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Ellie Abraham
Apr 19, 2022
Elon Musk thinks 'almost anyone' can afford $100k to go to Mars
TED
Billionaire Elon Musk has demonstrated just how detached he is from reality as he claimed “almost anyone” can afford a $100,000 trip to Mars.
The SpaceX CEO has long dreamed of transporting millions of people to the red planet, but his recent comment on the affordability of the price has raised eyebrows.
Musk shared his controversial view in an interview with Chris Anderson, the head of TED conferences, that was posted on the company’s YouTube channel.
In the video, Musk, who has ambitions to send 1 million people to Mars by 2050 through SpaceX, claimed the $100,000 price point of a one-way ticket was doable.
He said: “If moving to Mars costs, for argument's sake, $100,000, then I think almost anyone can work and save up and eventually have $100,000 and be able to go to Mars if they want.”
The world’s richest man continued: “We want to make it available to anyone who wants to go.”
[Exclusive] Elon Musk: A future worth getting excited about | TED | Tesla Gigafactory interviewwww.youtube.com
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It’s not the first time the billionaire businessman has made the assertion, either. In a tweet posted back in 2019, Musk replied to someone on Twitter who was asking about the approximate cost of travel to Mars.
Musk replied: “Very dependent on volume, but I’m confident moving to Mars (return ticket is free) will one day cost less than $500k & maybe even below $100k.
“Low enough that most people in advanced economies could sell their home on Earth & move to Mars if they want.”
Very dependent on volume, but I\u2019m confident moving to Mars (return ticket is free) will one day cost less than $500k & maybe even below $100k. Low enough that most people in advanced economies could sell their home on Earth & move to Mars if they want.— Elon Musk (@Elon Musk) 1549854740
In a cover interview for TIME magazine in December 2021 when he was named the person of the year, Musk described his Mars mission as a “futuristic Noah’s ark”.
He said: “The next really big thing is to build a self-sustaining city on Mars and bring the animals and creatures of Earth there.
“Sort of like a futuristic Noah’s ark. We’ll bring more than two, though, it’s a little weird if there’s only two.”
Recently, the billionaire said he wanted to buy Twitter for $41,390,000,000 but his bid was mercilessly mocked by some.Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.