Elon Musk reaffirms pledge to build human colony on Mars after becoming world’s richest person

‘Half my money is intended to help problems on Earth and half to help establish a self-sustaining city on Mars,’ Tesla and SpaceX boss says

Las primeras colonias de Marte involucrarán 'vida en cúpulas de vidrio', según el jefe de SpaceX, Elon Musk (Nasa)

Elon Musk has reiterated his pledge to build a self-sustaining city on Mars using his vast wealth.

The technology billionaire, who overtook Jeff Bezos on Thursday to become the world’s richest person, pinned a post from 2018 to his Twitter profile explaining what he plans to do with his money.

“About half my money is intended to help problems on Earth and half to help establish a self-sustaining city on Mars to ensure continuation of life (of all species) in case Earth gets hit by a meteor like the dinosaurs or WW3 happens and we destroy ourselves," the tweet stated.

The post was the continuation of a thread that made an attempt to justify his immense fortune.

“You should ask why I would want money,” he tweeted. “The reason is not what you think. Very little time for recreation. Don’t have vacation homes or yachts or anything like that.”

Mr Musk, whose net worth now tops $185 billion, has spoken frequently of his plans to set up a human colony on Mars, claiming that he plans to die on the Red Planet.

As the CEO of SpaceX, he has already made considerable progress towards sending the first humans to Mars – a goal he claims could be achieved as early as 2024.

Last month, SpaceX performed a largely successful flight test of its Starship spacecraft, which it hopes to use to ferry cargo and people around the solar system.

The Starship SN8 prototype reached a height of 12.5km before  undertaking a complicated landing flip manoeuvre and crash landing.

SpaceX sparked controversy in October after the Terms of Service within its Starlink internet project revealed that the firm may not recognise international law in any future colonies.

“Disputes will be settled through self-governing principles, established in good faith, at the time of Martian settlement,” the terms stated, adding that it recognised Mars as a “free planet”.