Elon Musk...human?

[Liberty]

Let's not forget that Tesla repaid the loan 10 years ahead of schedule:

 

http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/22/autos/tesla-loan-repayment/

 

I'd be fine with electric cars and solar companies getting not help from the government if we removed all fossil fuels subsidies, direct and indirect (ie. military expenses to protect oil interests), including retroactively. I think that would be a gigantic boon to EVs and solar...

[rkbabang]

And don't forget any electric car manufacturer can take advantage of the $7500 per car subsidy, yet there was nothing like the Tesla Roadster and Model S before Tesla, nothing since Tesla, and nothing I've heard about coming down the pike from any other auto manufacturer.

 

Companies who have been making cars for 10's or even 100+ years seem to be unable to produce a comparable product, both now and in the foreseeable future.  And they all could take advantage of the $7500/vehicle subsidy.

 

[Otsog]

I had a friend ask me "Why hasn't Bill Gates done some of the amazing things Elon Musk has?" The answer I don't think has anything to do with brilliance (Gates would easily hold his ground against Musk) but with the ambition & risk appetite (aka mild insanity).

 

I think the answer is that he has.

[rkbabang]

I had a friend ask me "Why hasn't Bill Gates done some of the amazing things Elon Musk has?" The answer I don't think has anything to do with brilliance (Gates would easily hold his ground against Musk) but with the ambition & risk appetite (aka mild insanity).

 

I think the answer is that he has.

 

I don't want to take anything away from what Gates has accomplished.  To say that he's been successful is quite an understatement.  But he bought DOS, copied the Mac, created a video game system, ...  Sure he has been more successfull than anyone else doing these things, but I'll quote Liberty from his previous post on this topic:

 

here's a great quote by biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey on this:

 

"It has always appalled me that really bright scientists almost all work in the most competitive fields, the ones in which they are making the least difference. In other words,  if they were hit by a truck, the same discovery would be made by somebody else about 10 minutes later."

 

If Bill Gates had been hit by a truck in the mid 80's we might not have Windows or the Xbox, but we would still have personal computers with graphical user interfaces and video game systems today.  He hasn't used his money nor his genius to create something that no one else would have even thought to try for decades.

[Liberty]

Personally, almost everything that makes me respect Bill Gates is the stuff that he has done, and is doing, after leaving the Microsoft CEO role and creating the Gates Foundation.

[Liberty]

And he has a sense of humor too. As a tribute to Iain M. Banks, Musk is naming the two SpaceX drone ships (automated floating platforms where the rockets will vertically land):

 

"Just Read the Instructions"

 

and

 

"Of Course I Still Love You"

 

 

This is a reference to Banks' GSVs:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spacecraft_in_the_Culture_series#The_Player_of_Games

 

Those two names were used in the book The Play of Games.

 

If you don't know Banks, I recommend those three on the SF side:

 

Consider Phlebas, Use of Weapons, and Player of Games

[Phaceliacapital]

Personally, almost everything that makes me respect Bill Gates is the stuff that he has done, and is doing, after leaving the Microsoft CEO role and creating the Gates Foundation.

 

Exactly +1

[jeffmori7]

And he has a sense of humor too. As a tribute to Iain M. Banks, Musk is naming the two SpaceX drone ships (automated floating platforms where the rockets will vertically land):

 

"Just Read the Instructions"

 

and

 

"Of Course I Still Love You"

 

 

This is a reference to Banks' GSVs:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spacecraft_in_the_Culture_series#The_Player_of_Games

 

Those two names were used in the book The Play of Games.

 

If you don't know Banks, I recommend those three on the SF side:

 

Consider Phlebas, Use of Weapons, and Player of Games

 

I just saw that. Brings back great memories. So sad Banks is gone. I should read the Culture books I haven't read yet, but I think those pointed out by Liberty are the best choices for anyone who would like to discover this sci-fi space opera universe.

[Travis Wiedower]

Elon Musk's keynote address introducing the PowerWall and PowerPak: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVjW9XdPlhg

 

Pretty incredible the number of things he is doing to transform the future of humanity.

[Liberty]

Elon Musk: The World’s Raddest Man

 

http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/05/elon-musk-the-worlds-raddest-man.html

 

[JBird]

The harder I work the more I appreciate how super-human Elon is. I've found that an increase in work hours per week gets exponentially more difficult the closer you get to 100. I can hardly tell the difference between a 40 and 50 hr work week. The difference between a 80 hr and 90 hr work week is huge. Elon is churning out 80-100 hr work weeks in two fields infinitely more difficult than mine. It's hard to comprehend. And I admire the hell out of it.

 

Edit: Thanks for posting that link, Liberty. That was very entertaining.

[Liberty]

The harder I work the more I appreciate how super-human Elon is. I've found that an increase in work hours per week gets exponentially more difficult the closer you get to 100. I can hardly tell the difference between a 40 and 50 hr work week. The difference between a 80 hr and 90 hr work week is huge. Elon is churning out 80-100 hr work weeks in two fields infinitely more difficult than mine. It's hard to comprehend. And I admire the hell out of it.

 

It's not even just two fields. He's the chairman of SolarCity and had the idea for that company (run by his cousins), his hobbies include designing an electric plane (with vertical landing and takeoff) and the hyperloop (to which he open sourced the design), etc. He's really a guy for the history books.

[meiroy]

 

Thanks for the link Liberty, WBW seems like quite an interesting source.

 

[Liberty]

http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-creates-a-grade-school-2015-5

[TorontoRaptorsFan]

Musk is incredible. Just in a league of his own. It's safe to say he's the Benjamin Franklin of our generation.

[CONeal]

Finished the new Elon Musk book by Ashlee Vance.  Thought it provided great insight into how Musk operates and the problems they had to work through getting SpaceX and Telsa going.  The first half of the book was great the 2nd half was tedious.  Would buy it again just for the first half.

[Liberty]

I've just started the book. I hope I like the second half better than you do... :)

 

 

[SpecOps]

I've just started the book. I hope I like the second half better than you do... :)

 

 

 

I really have to buy this book, I wonder how many of us could honestly say that with $100m we would invest so heavily into an innovative company and risk losing it all. I guess us value investors are risk averse anyway, most of us would be content to simply invest it in a portfolio or even a tracker and live off the dividends.

[Travis Wiedower]

I'm only 4-5 chapters into the new book and my man-crush has already grown. As much as I love following Buffett, Munger, etc there is no one as fascinating as Elon.

[Liberty]

I'm only 4-5 chapters into the new book and my man-crush has already grown. As much as I love following Buffett, Munger, etc there is no one as fascinating as Elon.

 

I don't want to sound like a hipster, but I'm glad that Musk is getting so much recognition now. I've been following him since about 2006, and I've actually met him briefly in 2010 (we joked about the upcoming falcon 9 rocket test-flight, which had just been delayed IIRC), and for most of that time that I've been following him, either people didn't know him or were sure that he would fail. Glad he proved them wrong so far.

[Jurgis]

I wonder how many of us could honestly say that with $100m we would invest so heavily into an innovative company and risk losing it all. I guess us value investors are risk averse anyway, most of us would be content to simply invest it in a portfolio or even a tracker and live off the dividends.

 

You don't have to have 100M to answer that question.

 

How many here heavily invest into innovative companies just because they believe in them? :)

 

I have small positions in couple, but it's probably less than 2-5% of my portfolio in total.

 

I think the debate might end up in what different people consider "innovative"  ;)

[Jurgis]

My yearly dose of Elon:

 

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.

[Travis Wiedower]

My yearly dose of Elon:

 

Good stuff. Those bags under his eyes  :-\

[Graham Osborn]

I'm only 4-5 chapters into the new book and my man-crush has already grown. As much as I love following Buffett, Munger, etc there is no one as fascinating as Elon.

 

Why don't ya marry him - looks like he's available ;) Hopefully this thread doesn't go the way of the Elizabeth Holmes thread.

[rkbabang]

I'm only 4-5 chapters into the new book and my man-crush has already grown. As much as I love following Buffett, Munger, etc there is no one as fascinating as Elon.

 

Why don't ya marry him - looks like he's available ;) Hopefully this thread doesn't go the way of the Elizabeth Holmes thread.

 

Hopefully Musk doesn't go the way of Holmes.  Although with Holmes there was nothing but secrecy, speculation, and hype. Where Musk has already achieved enough to be highly respected even if he fails at everything else in his life from this moment forward, so there really can't be a comparison between the two.