He’s a smart guy, he knows that the whole Mars thing is just PR for people who want to believe. Musk is a marketing genius, but when you strip away the money he’s in it for money and power.
I think of it as axiomatic that nobody is really in it for the money, as that is just a placeholder for the ability to do things or comparative status.
When you say he's in it for power, that sounds like you think of power as meaning power over other people, but why can't he be primarily motivated by seeking power over nature - which living on Mars might amount to the ultimate example of?
