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SpaceX president made $86M in 2025. Musk earned $54k
21 Apr 2026

SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell raked in a whopping $85.8 million in total compensation last year, according to a company prospectus. The figure makes her one of the highest-paid executives in the US.

Elon Musk, the CEO and majority shareholder of SpaceX, paid himself a much lower salary of just $54,080 for 2025.

SpaceX's Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnson earned a total compensation of $9.8 million last year.

Shotwell's pay package included stock options, awards
Compensation details

Shotwell's massive pay package included a base salary of $1 million, with the majority coming from stock options and awards.

The numbers put Shotwell's pay above many other high-profile tech executives such as Microsoft's Satya Nadella, who earned $79 million in 2024, and Apple's Tim Cook, who took home $75 million.

The details were revealed in an excerpt from SpaceX's S-1 filing, a registration document companies use to disclose finances and risks before going public.

Musk is SpaceX's public face, but Shotwell is the brain
Career trajectory

Despite Musk being the public face of SpaceX, Shotwell has been instrumental in managing the company's daily operations.

Her responsibilities include turning Musk's futuristic ideas into reality by manufacturing rockets, launching satellites, and securing commercial, government, and military contracts.

She joined SpaceX in 2002 as VP of business development and has played a key role in making SpaceX's reusable Falcon 9 rocket and Starlink satellite broadband constellation successful. Shotwell has over 30 years of experience in the aerospace industry.