Form 485BPOS MASSACHUSETTS MUTUAL

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on or about November 17, 2025

Registration Statement File No. 333-215823
Registration Statement File No. 811-08075

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM N-6

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

☐  Pre-Effective Amendment No.

☒ Post-Effective Amendment No. 16

and/or

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940

☒ Amendment No. 287
(Check appropriate box or boxes.)

Massachusetts Mutual Variable Life Separate Account I
(Exact Name of Registrant)

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
(Name of Depositor)

1295 State Street, Springfield, Massachusetts 01111-0001
(Address of Depositor’s Principal Executive Offices)

(413) 788-8411
(Depositor’s Telephone Number, including Area Code)

Gary Murtagh
Head of Insurance Product & Operations Law
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
1295 State Street
Springfield, Massachusetts 01111-0001
(Name and Address of Agent for Service)

Approximate Date of Proposed Public Offering: Continuous

It is proposed that this filing will become effective (check appropriate box):

If appropriate, check the following box:

Title of Securities being Registered: Units of Interest in MassMutual Electrum^SM, a flexible premium, adjustable, variable life insurance policy.

PARTS A and B

The Prospectus, dated April 28, 2025, as supplemented, and the Statement of Additional Information, dated April 28, 2025, are incorporated into Parts A and B of this Post-Effective Amendment No. 16 by reference to Registrant’s filing under Rule 485(b) as filed on April 25, 2025.

A supplement dated November 17, 2025 to the Prospectus is included in Part A of this Post-Effective Amendment No. 16.

PART C
OTHER INFORMATION

Item 30.       Exhibits

Item 31.       Directors and Officers of the Depositor

Directors of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company

Principal Officers of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company

Item 32.       Persons Controlled by or Under Common Control with the Depositor or the Registrant

– Incorporated by reference to Post-Effective Amendment No. 9 to Registration Statement File No. 333-255824 filed September 4, 2025

Item 33.       Indemnification

MassMutual directors and officers are indemnified under Article V. of the by-laws of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, as set forth below.

ARTICLE V. of the By-laws of MassMutual provides for indemnification of directors and officers as follows:

“ARTICLE V.

INDEMNIFICATION

Subject to limitations of law, the Company shall indemnify:

from and against all loss, liability and expense imposed upon or incurred by such person in connection with any threatened, pending or completed action, claim, suit, investigation or proceeding of any nature whatsoever, in which such person may be involved or with which he or she may be threatened to be involved, by reason of any alleged act, omission or otherwise while serving in any such capacity, whether such action, claim, suit, investigation or proceeding is civil, criminal, administrative, arbitrative, or investigative and/or formal or informal in nature. Indemnification shall be provided although the person no longer serves in such capacity and shall include protection for the person’s heirs and legal representatives.

Indemnities hereunder shall include, but not be limited to, all costs and reasonable counsel fees, fines, penalties, judgments or awards of any kind, and the amount of reasonable settlements, whether or not payable to the Company or to any of the other entities described in the preceding paragraph, or to the policyholders or security holders thereof.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, no indemnification shall be provided with respect to:

In any matter disposed of by settlement or in the event of an adjudication which in the opinion of the General Counsel or his or her delegate does not make a sufficient determination of conduct which could preclude or permit indemnification in accordance with the preceding paragraphs (1), (2) and (3), the person shall be entitled to indemnification unless, as determined by the majority of the disinterested directors or in the opinion of counsel (who may be an officer of the Company or outside counsel employed by the Company), such person’s conduct was such as precludes indemnification under any such paragraph. The termination of any action, claim, suit, investigation or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent shall not, of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith and in a manner which he or she reasonably believed to be in the best interests of the Company.

The Company may at its option indemnify for expenses incurred in connection with any action or proceeding in advance of its final disposition, upon receipt of a satisfactory undertaking for repayment if it be subsequently determined that the person thus indemnified is not entitled to indemnification under this Article V.”

To provide certainty and more clarification regarding the indemnification provisions of the Bylaws set forth above, MassMutual has entered into indemnification agreements with each of its directors, and with each of its officers who serve as a director of a subsidiary of MassMutual, (a “Director”). Pursuant to the Agreements, MassMutual agrees to indemnify a Director, to the extent legally permissible, against (a) all expenses, judgments, fines and settlements (“Costs”), liabilities, and penalties paid in connection with a proceeding involving the Director because he or she is a director if the Director (i) acted in good faith, (ii) reasonably believed the conduct was in the Company’s best interests; (iii) had no reasonable cause to believe the conduct was unlawful (in a criminal proceeding); and, (iv) engaged in conduct for which the Director shall not be liable under MassMutual’s Charter or By-Laws. MassMutual further agrees to indemnify a Director, to the extent permitted by law, against all Costs paid in connection with any proceeding (i) unless the Director breached a duty of loyalty, (ii) except for liability for acts or omissions not in good faith, involving intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, (iii) except for liability under Section 6.40 of Chapter 156D of Massachusetts Business Corporation Act (“MBCA”), or (iv) except for liability related to any transaction from which the Director derived an improper benefit. MassMutual will also indemnify a Director, to the fullest extent authorized by the MBCA, against all expenses to the extent the Director has been successful on the merits or in defense of any proceeding. If any court determines that despite an adjudication of liability to MassMutual or its subsidiary that the Director is entitled to indemnification, MassMutual will indemnify the Director to the extent permitted by law. Subject to the Director’s obligation to pay MassMutual in the event that the Director is not entitled to indemnification, MassMutual will pay the expenses of the Director prior to a final determination as to whether the Director is entitled to indemnification.

RULE 484 UNDERTAKING

Insofar as indemnification for liability arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

Item 34.         Principal Underwriters

DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS OF MML INVESTORS SERVICES, LLC

MEMBER REPRESENTATIVE AND OFFICERS OF MML DISTRIBUTORS, LLC

Item 35.        Location of Accounts and Records

Item  36.        Management Services

Item 37.        Fee Representation

REPRESENTATION UNDER SECTION 26(f)(2)(A) OF
THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company hereby represents that the fees and charges deducted under the MassMutual Electrum (Electrum) policy described in this Registration Statement, in the aggregate, are reasonable in relation to the services rendered, the expenses expected to be incurred, and the risks assumed by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Securities Act of 1933 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Registrant certifies that it meets all of the requirements for effectiveness of this registration statement under Rule 485(b) under the Securities Act and has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, duly authorized, in the City of Wilmington, and the State of North Carolina on this 14^th day of November, 2025.

MASSACHUSETTS MUTUAL VARIABLE LIFE SEPARATE ACCOUNT I
(Registrant)

MASSACHUSETTS MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
(Depositor)

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.