7 ms·

That actually worked with SpaceX though. Elon handed off operations and "making money" to Gwynne Shotwell and she killed it. Elon is still working on moonshot

That actually worked with SpaceX though. Elon handed off operations and "making money" to Gwynne Shotwell and she killed it. Elon is still working on moonshots like Starship, but it let the core F9 product run operationally smoothly and rake in cash.

fubfjvdyvd 3y ago
[flagged]
TheAlchemist 3y ago
Is SpaceX profitable ? Last estimates I saw suggested they are still bleeding a lot of money every month.
- mlindner 3y ago
  I’m confused why this is even in doubt? It’s a twenty year old company with over ten thousand employees. How could it not be profitable?
- anonporridge 3y ago
  It's private, so we have no way of knowing.
- jacobr1 3y ago
  Who knows, but the question is more of unit economics than company profitability. Falcon could be profitable on a per-launch basis, and all the profit gets shuttled back into R&D.
- justrealist 3y ago
  Not the company overall, but the Falcon 9 + Falcon Heavy platforms themselves are vastly profitable.
  - mbesto 3y ago
    "Our widgets are profitable, but all of the R&D, sales people, back-office people, etc. etc. required to actually run a business makes us unprofitable" So ummm who's gonna pay all of those people to make sure the robots and people make the widgets every day?
    - kobalsky 3y ago
      if they are ever in financial distress, the US would never let this company get sold to questionable third party or any foreign power. probably some contract that will give them stability will appear from somewhere, at least until the ISS is decommissioned.
    - justrealist 3y ago
      The other expense is the novel Starship R&D program. It's not "back-office people". You're either very uninformed or just sniping in bad faith.
      - mbesto 3y ago
        > either very uninformed And you provided no source and narrowly scoped profitability to singular projects. This is so myopic when it comes to how a business is run.
        justrealist 3y ago
        OK, if you want sources, just look at the numbers here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_launch_market_competition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_launch_market_competitio.... SpaceX has the vast majority of the worldwide private launch market. It's the only company with a reusable first-stage booster. The cost-per-KG is 10-20% of the competition. This isn't me speculating wildly, everyone with even passing familiarity with the industry knows this.
        mbesto 3y ago
        > This isn't me speculating wildly, everyone with even passing familiarity with the industry knows this. I never questioned their market dominance, I questioned their overall company profitability. The cost of building a rocket can be easily fudged to create whatever financial picture you want. Not to mention Elon Musk is notorious for doing this. Unless you have access to their financial statements, all of this conjecture. > The cost-per-KG is 10-20% of the competition. Uhh might wanna check your source, from Wikipedia: "These varying cost and requirements makes market analysis imprecise."...
- badwolf 3y ago
  SpaceX really seems to be "betting the farm" on Starlink being a massive moneymaker. I don't see it longterm though.
- llboston 3y ago
  Elon Musk said in his Twitter Space interview right after Starship test launch that SpaceX doesn't need to raise money for a while, other than letting employees cashing out some shares twice a year.
  - TheAlchemist 3y ago
    Not that I disagree, but what Elon Musk says about financials of his companies, is 100% driven but the picture of it he wants to paint, and can have 0% relation to the reality.
tootie 3y ago
But he never owned product or tech decisions at SpaceX. He was only ever the money guy.
- gizmo 3y ago
  Not according to SpaceX engineers. Musk is hands-on. Always has been (for good and bad).
- justrealist 3y ago
  Do you think SpaceX just accidentally became the first company to reuse a booster?
  - Mouthfeel 3y ago
    [dead]
xhkkffbf 3y ago
Sorry to be obtuse here, but does "killed it" mean that she brought in great revenues or did it mean that she sent it headed to oblivion? Slang can be kind of dangerous sometimes.
- astrange 3y ago
  Means she's doing a great job. I do not believe Twitter is doing a great job or that they're somehow more profitable now.

fubfjvdyvd 3y ago

[flagged]

TheAlchemist 3y ago

Is SpaceX profitable ? Last estimates I saw suggested they are still bleeding a lot of money every month.

mlindner 3y ago
I’m confused why this is even in doubt? It’s a twenty year old company with over ten thousand employees. How could it not be profitable?
anonporridge 3y ago
It's private, so we have no way of knowing.
jacobr1 3y ago
Who knows, but the question is more of unit economics than company profitability. Falcon could be profitable on a per-launch basis, and all the profit gets shuttled back into R&D.
justrealist 3y ago
Not the company overall, but the Falcon 9 + Falcon Heavy platforms themselves are vastly profitable.
- mbesto 3y ago
  "Our widgets are profitable, but all of the R&D, sales people, back-office people, etc. etc. required to actually run a business makes us unprofitable" So ummm who's gonna pay all of those people to make sure the robots and people make the widgets every day?
  - kobalsky 3y ago
    if they are ever in financial distress, the US would never let this company get sold to questionable third party or any foreign power. probably some contract that will give them stability will appear from somewhere, at least until the ISS is decommissioned.
  - justrealist 3y ago
    The other expense is the novel Starship R&D program. It's not "back-office people". You're either very uninformed or just sniping in bad faith.
    - mbesto 3y ago
      > either very uninformed And you provided no source and narrowly scoped profitability to singular projects. This is so myopic when it comes to how a business is run.
      - justrealist 3y ago
        OK, if you want sources, just look at the numbers here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_launch_market_competition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_launch_market_competitio.... SpaceX has the vast majority of the worldwide private launch market. It's the only company with a reusable first-stage booster. The cost-per-KG is 10-20% of the competition. This isn't me speculating wildly, everyone with even passing familiarity with the industry knows this.
        mbesto 3y ago
        > This isn't me speculating wildly, everyone with even passing familiarity with the industry knows this. I never questioned their market dominance, I questioned their overall company profitability. The cost of building a rocket can be easily fudged to create whatever financial picture you want. Not to mention Elon Musk is notorious for doing this. Unless you have access to their financial statements, all of this conjecture. > The cost-per-KG is 10-20% of the competition. Uhh might wanna check your source, from Wikipedia: "These varying cost and requirements makes market analysis imprecise."...
badwolf 3y ago
SpaceX really seems to be "betting the farm" on Starlink being a massive moneymaker. I don't see it longterm though.
llboston 3y ago
Elon Musk said in his Twitter Space interview right after Starship test launch that SpaceX doesn't need to raise money for a while, other than letting employees cashing out some shares twice a year.
- TheAlchemist 3y ago
  Not that I disagree, but what Elon Musk says about financials of his companies, is 100% driven but the picture of it he wants to paint, and can have 0% relation to the reality.

tootie 3y ago

But he never owned product or tech decisions at SpaceX. He was only ever the money guy.

gizmo 3y ago
Not according to SpaceX engineers. Musk is hands-on. Always has been (for good and bad).
justrealist 3y ago
Do you think SpaceX just accidentally became the first company to reuse a booster?
- Mouthfeel 3y ago
  [dead]

xhkkffbf 3y ago

Sorry to be obtuse here, but does "killed it" mean that she brought in great revenues or did it mean that she sent it headed to oblivion? Slang can be kind of dangerous sometimes.

astrange 3y ago
Means she's doing a great job. I do not believe Twitter is doing a great job or that they're somehow more profitable now.