Elon Musk: I Didn’t Need $180M—So I Spent It on a Rocket to Mars

Elon Musk: I didn't need $180 million, so I thought I'd spend a bunch of it on a rocket to Mars.

“In order to be highly motivated, you have to have some philosophical foundation. In my case, it was that we want to expand the scope and scale of consciousness to better understand the nature of the universe.

In order to expand consciousness, we need to go beyond one planet. And once we're multiplanet species, the next step would be to be multistellar and have civilization on many different star systems.

In 2001, I didn't think that I could start a rocket company. So, I thought I'd take some of the money from PayPal—it was about $180 million— and spend a bunch of it on a philanthropic Mars mission to get the public excited about going to Mars.”

Verdict Podcast with Ted Cruz, March 2025