SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell on CNBC yesterday on Elon Musk:
"I think he is very misunderstood across the board. I want people to know him. In fact, he participated in some of the discussions that we’ve had over the last couple of weeks with investors.
The investors left saying: ‘I had no idea that is the man.’
I said: That’s the man I’ve worked for 24 years. I love him."
Gwynne joined SpaceX in 2002 as the company’s 11th employee. She’s awesome. What a journey.
About 5 years ago, Elon was giving @Erdayastronaut a tour of the Starbase launchpad. A worker at the site walks up, hugs him, and says: “We’re going to make it.”
He’s probably a millionaire now.
When most companies' opening remarks during their IPOs were about profit, today it hits something different.
It is hope.
The once-inspiring future that excited us when we were young but that we dropped after growing up—we have found it again.
Oh yes, I remember that Bond film where the villain decarbonized the auto industry, brought fast internet to everyone on the planet, and helped paralyzed people interact with the world again.
The Falcon 1 is small potatoes now, but reporting on its development is really what got me hooked on @SpaceX. Loved the tales of a bunch of 20 somethings stuck on Kwajalein Atoll trying to make a rocket fly.
The company ended up being one tiny error on the fourth launch from going out of business, but it somehow launched and survived.
Am still so amused by @elonmusk reading rocket books post PayPal and now getting to this point. Seems just about impossible.
Is a shame there has not been a movie made about these times. Hollywood kinda hates Elon and doesn't want to see it made, but it's the ultimate next chapter to The Right Stuff.
Haha this is awesome. Elon agreed to the "greenshoe" IPO option but only if the bankers and team all wore actual green shoes 😂🔥
(A "greenshoe" is a standard IPO provision that allows underwriters to sell up to ~15% more shares than originally planned if demand is strong, helping stabilize the stock price in early trading.)
Last week, I attended the @ElonMusk and Jamie Dimon @SpaceX discussion at J.P. Morgan. Jamie asked Elon how he had changed over the past 20 years as a leader and a person.
Elon's answer wasn't about success. It was about what's next. He said he has learned a lot...has made mistakes and still has much to learn...
Then he added, “I think maybe the future AI will say ‘not bad for a human’."
Elon, thank you so much for what you've done for humanity. Congrats to you, @Gwynne_Shotwell, @BretWJ, and the entire team. What is even more remarkable... this feels like day one, that you are just getting started.
PS. When people ask "what is the next SpaceX and who is the next Elon?" Simple answer.
There is NO NEXT!!!
Elon Musk is a mensch!
A man working as a welder at SpaceX for $28 an hour has just become a millionaire.
Juan Hernandez, who came from Mexico, welded rockets for SpaceX at $28 an hour.
SpaceX gave him $10,000 in stock when he went full time in 2015, and he bought more with every paycheck for 10 years.
$SPCX is now trading at $167, making his shares worth over $1 million.