To mark the Axel Springer Award ceremony on December 1, 2020, the Ernst Cramer conference room on the 19th floor of the Axel Springer Building was transformed into a spaceship. "An Evening for Elon Musk - Mission to Mars" was the theme of the evening, for which the award winner had come to Berlin in person. The journey to the Red Planet was staged as a multimedia show that illuminated the life and work of the visionary – and his ambition to make the world a better place.
In conversation with Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer SE, Elon Musk talked about what drives him: “Tesla is about trying to make sure things look good for the future on earth, and SpaceX is about a good future beyond earth.” Would he like to be buried on Mars? “Just not on impact.” With Tesla, Elon Musk has revolutionized the automotive industry, and with SpaceX, the field of space travel. With Neuralink he is working on the development of brain-machine interfaces. The Boring Company combines fast, affordable tunneling technology with an all-electric public transportation system.
Jens Spahn, German Federal Health Minister: “Today, that word – progress – is for many synonymous with one name, that of Elon Musk. Mr. Musk, I am pleased to have the honor of paying tribute to you in these very special times. You are, without doubt, a visionary. The name Musk stands for ideas that were often far ahead of their time. And not seldom does the name Musk also represent ideas that, at first glance, might seem a little crazy. Thanks to Elon Musk, seemingly crazy ideas become reality.”
At the end of the Axel Springer Award ceremony, moderator Barbara Schöneberger presented the creative engineer and entrepreneur with a unique souvenir of the evening. A vinyl record with the song "Don't Doubt Ur Vibe," remixed by DJ Sven Väth, who was personally present at the ceremony. The song was originally written by Elon Musk himself – it was in his head one day after waking up and he decided to record it.
In his acceptance speech, Musk shared the accolades: “I want to acknowledge the great people at Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink and The Boring Company. I accept this award on your behalf for all the great things that you’ve done.”
The Axel Springer Award is not the first time the company has honored Elon Musk for his achievements. As early as 2014 he was awarded the Golden Honorary Steering Wheel for outstanding achievements in the automotive industry. At the 2019 Golden Steering Wheel, Elon Musk personally accepted the award for the Tesla Model 3 and announced the construction of the Gigafactory in Grünheide.
Thanks to a comprehensive infection protection and hygiene concept, the event could be held in the Axel Springer building. At the same time, the award ceremony was transmitted digitally as a live stream. The video is available at https://go2.as/award