Musk took home $54,080 pay in 2025 while President Gwynne Shotwell earned $85.8 million at SpaceX

NEW YORK, - SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell earned $85.8 million in total compensation last year, a company prospectus showed, placing her among the highest-paid U.S. executives.

Shotwell, who is also chief operating officer, ‌earned a salary ⁠of $1 million, ⁠with most of her compensation coming from stock options and awards, according to an excerpt of SpaceX's S-1 filing.

Companies use the registration document to disclose their finances and risks before going public.


Elon Musk's SpaceX has filed confidentially for a U.S. IPO, Reuters reported this month, paving the way for a potential record-breaking listing valued at around $1.75 trillion.

Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnson earned ⁠total compensation of $9.8 ‌million, while billionaire CEO Musk, the majority shareholder in SpaceX, paid himself a salary of $54,080, the excerpt from the prospectus ⁠showed.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The compensation figures, which have not been previously reported, place Shotwell's pay above many other high-profile tech executives.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella earned $79 million in 2024, while Apple's Tim Cook took home $75 million, according to compensation data compiled by Equilar.

Shotwell has a net worth of $3.4 billion, according to Forbes.

Although Musk is the public face of SpaceX, 62-year-old Shotwell manages much ‌of the company's day-to-day grind.

That involves converting Musk's futuristic vision into the practical realities of manufacturing rockets, deploying satellites and lining up commercial, government and military customers.

Shotwell ⁠joined SpaceX in 2002 as vice president of business development, becoming employee No. 7 at the then-fledgling company.

She has been a central behind-the-scenes figure in building demand for SpaceX's reusable Falcon 9 rocket, as well as its Starlink satellite broadband constellation, which now generates the bulk of the company's revenue and profit.

A mechanical engineer by training, Shotwell began her career at Chrysler Motors before moving into the space industry.