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Who really said it

I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact

Spoken by Elon Musk b. 1971 · Founder of SpaceX, CEO of Tesla
Verified In copyright

Musk said it to Ashlee Vance, who printed it in the Bloomberg Businessweek profile “Elon Musk, the 21st Century Industrialist” (September 13, 2012): “I would like to die on Mars,” he says. “Just not on impact.” We confirmed the wording in an archived copy of the article. Musk has repeated the joke many times since.

Last verified 3 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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“I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact” Elon Musk, quoted by Ashlee Vance, “Elon Musk, the 21st Century Industrialist,” Bloomberg Businessweek, September 13, 2012.

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by Bloomberg L.P. (article); Elon Musk (spoken words)). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

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In context

Evoking the world of Elon Musk — Founder of SpaceX, CEO of Tesla. Theme: "I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Provenance

Where the line comes from

Article
Elon Musk, the 21st Century Industrialist
Publication
Bloomberg Businessweek, by Ashlee Vance
Date
September 13, 2012 (byline date)
Form
Spoken remark, quoted in a magazine profile

But interplanetary travel? Really? Musk says he’s on target to get a spacecraft to the red planet in 10 to 15 years, perhaps with him on board. “I would like to die on Mars,” he says. “Just not on impact.” Closing lines of the profile

Transcribed from a Wayback Machine capture of the businessweek.com article, made September 15, 2012. The popular wording matches it word for word.

Bloomberg Businessweek, September 13, 2012 (Wayback Machine capture)

The line's documented history

  • September 13, 2012: Ashlee Vance’s Bloomberg Businessweek profile closes with Musk’s quip, “I would like to die on Mars,” he says. “Just not on impact.” archived article ↗
  • Wikiquote lists the line in its sourced 2012 quotes for Musk and cites the same Bloomberg Businessweek article. Wikiquote: Elon Musk ↗
  • March 2013, SXSW: UPI reports Musk telling the South by Southwest crowd in Austin, “I’d like to die on Mars, just not on impact.” UPI report via Space Travel ↗
  • January 2026, Davos: When BlackRock’s Larry Fink asked if he wanted to die on Mars, Musk replied, “People ask if I want to die on Mars. I say yes, just not on impact.” Business Today ↗
In copyright

The line was first published in a 2012 Bloomberg Businessweek article, and the archived page carries a “©2012 Bloomberg L.P.” notice, so it is under copyright in the United States. Quoting this one short sentence for commentary and attribution is ordinary fair use, but the surrounding article text is not free to copy.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

Where the dating gets muddled

Nobody else gets credit for this line, and the attribution to Musk is sound. The confusion is about when he said it. He has told the joke at several events, and articles often treat a later telling as the first one.

South by Southwest, Austin (March 2013) Repeat, not origin

Many write-ups date the line to Musk’s 2013 SXSW talk. A 2016 Fortune article, for example, says that “in 2013, Musk told an audience at the South by Southwest festival in Austin that he’d ‘like to die on Mars, just not on impact.’” He did say it there, but Bloomberg Businessweek had already printed it the previous September. Fortune ↗

“I’d like to die on Mars, just not on impact” Variant

The SXSW wording, as UPI reported it, is a contracted one-sentence version of the 2012 line. UPI report ↗

“People ask if I want to die on Mars. I say yes, just not on impact.” Variant

This is Musk’s answer to Larry Fink at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2026. Business Today ↗

The exact popular wording, “I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact,” is how Bloomberg Businessweek printed it on September 13, 2012. Read the archived article ↗

Context

Why the joke keeps coming back

The quip packs Musk’s whole Mars pitch into two sentences: he means to go, and he admits that landing is the dangerous part. In the 2012 profile it follows his claim that a spacecraft could reach Mars within 10 to 15 years, “perhaps with him on board.”

Asked about the line at the 2016 Code Conference, Musk played it down: “It’s not some sort of Martian death wish or something. But, you know–be born on Earth, die on Mars—that’s pretty good,” Fortune reported ↗.

“Be born on Earth, die on Mars—that’s pretty good.”

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Mortality Purpose Courage

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Bloomberg Businessweek profile (archived)web.archive.org

Ashlee Vance's September 13, 2012 article, which contains the exact quote
Wikiquote: Elon Musken.wikiquote.org

Sourced 2012 entry citing the Bloomberg Businessweek article
UPI report from SXSW 2013space-travel.com

Musk repeats the line at South by Southwest in March 2013
Fortune: Code Conference 2016fortune.com

Musk asked about the SXSW remark; says it is not a death wish
Business Today: Davos 2026businesstoday.in

Musk's reworded answer to Larry Fink at the World Economic Forum

The author

About Elon Musk

Elon Musk

b. 1971 · Founder of SpaceX, CEO of Tesla

Elon Musk is a South African–born entrepreneur. He founded SpaceX, whose stated long-term goal is to make humanity a multi-planet species, starting with Mars, and he runs Tesla. Lines on the internet are often pinned on him without a source, but this one checks out in print.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source

Ashlee Vance, “Elon Musk, the 21st Century Industrialist,” Bloomberg Businessweek, September 13, 2012, archived September 15, 2012, Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact’?” Last verified 3 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/i-would-like-to-die-on-mars-just-not-on-impact/

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