This morning, Musk stood behind a Nasdaq-branded podium in Starbase, Texas, and was projected via video into Nasdaq’s HQ. Actually in person at the exchange in New York, meanwhile, was SpaceX’s president and COO, Gwynne Shotwell.

It’s a characteristic division of duties at SpaceX, where Shotwell has been responsible for years for the company’s day-to-day operations, growth, and strategy for its workforce of 22,000 people (and is a steadier representative to Wall Street). She was SpaceX’s 11th employee, joining in 2002. At 62, she’s worked in the space business for almost 40 years. Just a few weeks ago, she ranked No. 32 on Fortune’s list of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Business—a huge leap from No. 49 in 2025 as SpaceX approached this monster listing.

According to SpaceX’s IPO filing, Shotwell’s total compensation last year reached $85.8 million, mostly from options awards (her base salary was $1.08 million). SpaceX provides security for her home, and she’s the fifth-largest owner of Class A shares. While Musk is poised to become the world’s first trillionaire thanks to today’s IPO, Shotwell will also benefit mightily.

Today’s valuation makes SpaceX the world’s seventh most-valuable company, per CNBC. That’s well ahead of Tesla—and Shotwell made headlines with a CNBC interview that aired today in which she said she wouldn’t rule out a merger with Tesla (SpaceX already merged with Musk’s AI business xAI.)

Earlier this year, she told Time that she was “excited” about a “new set of methodologies to run companies,” referring to becoming a public company. In today’s interview, she laid out what public company responsibilities might look like for a business whose goals are not just long-term, but multi-planetary. “I do not want to focus on quarterly earnings,” she said. “I’m not saying we’re not going to do right by our investors, but what folks who invest in SpaceX need to know is that what we’re doing is very futuristic.”

That’s for sure. And while Musk thinks about those “futuristic” plans (He gets 1 billion performance-based shares after meeting milestones that include the establishment of a permanent colony of at least 1 million humans on Mars), Shotwell is making them happen—now with even more scrutiny.

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com

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PARTING WORDS

"I want to change that, not to beat anyone, but to make sure women are on the map. To put a mark down that says, 'We were here, we did this, and we did it while being very much not quiet.'"

— Stephanie Case, who is the first woman to attempt a 100-mile ultra-marathon in Antarctica (!)