'See You On Mars': Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev Answers Elon Musk’s Interstellar 'Prophecy' With His Own Sci-Fi Doppelgänger

Robinhood’s CEO responded to a post from Elon Musk that claimed there was an existing ‘prophecy’ about a man named “Elon” leading a government on Mars.

• Tenev noted that a series of science fiction novels from the 1990s includes a character named Vlad Taneev, portrayed as one of the “original First Hundred colonists of Mars,” who also formulated the new "eco-economics" that became part of the emerging Martian civilization.
• Musk shared an X post from a user highlighting a coincidence that Wernher von Braun’s 1948 ‘Project Mars’ featured a Martian leader titled the “Elon,” decades before Musk became synonymous with Mars exploration.
• Musk reshared the post, commenting, “As foretold in the prophecy.”

Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD) CEO Vlad Tenev had a cheeky response to Elon Musk’s Mars “prophecy” over the weekend. 

In a post on X, Tenev noted that Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy has a character named Vladimir “Vlad” Taneev, who is portrayed as one of the “original First Hundred colonists of Mars,” and his group develops the longevity treatment that radically extends human life. 

HOOD’s CEO also said that the aforementioned Taneev character formulated the new "eco-economics" that became part of the emerging Martian civilization. “I'll see you on Mars,” he said. 

What’s All This About?

The post came shortly after Tesla Inc. (TSLA) and SpaceX’s (SPCX) CEO Musk shared a post on X from a user, Mark Kretschmann, who pointed out an unusual coincidence: Wernher von Braun’s 1948 novel Project Mars described a future Martian government led by a figure named the “Elon,” decades before Elon Musk became closely associated with Mars exploration.

“Still, considering Elon Musk's lifelong obsession with Mars, this has to be one of the strangest coincidences in space history!” Kretschmann said, sharing a snippet from the book. 

Musk reshared the post, commenting, “As foretold in the prophecy.”

Von Braun, the Nazi-era German rocket engineer who later became a central figure in the U.S. space program (including the Saturn V), wrote a science-fiction novel titled Marsprojekt while working at Fort Bliss in the late 1940s. In the story, set in the 1980s, an Earth expedition reaches Mars and encounters an advanced, peaceful underground Martian civilization. Their government is described as a technocratic democracy led by a council of ten. The head of that government is an elected official whose title (not personal name) is “the Elon.” It has nonetheless become a popular online curiosity because of the coincidence with Musk’s name and Mars ambitions.

Meanwhile, Robinson’s Mars Trilogy (“Red Mars”, “Green Mars”, “Blue Mars”), published between 1992 and 1996, is considered one of the most detailed and scientifically grounded science-fiction depictions of Mars colonization. The trilogy follows the “First Hundred” — a group of scientists and engineers sent from Earth in the 2020s — and their descendants over roughly two centuries as they settle, terraform, and politically reshape the planet. Robinhood’s Tenev, however, was born in Bulgaria and moved to the United States at five years old.

Musk And Mars

Musk’s association with Mars has been long-standing and central to his long-term vision for humanity. Through SpaceX, he has pushed for humanity to become a multiplanetary species, and has also said that the company’s long-term goal is to establish a self-sustaining city on Mars. 

However, Musk said in a post on X last month that, “People on Mars in roughly 5 to 7 years. Mars lander a few years sooner.”

In May, the founder had predicted only a 50% chance of launching an uncrewed Starship toward Mars by the end of this year. SpaceX’s website currently lists 2028 as the earliest date for cargo flights to the Martian surface at a rate of $100 million per metric ton.

“Starship is designed to fly to other worlds and will enable self-growing bases on the Moon, an entire civilization on Mars, and ultimately expansion to the Universe,” the website says. 

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