Elon Musk and his $55 BILLION dollar gamble

[p1stonhead]

TooMany2cvs said:

DapperDanMan said:

x.com vision was a ground up Internet Bank.

Yes, it was. Not terribly original, even at the time - everybody was moving that way by late 99 - and Musk had been sacked within the year.

Yet he made out with $200m. Wouldn’t mind being ‘fired’ myself.

[TooMany2cvs]

p1stonhead said:

TooMany2cvs said:

DapperDanMan said:

x.com vision was a ground up Internet Bank.

Yes, it was. Not terribly original, even at the time - everybody was moving that way by late 99 - and Musk had been sacked within the year.

Yet he made out with $200m. Wouldn’t mind being ‘fired’ myself.

Well, $165m for his 11.7% of the Paypal stock, two years after he was fired - and he'd put $10m of the $22m he got from the sale of Zip2 into starting x.com in the first place.

But, yes, that was the height of the dotcom bubble, and people were throwing stupid money into any old acquisition. Was $1.5bn a sensible price for eBay to pay for Paypal? 77% above the IPO value just five months earlier? <shrug> Probably not.

[p1stonhead]

TooMany2cvs said:

p1stonhead said:

TooMany2cvs said:

DapperDanMan said:

x.com vision was a ground up Internet Bank.

Yes, it was. Not terribly original, even at the time - everybody was moving that way by late 99 - and Musk had been sacked within the year.

Yet he made out with $200m. Wouldn’t mind being ‘fired’ myself.

Well, $165m for his 11.7% of the Paypal stock, two years after he was fired - and he'd put $10m of the $22m he got from the sale of Zip2 into starting x.com in the first place.

But, yes, that was the height of the dotcom bubble, and people were throwing stupid money into any old acquisition. Was $1.5bn a sensible price for eBay to pay for Paypal? 77% above the IPO value just five months earlier? <shrug> Probably not.

Oh ok only $165m from his $10m investment. Rubbish. Silly me.

Considering what it’s worth now? Over $100billion? Bargain for EBay.

Strange you want to st on him so much to be honest. Most can see he’s done some pretty amazing things even if the word ‘genius’ isn’t the right one.

Very strange to be honest chap.

Edited by p1stonhead on Friday 26th January 09:56

[TooMany2cvs]

p1stonhead said:

Oh ok only $165m from his $10m investment. Rubbish. Silly me.

At the time, $165m was worth £105m. That's a VERY long way from your claim of £200m, isn't it?

<Edit: My bad. You said $200m, not £200m. Only 20% exaggerated, rather than the 90% I suggested. Apologies.>

p1stonhead said:

Considering what it’s worth now? Over $100billion? Bargain for EBay

Yes, it has turned out to be a very good deal. Mind you, eBay has invested an awful lot of time and money in the interim. As for Zip2 - what happened to that? Or indeed Compaq and AltaVista? Very few of the dotcom hyped outfits survived and thrived. Paypal was one of the few - but Musk was not involved in that, having been sacked as CEO of Paypal only six months after x.com merged with Confinity, two years before the IPO and subsequent eBay purchase.

p1stonhead said:

Strange you want to st on him so much to be honest.

You call it "stting on", I call it "being accurate". <shrug>

p1stonhead said:

Most can see he’s done some pretty amazing things even if the word ‘genius’ isn’t the right one.

If the reality is "pretty amazing" - and I'm not saying he hasn't been a massively influential individual - then why is there any need to fabricate and exaggerate...?

Edited by TooMany2cvs on Friday 26th January 10:12

[p1stonhead]

TooMany2cvs said:

p1stonhead said:

Oh ok only $165m from his $10m investment. Rubbish. Silly me.

At the time, $165m was worth £105m. That's a VERY long way from your claim of £200m, isn't it?

p1stonhead said:

Considering what it’s worth now? Over $100billion? Bargain for EBay

Yes, it has turned out to be a very good deal. Mind you, eBay has invested an awful lot of time and money in the interim. As for Zip2 - what happened to that? Or indeed Compaq and AltaVista? Very few of the dotcom hyped outfits survived and thrived. Paypal was one of the few - but Musk was not involved in that, having been sacked as CEO of Paypal only six months after x.com merged with Confinity, two years before the IPO and subsequent eBay purchase.

p1stonhead said:

Strange you want to st on him so much to be honest.

You call it "stting on", I call it "being accurate". <shrug>

p1stonhead said:

Most can see he’s done some pretty amazing things even if the word ‘genius’ isn’t the right one.

If the reality is "pretty amazing" - and I'm not saying he hasn't been a massively influential individual - then why is there any need to fabricate and exaggerate...?

I said $200m not £200m. $35m is a VERY long way? You say I exaggerate, I say you can’t read.

And wasn’t he demoted from CEO of X.com to CTO rather than fired? He was certainly offered the job as far as I knew.

Even if not, how does being fired diminish his achievements? Steve Jobs was fired from Apple wasn’t he?

Edited by p1stonhead on Friday 26th January 10:19

[TooMany2cvs]

p1stonhead said:

I said $200m not £200m. $35m is a VERY long way? You say I exaggerate, I say you can’t read.

See my clearly flagged edit that overlapped with your post. As for the rest, you seem not to have read the last sentence of the post you replied to.

[p1stonhead]

TooMany2cvs said:

p1stonhead said:

I said $200m not £200m. $35m is a VERY long way? You say I exaggerate, I say you can’t read.

See my clearly flagged edit that overlapped with your post. As for the rest, you seem not to have read the last sentence of the post you replied to.

Didn’t realise we were all held to exact figures when basically making the point that he did extremely well. Sue me I was 20% out! I beg your forgiveness.

You have obviously studied Musk to a much finer degree than anyone else on here seeing as you know the minute details about every part of his life. Most people clearly don’t care about the chap as much as you.

I just think he’s done some pretty cool stuff. I liked the Tesla I drove and think SpaceX is brilliant.

[Too Drunk to Funk]

p1stonhead said:

TooMany2cvs said:

p1stonhead said:

TooMany2cvs said:

DapperDanMan said:

x.com vision was a ground up Internet Bank.

Yes, it was. Not terribly original, even at the time - everybody was moving that way by late 99 - and Musk had been sacked within the year.

Yet he made out with $200m. Wouldn’t mind being ‘fired’ myself.

Well, $165m for his 11.7% of the Paypal stock, two years after he was fired - and he'd put $10m of the $22m he got from the sale of Zip2 into starting x.com in the first place.

But, yes, that was the height of the dotcom bubble, and people were throwing stupid money into any old acquisition. Was $1.5bn a sensible price for eBay to pay for Paypal? 77% above the IPO value just five months earlier? <shrug> Probably not.

Oh ok only $165m from his $10m investment. Rubbish. Silly me.

Considering what it’s worth now? Over $100billion? Bargain for EBay.

Strange you want to st on him so much to be honest. Most can see he’s done some pretty amazing things even if the word ‘genius’ isn’t the right one.

Very strange to be honest chap.

Edited by p1stonhead on Friday 26th January 09:56

I really couldn't give a st how much he's worth. First rule of PH, never criticize anyone with more money than you

[TooMany2cvs]

p1stonhead said:

Didn’t realise we were all held to exact figures when basically making the point that he did extremely well. Sue me I was 20% out! I beg your forgiveness.

I hope you aren't trying too hard to take so much offence.

p1stonhead said:

You have obviously studied Musk to a much finer degree than anyone else on here seeing as you know the minute details about every part of his life. Most people clearly don’t care about the chap as much as you.

It's all very easily available information.

p1stonhead said:

I just think he’s done some pretty cool stuff. I liked the Tesla I drove and think SpaceX is brilliant.

That's nice, dear. But that sentence of mine, which you quoted, still very much applies, don't you think?

[p1stonhead]

TooMany2cvs said:

p1stonhead said:

Didn’t realise we were all held to exact figures when basically making the point that he did extremely well. Sue me I was 20% out! I beg your forgiveness.

I hope you aren't trying too hard to take so much offence.

p1stonhead said:

You have obviously studied Musk to a much finer degree than anyone else on here seeing as you know the minute details about every part of his life. Most people clearly don’t care about the chap as much as you.

It's all very easily available information.

p1stonhead said:

I just think he’s done some pretty cool stuff. I liked the Tesla I drove and think SpaceX is brilliant.

That's nice, dear. But that sentence of mine, which you quoted, still very much applies, don't you think?

I’m the one taking offence

Cheer up chap. Not all of us can make billions like Musk et al.

[Too Drunk to Funk]

Another "visionary"

[TooMany2cvs]

p1stonhead said:

I’m the one taking offence

Well, since you seem totally unable to even acknowledge the existence of my earlier unprompted apology for the simple mistake, and are still going on about it, then... <shrug>

You also seem to be unable to read what I've actually written, despite having it pointed out to you several times, and seem determined to be the upholder of St Elon's hype (in the face of overwhelming reality).

[p1stonhead]

TooMany2cvs said:

p1stonhead said:

I’m the one taking offence

Well, since you seem totally unable to even acknowledge the existence of my earlier unprompted apology for the simple mistake, and are still going on about it, then... <shrug>

You also seem to be unable to read what I've actually written, despite having it pointed out to you several times, and seem determined to be the upholder of St Elon's hype (in the face of overwhelming reality).

I’ve already said I just think his products are cool in Tesla and SpaceX and that he isn’t a genius just someone who has done well. I couldn’t care less either way past that.

<shrug>

[TooMany2cvs]

p1stonhead said:

I’ve already said I just think his products are cool in Tesla and SpaceX and that he isn’t a genius just someone who has done well. I couldn’t care less either way past that.

Great. So we're all agreed, and there really isn't any need to big anything up past the reality...

[p1stonhead]

TooMany2cvs said:

p1stonhead said:

I’ve already said I just think his products are cool in Tesla and SpaceX and that he isn’t a genius just someone who has done well. I couldn’t care less either way past that.

Great. So we're all agreed, and there really isn't any need to big anything up past the reality...

Who has?

<shrug><shrug><shrug> (What is it with this by the way? Is this supposed to be what you are doing behind your keyboard?!)

[Jonesy23]

DapperDanMan said:

• Has SpaceX with the only real goal being Mars colonisation
• Moving SpaceX to the BFR as the single rocket for all uses
• Using the BFR so I can get from London to Sidney in 50 minutes
• The Boring Company making boring interesting and reducing the cost of tunnels
• Solar roof tiles and powerwalls together to give you freedom from power companies
• Tesla S, 3, X and soon Y. Tesla trucks. New Tesla Roadster with 600+ mile range
• Opening up the patents on said vehicles technology. In the end he just wants to push the world towards electric vehicles (It is working)
• Inspired the creation of Hyperloop companies
• Saw the move to internet banking years before anyone else

need I go on.

If that isn't then please explain what is a definition of visionary.

Haven't you noticed yet that he makes lots of statements that he never delivers on, and the wilder they are the more likely they are to coincide with trying to cover over bad news at Tesla or elsewhere?

bks is SpaceX really about Mars. Getting into broader chunks of commercial heavy lift maybe, Mars is PR fluff.
Single rocket with variants isn't exacly visionary. Best assessed when & if the new model actually happens.
London to Sydney was PR fluff that can't actually happen and never will. It didn't last 5 minutes as an idea before being thoroughly shredded.
Boring Company has done nothing to make tunnels interesting or cheap. Literally nothing. They bought a TBM and they drilled a little tunnel. No innovation coming any time soon (ever) despite the early bold statements of how magic was going to change the market. The California tunnel is never going to do what he claims for traffic (too small) but at the moment looks like it could make a great private route for him to get to work...
Solar roof tiles - are they actually available yet? That was a classic Musk over-promise/under-deliver solar mess. Powerwall is never going to give you freedom from power companies.
Tesla cars - not doing too badly, shame so much of the design and build quality is st. They have the S which is the bulk of things, the X is a flawed turd, the 3 they can't build, the Truck we'll have to wait and see (you can buy the competition already), the Roadster we'll see when it eventually arrives.
The stuff around 'opening the patents' was a great PR move, little practical impact. Gave opportunity for the disciples to claim he's in it for altruistic reasons when it's all about the money and the patents thing didn't actually mean much.
Hyperloop - not his idea, not his company, not original, not going to work.
Internet banking - LOL. He made money by being lucky with being involved with the one that came out on top, not really much to do with vision and certainly not original or first.


At the moment it looks like the best thought he ever had was that hair transplant, he looks a lot more visionary with it than he did prior.

[TooMany2cvs]

p1stonhead said:

Who has?

DapperDanMan, for a start.

[Zoon]

Too Drunk to Funk said:

Another "visionary"

Billionaire

[TooMany2cvs]

Zoon said:

Too Drunk to Funk said:

Another "visionary"

Billionaire

Dave Lee Travis is a billionaire?

[DapperDanMan]

Jonesy23 said:

DapperDanMan said:

• Has SpaceX with the only real goal being Mars colonisation
• Moving SpaceX to the BFR as the single rocket for all uses
• Using the BFR so I can get from London to Sidney in 50 minutes
• The Boring Company making boring interesting and reducing the cost of tunnels
• Solar roof tiles and powerwalls together to give you freedom from power companies
• Tesla S, 3, X and soon Y. Tesla trucks. New Tesla Roadster with 600+ mile range
• Opening up the patents on said vehicles technology. In the end he just wants to push the world towards electric vehicles (It is working)
• Inspired the creation of Hyperloop companies
• Saw the move to internet banking years before anyone else

need I go on.

If that isn't then please explain what is a definition of visionary.

Haven't you noticed yet that he makes lots of statements that he never delivers on, and the wilder they are the more likely they are to coincide with trying to cover over bad news at Tesla or elsewhere?

bks is SpaceX really about Mars. Getting into broader chunks of commercial heavy lift maybe, Mars is PR fluff.
Single rocket with variants isn't exacly visionary. Best assessed when & if the new model actually happens.
London to Sydney was PR fluff that can't actually happen and never will. It didn't last 5 minutes as an idea before being thoroughly shredded.
Boring Company has done nothing to make tunnels interesting or cheap. Literally nothing. They bought a TBM and they drilled a little tunnel. No innovation coming any time soon (ever) despite the early bold statements of how magic was going to change the market. The California tunnel is never going to do what he claims for traffic (too small) but at the moment looks like it could make a great private route for him to get to work...
Solar roof tiles - are they actually available yet? That was a classic Musk over-promise/under-deliver solar mess. Powerwall is never going to give you freedom from power companies.
Tesla cars - not doing too badly, shame so much of the design and build quality is st. They have the S which is the bulk of things, the X is a flawed turd, the 3 they can't build, the Truck we'll have to wait and see (you can buy the competition already), the Roadster we'll see when it eventually arrives.
The stuff around 'opening the patents' was a great PR move, little practical impact. Gave opportunity for the disciples to claim he's in it for altruistic reasons when it's all about the money and the patents thing didn't actually mean much.
Hyperloop - not his idea, not his company, not original, not going to work.
Internet banking - LOL. He made money by being lucky with being involved with the one that came out on top, not really much to do with vision and certainly not original or first.


At the moment it looks like the best thought he ever had was that hair transplant, he looks a lot more visionary with it than he did prior.

Do you have a personal vendetta against him? Seriously what a deranged rant.