5 ms·

Elon Musk seems to be someone who really knows how to do cool things with the spoils of a successful software company. Are there any other good examples of peo

Elon Musk seems to be someone who really knows how to do cool things with the spoils of a successful software company. Are there any other good examples of people like this that have taken one big win and parlayed it into investing in seriously futuristic technology?

arctangent 16y ago
Richard Branson is a good example of an "adventure capitalist". Here is his Wikipedia profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson Here is the Wikipedia page for his space tourism company: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Galactic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Galactic Also worthy of a mention is Mark Shuttleworth, who was the world's second space tourist (and also the founder of the Ubuntu Foundation): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Shuttleworth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Shuttleworth
- iwwr 16y ago
  Don't forget Anousheh Ansari: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anousheh_Ansari http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anousheh_Ansari
- hugh3 16y ago
  Perhaps the ur-example would be Howard Hughes. Got rich selling drill bits, plunged it all into much more interesting ventures like aeroplanes and motion pictures.
- benologist 16y ago
  And Richard Garriot aka Lord British - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Garriott http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Garriott
  - arctangent 16y ago
    Everyone on the list of space tourists has an interesting past: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tourism#List_of_flown_space_tourists http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tourism#List_of_flown_spa...
- IDisposableHero 16y ago
  Don't forget John Carmack - from Doom at Id softare to Armadillo Aerospace
3kMarlin 16y ago
Robert Bigelow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bigelow http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bigelow His space station company: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigelow_Aerospace http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigelow_Aerospace
biotech 16y ago
It's interesting how common this is in New Space: Jeff Bezos - From Amazon.com to Blue Origin Richard Branson - From Virgin Records to Virgin Galactic Robert Bigelow - From Budget Suites to Bigelow Aerospace Elon Musk - From PayPal to SpaceX I'm hoping that this is just the beginning of a trend of successful businesspeople investing in humanities' future in space.

arctangent 16y ago

Richard Branson is a good example of an "adventure capitalist". Here is his Wikipedia profile: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson Here is the Wikipedia page for his space tourism company: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Galactic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Galactic Also worthy of a mention is Mark Shuttleworth, who was the world's second space tourist (and also the founder of the Ubuntu Foundation): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Shuttleworth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Shuttleworth

iwwr 16y ago
Don't forget Anousheh Ansari: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anousheh_Ansari http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anousheh_Ansari
hugh3 16y ago
Perhaps the ur-example would be Howard Hughes. Got rich selling drill bits, plunged it all into much more interesting ventures like aeroplanes and motion pictures.
benologist 16y ago
And Richard Garriot aka Lord British - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Garriott http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Garriott
- arctangent 16y ago
  Everyone on the list of space tourists has an interesting past: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tourism#List_of_flown_space_tourists http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tourism#List_of_flown_spa...
IDisposableHero 16y ago
Don't forget John Carmack - from Doom at Id softare to Armadillo Aerospace

3kMarlin 16y ago

Robert Bigelow: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bigelow http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bigelow His space station company: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigelow_Aerospace http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigelow_Aerospace

biotech 16y ago

It's interesting how common this is in New Space: Jeff Bezos - From Amazon.com to Blue Origin Richard Branson - From Virgin Records to Virgin Galactic Robert Bigelow - From Budget Suites to Bigelow Aerospace Elon Musk - From PayPal to SpaceX I'm hoping that this is just the beginning of a trend of successful businesspeople investing in humanities' future in space.