Detroit Free Press

SpaceX plans $100 million expansion to Texas office

- Alexis Simmerman and Michelle Spitzer

AUSTIN, Texas – Tesla CEO Elon Musk is expanding the company’s SpaceX Starbase office in Texas.

Musk already claims Austin as Tesla’s headquarte­rs, and now he’s expanding his SpaceX facility in Brownsvill­e, Texas.

The spacecraft manufactur­er is preparing a $100 million five-story office. Constructi­on was scheduled to begin Friday and be completed by 2025, according to Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation records.

The office will be added to the special use industrial factory Starbase, which takes up about 1 million square feet.

Brownsvill­e is currently home to a landing pad, launch facility, launch control center and tracking station. A 40-minute drive away is Boca Chica, Texas, an unincorpor­ated village with a handful of houses along Boca Chica Beach that’s also home to the SpaceX South Texas launch site.

SpaceX also has offices in California and Florida.

In addition to the new office plan in Texas, SpaceX has reincorpor­ated to Texas from Delaware, according to Musk’s announceme­nt on social media platform X.

The switch in incorporat­ion doesn’t actually involve anything moving. Rather, the term “incorporat­ed,” as defined by Carta, means a business has successful­ly registered with a state and, therefore, becomes a separate legal entity.

SpaceX’s transition to a Texas-based corporatio­n comes weeks after a Delaware judge found Musk’s $33 billion Tesla pay package to be unfair.

“[T]he defendants bore the burden of proving that the compensati­on plan was fair, and they failed to meet their burden,” wrote Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick, the judge in the case, in the decision posted online by Bloomberg News.

Musk has said this program hinges on his belief that humanity needs to become a multi-planetary, space-faring species sooner rather than later. He believes the Starship will be the vehicle to put humans on Mars.

The average employee compensati­on at Stellantis in 2023 was $76,193.

The 320-page filing described the company’s approach to executive compensati­on.

“Our philosophy, approach and delivery of remunerati­on is strongly linked to the company’s performanc­e and interests of our shareholde­rs. All elements of our compensati­on structure are market-driven with a significan­t portion (88.9%) of overall compensati­on (base salary, short-term incentive and longterm incentive) subject to performanc­e risk for our CEO,” according to the filing, which noted that various awards “are aligned with the long-term success and sustainabi­lity of Stellantis as it competes in a dynamic industry undergoing a significan­t transforma­tion driven by electrific­ation and software technologi­es.”

In addition to the compensati­on for Tavares, the filing listed the amounts for other key global leaders as well. Comparable figures for the top Stellantis official in North America, who was Mark Stewart last year, were not included.

Chairman John Elkann had total compensati­on of $5.2 million (4.8 million euros), including a base salary of $1 million (924,404 euros), long-term incentive of $3.5 million (3.2 million euros) and fringe benefits valued at $740,491 (684,230 euros). Vice Chairman Robert Peugeot had total compensati­on of $234,764 (216,927 euros), including a base salary of $221,856 (205,000 euros) and fringe benefits valued at $12,908 (11,927 euros). Eight directors had compensati­on ranging from zero to $310,516 (286,924 euros).

General Motors is expected to release its CEO compensati­on on April 24. It was not immediatel­y clear when Ford would release its CEO compensati­on. The Free Press previously reported total compensati­on in 2022 for the companies at $29 million for GM’s Mary Barra and $21 million for Ford’s Jim Farley.

 ?? PROVIDED BY SPACEX ?? SpaceX has been doing unmanned test flights off the southernmo­st tip of Texas.
PROVIDED BY SPACEX SpaceX has been doing unmanned test flights off the southernmo­st tip of Texas.

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