently maintained its private status to avoid the quarterly earnings treadmill that pressures publicly traded firms. Musk referenced past experiences, including his ouster from OpenAI and shareholder lawsuits at Tesla, as cautionary tales where external pressures risked diluting original corporate visions. By embedding protections against his removal and linking outsized pay to verifiable interplanetary milestones, SpaceX aims to insulate its leadership from activist investors or board members demanding faster profits.

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Elon Musk explains why he cannot be fired from SpaceX

Supporters view the arrangement as a necessary safeguard for an enterprise pursuing goals measured in decades rather than quarters. Achieving a Mars colony requires sustained investment in Starship development, orbital refueling, life-support systems, and in-situ resource utilization—technologies offering no immediate financial return. As SpaceX prepares for ambitious flight milestones, Kiko Dontchev announced on stage at the UP.Summit that the company is targeting Friday, November 13 for Starship Flight 15, which will feature the first attempt at catching the ship itself with the launch tower.

While SpaceX secures its leadership continuity, Musk’s public automotive venture, Tesla, has navigated a turbulent commercial environment. Tesla limped into the new year with fourth-quarter sales growth far short of Wall Street estimates, delivering 405,000 cars against a 420,000 consensus. According to Fortune reporting from January 2023, the delivery figures offered hard proof of a demand problem, triggering a sharp decline in share value even as management piled on price cuts and incentives in the U.S. And China. Analysts from financial institutions subsequently revised their earnings targets downward, questioning how the automaker would achieve high delivery targets amid broader economic headwinds and mounting competition.

Product lineups at Tesla have continued to evolve amidst these market pressures. Musk announced that Tesla will wind down production of its Cybertruck vehicles to make room for building self-driving Cybercab cars, responding "true" to a user who lamented the vehicle being discontinued, according to BBC reporting. The Cybertruck launched in 2023 following years of delays and faced mixed public reception alongside several vehicle recalls. Concurrently, broader technological deployments across Musk's enterprises have drawn intense scrutiny, including autonomous AI agent platforms that experienced rapid user adoption before surging computational costs forced leaders to reevaluate usage limits and operational economics.

The tension between rapid user adoption and escalating operational expenses has affected autonomous AI offerings across Musk's ventures. Musk explained on X that the cost of serving Grok Bot was unsustainably high relative to revenue, prompting usage limits to be adjusted after rapid growth. This agentic platform allows users to execute multi-step workflows, schedule tasks, and even make phone calls to businesses on behalf of users in the United States. While early demonstrations highlighted successful customer service negotiations and automated appointment scheduling, the heavy computational load required for always-on persistent cloud execution created a stark imbalance against flat monthly subscription pricing.

Corporate governance challenges have similarly dogged Musk across multiple organizations. NPR reported on employment controversies at Twitter following Musk's acquisition, detailing public disputes over layoffs and workplace accommodations that drew widespread media attention. At Tesla, legacy manufacturing partnerships have likewise wound down over the years. Toyota previously held a financial stake in Tesla and collaborated on electric vehicle powertrain development for the RAV4 EV before selling its remaining shares and launching its own alternative vehicle programs.

What to watch next

• SpaceX's preparations for Starship Flight 15 and the scheduled tower catch attempt targeting Friday, November 13.
• Further disclosures regarding governance frameworks and compensation metrics tied to interplanetary objectives.