4 ms·
Tesla is a cool project/company, but car companies have never historically been good investments. Massive competition from many established companies, $200M+ t
by hop 16y ago
Tesla is a cool project/company, but car companies have never historically been good investments. Massive competition from many established companies, $200M+ tooling costs to roll out a new car, low profit margins, high marketing costs, etc... Not the recipe for striking it rich long term, but he will surely make a handsome sum if he sells at the IPO.
But SpaceX, with their $1.6B contract from NASA and options for $3.6B, their successful maiden flight two weeks ago of their Falcon 9 rocket - http://www.spacex.com/F9-001.php http://www.spacex.com/F9-001.php, their newly inked $492M contract with private satellite company Iridium http://www.spacex.com/press.php?page=20100616 http://www.spacex.com/press.php?page=20100616 ... and they are just getting started. This could/probably will lay mega-fortune to Musk.
I too would leverage myself to the moon to keep that equity.
- lrm242 16y agoCar copmanies haven't been good investments? Seriously? I mean, sure, if you're talking about the last 10 or 20 years, I can dig that. But if you're talking about from inception, you're wrong. Look at Ford: http://www.google.com/finance?chdnp=0&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&chvs=maximized&chdeh=0&chfdeh=0&chdet=1276286400000&chddm=3285964&chls=IntervalBasedLine&q=NYSE:F&ntsp=0 http://www.google.com/finance?chdnp=0&chdd=1&chds=1&... Not only has there been very nice asset appreciation but look at all those dividends. Huge dividends for a very, very long time.
- unexpected 16y agoI think he's arguing that Ford is an outlier. Remember, when the car was invented, there were hundreds of car companies (remember the Stanley Steamer?) If you went back to 1920, and compared the car companies from then and now, Ford might be the only one that has still remained. Even classic nameplates like Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Buick have fallen off. If you went back to the 1960's, and told someone that Oldsmobile and Pontiac would cease to exist in 50 years, they would have called you crazy. Is this going to happen to the electric car as well? Will Tesla be the next Ford or the next Stanley? *The same trend can also be seen with PC manufacturers. How many different PC companies were there in the 1980's. How many exist now?