13 ms·

I sometimes wonder, what does one need a second 500 billion that the first 500 billion is not enough for?

by andrei_says_ 5mo ago

knicholes 5mo ago
Getting to Mars, it would seem.
- hdndjsbbs 5mo ago
  Does anyone seriously still believe this? I thought as a society we had realized Musk is simply BSing whatever he feels like until it becomes untenable.
  - JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
    > Does anyone seriously still believe this? I do. It’s not his singular focus. But he continues to personally invest himself in pushing the boundaries of human spacefaring capability. That goal seems more meaningful to him that it does to e.g. Bezos, who seems to have a rocket company to look cool.
    - nixon_why69 5mo ago
      He slashed tons of basic science funding under DOGE. At one point he was probably sincere but he's been consumed by culture war slop.
      - JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
        See: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48186106 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48186106
        nixon_why69 5mo ago
        Yeah, but slashing basic science funding isn't a "yes, and", it's more of a "no, but". It goes directly against trying to get to mars.
    - awesome_dude 5mo ago
      I know there's a risk when Musk's name comes up that everyone takes "all against" or "all for" approach - very polarising figure. But I see a lot of that announcement, and the others someone else pointed to as his "aspirational, but ultimately never going to happen" goals - whether he believes the claims are achievable, or not, he says these things to energise people to working/paying for him to try It costs him little to nothing to say, and other people's time, effort, and capital to try (and succeed/fail) Tesla is falling to pieces now, and SpaceX is getting loaded up with completely unrelated projects (xAI) in order to try and make it look saleable (I guess) - it's very difficult to see the Mars announcement as anything but hype.
      - JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
        > difficult to see the Mars announcement as anything but hype Oh yeah, the announcement is hype. But there is actual work underneath it making real progress in science and engineering that moves us closer to Mars. Some of that, moreover, is work that has limited appeal outside a Martian context.
        fragmede 5mo ago
        The real thing is that the moon is a better stepping stone, but Bezos already claimed it so Musk had to out do him, which is why he's shooting for Mars.
        JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
        > the moon is a better stepping stone, but Bezos already claimed it so Musk had to out do him, which is why he's shooting for Mars They were contemporaenous. Musk was trying to send stuff to Mars in 2001 [1]. Bezos started Blue Origin in 2000 before any Moon goals had been made concrete or public. I wouldn't say either of their goals really referenced each other until after the financial crisis (that is, after they were both comfortably billionaires with launch-vehicle programs). [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-elon-musk-spacex/ https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-elon-musk-spacex/
      - 5mo ago
    - 48terry 5mo ago
      > pushing the boundaries of human spacefaring capability I guess polluting space with shitty satellites and causing environmental disasters with failed and questionably-permitted rocket launches is, technically, pushing on boundaries of human spacefaring capability.
      - JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
        > guess polluting space with shitty satellites and causing environmental disasters with failed and questionably-permitted rocket launches is, technically, pushing on boundaries of human spacefaring capability My cat is both cute and fluffy as well as a menace.
      - thinkcontext 5mo ago
        I mean, I really dislike what Musk has become but SpaceX has brought about a huge leap in access to space. Last year they launched more than the rest of the world combined, including the rest of the US. They now own more operating satellites than the rest of the world combined. When the rest of the Western world's launchers have had problems over the last few years (Ariane, Vulcan, EU Soyuz, New Glenn, Antares) SpaceX has been able to absorb their payloads with relative ease rather than waiting many years for other arrangements. They've saved the US many $Bs in launch costs by undercutting the incumbent monopoly. Cheaply and easily reusing a rocket was thought impossible, now it's routine and every rocket maker on earth is attempting to copy them.
        matthewdgreen 5mo ago
        If you look at their filings, they are now pivoting into an "AI company". (Meaning, that's where the majority of their future value is described as coming from.) It's possible that this is a harmless investor swindle and they'll keep relentlessly innovating. But you should probably be worried.
    - 4dfg 5mo ago
      What a load of crap. He pushes this narrative purely for valuation purposes. He has a legion of people propping up his stock by manipulating them into believing he is a wizard.
    - tehjoker 5mo ago
      This is a joint project of U.S. government military planners and an ostensible private individual. If Elon disappeared, rest assured, the contracts and development would still happen. They want mega constellations for always-on drone guidance and for "golden dome" which would allow for the laser-based shoot-down of long range exo-atmospheric missiles. You need reusable spacecraft to make that tenable. This is not about Mars, don't buy the marketing. At best for civilians, this is about making broadband widely available such that America can dominate internet connectivity going forward and increase spying further. As an example, examine a map of Starlink connectivity, you will notice that Russia and Gaza are excluded. The Artemis missions will eventually enable the placement of communications equipment on the moon, making anti-satellite weapons less effective at disrupting critical communications. Fortress America will be invincible forever, so so they desire. The macroeconomics are not working out for them though even though the technological edge is still working for them on that level.
      - JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
        > They want mega constellations for always-on drone guidance and for "golden dome" which would allow for the laser-based shoot-down of long range exo-atmospheric missiles This is a conspiracy theory folks who just Googled In-Q-Tel have been stringing together since Covid. It's not true. > examine a map of Starlink connectivity, you will notice that Russia and Gaza are excluded Russia wasn't excluded until recently. That was a problem! > The Artemis missions will eventually enable the placement of communications equipment on the moon, making anti-satellite weapons less effective at disrupting critical communications Wat.
        tehjoker 5mo ago
        > This is a conspiracy theory folks who just Googled In-Q-Tel have been stringing together since Covid. It's not true. ??? It's documented that Ukraine is using Starlink extensively. Golden dome: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/golden-dome-for-america-trump-missile-defense-plan/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/golden-dome-for-america-trump-m... > Wat. Communications are an exception to the lunar treaty that governs the militarization of space. Don't forget that the original space program was designed to peacefully demonstrate a high degree of control over ICBM class rockets. They're so good and accurate, we can put a human on top of one. The government does not spend huge amounts of money on things like "art" or "science" without a motivating factor. This is the capitalist empire, not socialism.
    - thejazzman 5mo ago
      It’s in his own biography (the older one) that spacex would pursue mars without distraction. That he went to great lengths to ensure it wouldn’t be used for military, tourism, etc. You can’t believe musk without simultaneously believing he’s a liar. It’s in HIS fucking book.
      - JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
        > It’s in his own biography (the older one) that spacex would pursue mars without distraction. That he went to great lengths to ensure it wouldn’t be used for military, tourism, etc. I said I believe he wants to go to Mars and will put in the work to make that happen. I didn't say everything he's said is true. Musk absolutely lies. But his actions speak pretty consistently to Mars being a real goal.
  - dogscatstrees 5mo ago
    Oh, you mean like: Solar Roof: https://electrek.co/2026/05/14/tesla-solar-roof-promise-vs-reality-pivot-panels/ https://electrek.co/2026/05/14/tesla-solar-roof-promise-vs-r... Tesla Full Self Driving: https://electrek.co/2026/05/18/musk-unsupervised-fsd-widespread-us-end-of-year-smart-mobility-summit/ https://electrek.co/2026/05/18/musk-unsupervised-fsd-widespr... Hyperloop / Boring Company mass-transit vision Mars settlement timelines X as an everything app
    - hsuduebc2 5mo ago
      I mean, most of his wealth is coming from his overhyping skill, you can also tell marketing. Or lying. I consider him a visionary in a sense of innovation but he is insecure and immoral one. Needles to say his investors made money on his over promises.
      - billti 5mo ago
        Does Elon over-hype nearly everything he gets involved with? Clearly yes. Does he also deliver on some mind-boggling timelines? Well Tesla went from delivering its first cars in 2008 to having the best selling car in the world in 2023, and SpaceX went from not having successfully launched a rocket to delivering about 80% of the world's space payload in roughly the same timeframe. So I'd say that's clearly a 'yes', too.
        somenameforme 5mo ago
        SpaceX also dropped the cost of kg to space by multiple orders of magnitude, which is a part of the reason they essentially are the space industry now a days. And should Starship deliver we are likely going to be seeing even more orders of magnitude drop in price there. Elon made some political positions (which he has always hinted at in any case) publicly clear, and the divisive nature of politics in the US which has made a rather vocal minority of people just freak out with regards to him. But the reality is that if he died tomorrow, he would already go down as the Thomas Edison of modern times. And he as of yet still has some years to deliver on Mars which could cement a far greater legacy.
  - NikolaNovak 5mo ago
    I genuinely believe he wants to go to Mars. Desperately. He's fundamentally a very smart socially inept largely sociopathic emotionally immature obsessively driven boy who read a lot of Heinlein as a kid. Everything about him indicates he sees himself as a saviour of humanity and the only person who has their priorities right and everybody should appreciate and adore him and it's so darn frustrating when they don't, oh wait this other party will adore me, now they don't anymore either oh HUMbug. Do I believe any of his promises? No absolutely not. But I do think Mars is his massive obsession and that he fervently (If completely Implausibly) believes it'll work and help humanity.
    - tim333 5mo ago
      Also Project Mars: A Technical Tale maybe? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Mars:_A_Technical_Tale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Mars:_A_Technical_Tale It features a leader called the Elon who Musk may have been partly named after. (https://www.mind-war.com/p/the-elon-how-a-nazi-rocket-scientist?hide_intro_popup=true https://www.mind-war.com/p/the-elon-how-a-nazi-rocket-scient...)
  - harrall 5mo ago
    Musk is like that person on Facebook you know that is really good at <welding / programming / performing surgeries / etc> then they post about their thoughts on some other topic and all you can respond with is “stay in your lane.” Musk has been successful is pure engineering efforts led by engineers he hired achieving the next big-but-not-too-big step. You ignore his thoughts on everything else.
    - kakacik 5mo ago
      Or... you maintain some moral integrity, and consider him POS despite all his deliveries. People clearly can be great and horrible at the same time, why the desperate need to paint everything black & white and ignore all the fine details of reality. These people are all about massive ego trips and legacies. So let them build their legacy as they truly were with all the + and -, not some idealized, simplified image. Truth always deserves to be told, however inconvenient. Sort of moral imperative of a moral human being if you want.
  - tim333 5mo ago
    Some things fail but the EVs and rockets have done well. Also Starlink.
- nicolas_17 5mo ago
  I agree we'd all be better off if SpaceX figured out how to send Musk to Mars ASAP.
robocat 5mo ago
Why did he need a second 250 billion after the first 250 billion? Makes me think of a inverted Zeno's paradox. Why do you need an extra dollar? I can answer for myself: New Zealand plans to tax the shit out of anyone that has more[A]. You need a fukton more than median wealth to be able to protect yourself against your own government. The type of person that enjoys chasing money doesn't stop. [A] via capital gains taxes and wealth taxes. Also one needs an excessive amount more to handle progressive taxation and means testing.
- jamiek88 5mo ago
  > Why did he need a second 250 billion after the first 250 billion? Because billionaires are mentally unwell.
- rolph 5mo ago
  "Why did he need a second 250 billion after the first 250 billion" because thats another 250 billion less for a competitor to use against you.
  - robocat 5mo ago
    That is zero-sum thinking. I'm not sure how one can learn to see the world in a more positive light...
    - jfyi 5mo ago
      I'd argue that if we don't abstract away resource usage behind currency, we are pretty firmly in negative-sum territory and zero-sum is a pretty rose colored glasses way of looking at things that is currently obscuring us from pending horrors. These people aren't satisfied with themselves having more, everyone else must have less too. Not that I am interested in changing your mind on this. I would, though, encourage you to actually say it's "positive-sum" if that's what you believe instead of hinting and then being vague about it for some reason.
  - deleted 5mo ago
    [deleted]
lovich 5mo ago
[flagged]
- testplzignore 5mo ago
  Maybe he trying to collect every waifu from every gacha game. That would get expensive in a hurry.
lotsofpulp 5mo ago
Because money is just a proxy for power, and the goal is not to have cash, it is to have power. Perhaps via being able to make decisions at various businesses, or being able to travel to a different planet, or being able to influence other people, etc. Could also partly be a curiosity to see what one is capable of, or maybe wanting to be known for helming an organization that accomplishes xyz.
DoesntMatter22 5mo ago
To build more cool stuff. Would be great if he did neurolink for cancer
deleted 5mo ago
[deleted]
aeternum 5mo ago
Interestingly, during the trial he promised to donate any potential financial winnings to OpenAI's charity. A move that surprisingly didn't get much press.
- the_gastropod 5mo ago
  Elon Musk promises a lot of things that never come to fruition.
  - dmschulman 5mo ago
    Have we colonized Mars yet? Asking for a friend.
    - Nevermark 5mo ago
      I don't understand this thinking at all. I share all the disillusionment and cynicism about Musk, shared here by others. But he has also done amazing things. When someone declares they are going to create a Martian colony, something literally "out of this world", and against all odds makes unbelievable progress for years, including re-usable rockets that return and land vertically, more efficient powerful engines, and fast operational turnarounds, while making orbital travel mundane, hanging a criticism of schedules on the weak hook of "yet" is myopic.
      - threethirtytwo 5mo ago
        People don’t look at the complexity of a human character. They take the easiest extreme and run with it. I was on another HN thread where practically everyone was calling Elon a psychopath. If you think objectively Elon is not a psychopath.
        Angostura 5mo ago
        You’re right. Sociopath is probably a better fit.
latexr 5mo ago
Every <unit of currency> not in your pocket is in someone else’s. Greedy narcissists can’t stand that, they need to have it all. They don’t need the extra 500 billion to spend it, they need it so the number goes up. They need to be number one. At everything. Remember when Musk lied about being one of the top players for some difficult video game, then it turned out he was paying someone else to play for him? It’s just an ego thing, which I agree is baffling.
- scottyah 5mo ago
  [flagged]
  - deleted 5mo ago
    [deleted]
  - napkin 5mo ago
    Fool here. What’s the small bit of research I need to do?
    - scottyah 5mo ago
      Money is created, it's not a fixed sum (as we can tell from inflation) and it's just meant to equate to value added/produced by people. Here's a good starting point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHe0bXAIuk0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHe0bXAIuk0
- deleted 5mo ago
  [deleted]
- _carbyau_ 5mo ago
  Yeah, but lets practice some empathy. Starting point: money can't buy happiness. So what to do to be happy? Extreme wealth removes most practical goals like buying things or going places and doing things. Not that you can't do them, but it's not a meaningful goal to work towards. They have to create their own meaning, whatever that is. A billionaire trying to create purpose for themselves can be boring, or weird. Which one gets media coverage? Gates Foundation, Zukerberg's fitness craze, MacKenzie Scott's philanthropy, Bezos and Musk's [whateverness] are all just variations on a theme. And like all people, some will be better at it than others. Note though, that they will do what it takes to stay wealthy because what would they be without that?
vixen99 5mo ago
As a straight answer (for 'one') I'm sure we could think a dozen projects that would ameliorate suffering for countless people before breakfast without trying. However I appreciate that's not your point.
sjsdaiuasgdia 5mo ago
Which is why we should start using 'greed' as the primary way we talk about this sort of person. "Greediest man in the world Elon Musk..." "Captains of Greed" instead of "Captains of Industry" "Larry Ellison, notable for his legendary greed,"

I sometimes wonder, what does one need a second 500 billion that the first 500 billion is not enough for?

knicholes 5mo ago

Getting to Mars, it would seem.

hdndjsbbs 5mo ago
Does anyone seriously still believe this? I thought as a society we had realized Musk is simply BSing whatever he feels like until it becomes untenable.
- JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
  > Does anyone seriously still believe this? I do. It’s not his singular focus. But he continues to personally invest himself in pushing the boundaries of human spacefaring capability. That goal seems more meaningful to him that it does to e.g. Bezos, who seems to have a rocket company to look cool.
  - nixon_why69 5mo ago
    He slashed tons of basic science funding under DOGE. At one point he was probably sincere but he's been consumed by culture war slop.
    - JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
      See: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48186106 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48186106
      - nixon_why69 5mo ago
        Yeah, but slashing basic science funding isn't a "yes, and", it's more of a "no, but". It goes directly against trying to get to mars.
  - awesome_dude 5mo ago
    I know there's a risk when Musk's name comes up that everyone takes "all against" or "all for" approach - very polarising figure. But I see a lot of that announcement, and the others someone else pointed to as his "aspirational, but ultimately never going to happen" goals - whether he believes the claims are achievable, or not, he says these things to energise people to working/paying for him to try It costs him little to nothing to say, and other people's time, effort, and capital to try (and succeed/fail) Tesla is falling to pieces now, and SpaceX is getting loaded up with completely unrelated projects (xAI) in order to try and make it look saleable (I guess) - it's very difficult to see the Mars announcement as anything but hype.
    - JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
      > difficult to see the Mars announcement as anything but hype Oh yeah, the announcement is hype. But there is actual work underneath it making real progress in science and engineering that moves us closer to Mars. Some of that, moreover, is work that has limited appeal outside a Martian context.
      - fragmede 5mo ago
        The real thing is that the moon is a better stepping stone, but Bezos already claimed it so Musk had to out do him, which is why he's shooting for Mars.
        JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
        > the moon is a better stepping stone, but Bezos already claimed it so Musk had to out do him, which is why he's shooting for Mars They were contemporaenous. Musk was trying to send stuff to Mars in 2001 [1]. Bezos started Blue Origin in 2000 before any Moon goals had been made concrete or public. I wouldn't say either of their goals really referenced each other until after the financial crisis (that is, after they were both comfortably billionaires with launch-vehicle programs). [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-elon-musk-spacex/ https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-elon-musk-spacex/
    - 5mo ago
  - 48terry 5mo ago
    > pushing the boundaries of human spacefaring capability I guess polluting space with shitty satellites and causing environmental disasters with failed and questionably-permitted rocket launches is, technically, pushing on boundaries of human spacefaring capability.
    - JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
      > guess polluting space with shitty satellites and causing environmental disasters with failed and questionably-permitted rocket launches is, technically, pushing on boundaries of human spacefaring capability My cat is both cute and fluffy as well as a menace.
    - thinkcontext 5mo ago
      I mean, I really dislike what Musk has become but SpaceX has brought about a huge leap in access to space. Last year they launched more than the rest of the world combined, including the rest of the US. They now own more operating satellites than the rest of the world combined. When the rest of the Western world's launchers have had problems over the last few years (Ariane, Vulcan, EU Soyuz, New Glenn, Antares) SpaceX has been able to absorb their payloads with relative ease rather than waiting many years for other arrangements. They've saved the US many $Bs in launch costs by undercutting the incumbent monopoly. Cheaply and easily reusing a rocket was thought impossible, now it's routine and every rocket maker on earth is attempting to copy them.
      - matthewdgreen 5mo ago
        If you look at their filings, they are now pivoting into an "AI company". (Meaning, that's where the majority of their future value is described as coming from.) It's possible that this is a harmless investor swindle and they'll keep relentlessly innovating. But you should probably be worried.
  - 4dfg 5mo ago
    What a load of crap. He pushes this narrative purely for valuation purposes. He has a legion of people propping up his stock by manipulating them into believing he is a wizard.
  - tehjoker 5mo ago
    This is a joint project of U.S. government military planners and an ostensible private individual. If Elon disappeared, rest assured, the contracts and development would still happen. They want mega constellations for always-on drone guidance and for "golden dome" which would allow for the laser-based shoot-down of long range exo-atmospheric missiles. You need reusable spacecraft to make that tenable. This is not about Mars, don't buy the marketing. At best for civilians, this is about making broadband widely available such that America can dominate internet connectivity going forward and increase spying further. As an example, examine a map of Starlink connectivity, you will notice that Russia and Gaza are excluded. The Artemis missions will eventually enable the placement of communications equipment on the moon, making anti-satellite weapons less effective at disrupting critical communications. Fortress America will be invincible forever, so so they desire. The macroeconomics are not working out for them though even though the technological edge is still working for them on that level.
    - JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
      > They want mega constellations for always-on drone guidance and for "golden dome" which would allow for the laser-based shoot-down of long range exo-atmospheric missiles This is a conspiracy theory folks who just Googled In-Q-Tel have been stringing together since Covid. It's not true. > examine a map of Starlink connectivity, you will notice that Russia and Gaza are excluded Russia wasn't excluded until recently. That was a problem! > The Artemis missions will eventually enable the placement of communications equipment on the moon, making anti-satellite weapons less effective at disrupting critical communications Wat.
      - tehjoker 5mo ago
        > This is a conspiracy theory folks who just Googled In-Q-Tel have been stringing together since Covid. It's not true. ??? It's documented that Ukraine is using Starlink extensively. Golden dome: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/golden-dome-for-america-trump-missile-defense-plan/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/golden-dome-for-america-trump-m... > Wat. Communications are an exception to the lunar treaty that governs the militarization of space. Don't forget that the original space program was designed to peacefully demonstrate a high degree of control over ICBM class rockets. They're so good and accurate, we can put a human on top of one. The government does not spend huge amounts of money on things like "art" or "science" without a motivating factor. This is the capitalist empire, not socialism.
  - thejazzman 5mo ago
    It’s in his own biography (the older one) that spacex would pursue mars without distraction. That he went to great lengths to ensure it wouldn’t be used for military, tourism, etc. You can’t believe musk without simultaneously believing he’s a liar. It’s in HIS fucking book.
    - JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
      > It’s in his own biography (the older one) that spacex would pursue mars without distraction. That he went to great lengths to ensure it wouldn’t be used for military, tourism, etc. I said I believe he wants to go to Mars and will put in the work to make that happen. I didn't say everything he's said is true. Musk absolutely lies. But his actions speak pretty consistently to Mars being a real goal.
- dogscatstrees 5mo ago
  Oh, you mean like: Solar Roof: https://electrek.co/2026/05/14/tesla-solar-roof-promise-vs-reality-pivot-panels/ https://electrek.co/2026/05/14/tesla-solar-roof-promise-vs-r... Tesla Full Self Driving: https://electrek.co/2026/05/18/musk-unsupervised-fsd-widespread-us-end-of-year-smart-mobility-summit/ https://electrek.co/2026/05/18/musk-unsupervised-fsd-widespr... Hyperloop / Boring Company mass-transit vision Mars settlement timelines X as an everything app
  - hsuduebc2 5mo ago
    I mean, most of his wealth is coming from his overhyping skill, you can also tell marketing. Or lying. I consider him a visionary in a sense of innovation but he is insecure and immoral one. Needles to say his investors made money on his over promises.
    - billti 5mo ago
      Does Elon over-hype nearly everything he gets involved with? Clearly yes. Does he also deliver on some mind-boggling timelines? Well Tesla went from delivering its first cars in 2008 to having the best selling car in the world in 2023, and SpaceX went from not having successfully launched a rocket to delivering about 80% of the world's space payload in roughly the same timeframe. So I'd say that's clearly a 'yes', too.
      - somenameforme 5mo ago
        SpaceX also dropped the cost of kg to space by multiple orders of magnitude, which is a part of the reason they essentially are the space industry now a days. And should Starship deliver we are likely going to be seeing even more orders of magnitude drop in price there. Elon made some political positions (which he has always hinted at in any case) publicly clear, and the divisive nature of politics in the US which has made a rather vocal minority of people just freak out with regards to him. But the reality is that if he died tomorrow, he would already go down as the Thomas Edison of modern times. And he as of yet still has some years to deliver on Mars which could cement a far greater legacy.
- NikolaNovak 5mo ago
  I genuinely believe he wants to go to Mars. Desperately. He's fundamentally a very smart socially inept largely sociopathic emotionally immature obsessively driven boy who read a lot of Heinlein as a kid. Everything about him indicates he sees himself as a saviour of humanity and the only person who has their priorities right and everybody should appreciate and adore him and it's so darn frustrating when they don't, oh wait this other party will adore me, now they don't anymore either oh HUMbug. Do I believe any of his promises? No absolutely not. But I do think Mars is his massive obsession and that he fervently (If completely Implausibly) believes it'll work and help humanity.
  - tim333 5mo ago
    Also Project Mars: A Technical Tale maybe? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Mars:_A_Technical_Tale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Mars:_A_Technical_Tale It features a leader called the Elon who Musk may have been partly named after. (https://www.mind-war.com/p/the-elon-how-a-nazi-rocket-scientist?hide_intro_popup=true https://www.mind-war.com/p/the-elon-how-a-nazi-rocket-scient...)
- harrall 5mo ago
  Musk is like that person on Facebook you know that is really good at <welding / programming / performing surgeries / etc> then they post about their thoughts on some other topic and all you can respond with is “stay in your lane.” Musk has been successful is pure engineering efforts led by engineers he hired achieving the next big-but-not-too-big step. You ignore his thoughts on everything else.
  - kakacik 5mo ago
    Or... you maintain some moral integrity, and consider him POS despite all his deliveries. People clearly can be great and horrible at the same time, why the desperate need to paint everything black & white and ignore all the fine details of reality. These people are all about massive ego trips and legacies. So let them build their legacy as they truly were with all the + and -, not some idealized, simplified image. Truth always deserves to be told, however inconvenient. Sort of moral imperative of a moral human being if you want.
- tim333 5mo ago
  Some things fail but the EVs and rockets have done well. Also Starlink.
nicolas_17 5mo ago
I agree we'd all be better off if SpaceX figured out how to send Musk to Mars ASAP.

robocat 5mo ago

Why did he need a second 250 billion after the first 250 billion? Makes me think of a inverted Zeno's paradox. Why do you need an extra dollar? I can answer for myself: New Zealand plans to tax the shit out of anyone that has more[A]. You need a fukton more than median wealth to be able to protect yourself against your own government. The type of person that enjoys chasing money doesn't stop. [A] via capital gains taxes and wealth taxes. Also one needs an excessive amount more to handle progressive taxation and means testing.

jamiek88 5mo ago
> Why did he need a second 250 billion after the first 250 billion? Because billionaires are mentally unwell.
rolph 5mo ago
"Why did he need a second 250 billion after the first 250 billion" because thats another 250 billion less for a competitor to use against you.
- robocat 5mo ago
  That is zero-sum thinking. I'm not sure how one can learn to see the world in a more positive light...
  - jfyi 5mo ago
    I'd argue that if we don't abstract away resource usage behind currency, we are pretty firmly in negative-sum territory and zero-sum is a pretty rose colored glasses way of looking at things that is currently obscuring us from pending horrors. These people aren't satisfied with themselves having more, everyone else must have less too. Not that I am interested in changing your mind on this. I would, though, encourage you to actually say it's "positive-sum" if that's what you believe instead of hinting and then being vague about it for some reason.
- deleted 5mo ago
  [deleted]

lovich 5mo ago

[flagged]

testplzignore 5mo ago
Maybe he trying to collect every waifu from every gacha game. That would get expensive in a hurry.

lotsofpulp 5mo ago

Because money is just a proxy for power, and the goal is not to have cash, it is to have power. Perhaps via being able to make decisions at various businesses, or being able to travel to a different planet, or being able to influence other people, etc. Could also partly be a curiosity to see what one is capable of, or maybe wanting to be known for helming an organization that accomplishes xyz.

DoesntMatter22 5mo ago

To build more cool stuff. Would be great if he did neurolink for cancer

deleted 5mo ago

[deleted]

aeternum 5mo ago

Interestingly, during the trial he promised to donate any potential financial winnings to OpenAI's charity. A move that surprisingly didn't get much press.

the_gastropod 5mo ago
Elon Musk promises a lot of things that never come to fruition.
- dmschulman 5mo ago
  Have we colonized Mars yet? Asking for a friend.
  - Nevermark 5mo ago
    I don't understand this thinking at all. I share all the disillusionment and cynicism about Musk, shared here by others. But he has also done amazing things. When someone declares they are going to create a Martian colony, something literally "out of this world", and against all odds makes unbelievable progress for years, including re-usable rockets that return and land vertically, more efficient powerful engines, and fast operational turnarounds, while making orbital travel mundane, hanging a criticism of schedules on the weak hook of "yet" is myopic.
    - threethirtytwo 5mo ago
      People don’t look at the complexity of a human character. They take the easiest extreme and run with it. I was on another HN thread where practically everyone was calling Elon a psychopath. If you think objectively Elon is not a psychopath.
      - Angostura 5mo ago
        You’re right. Sociopath is probably a better fit.

latexr 5mo ago

Every <unit of currency> not in your pocket is in someone else’s. Greedy narcissists can’t stand that, they need to have it all. They don’t need the extra 500 billion to spend it, they need it so the number goes up. They need to be number one. At everything. Remember when Musk lied about being one of the top players for some difficult video game, then it turned out he was paying someone else to play for him? It’s just an ego thing, which I agree is baffling.

scottyah 5mo ago
[flagged]
- deleted 5mo ago
  [deleted]
- napkin 5mo ago
  Fool here. What’s the small bit of research I need to do?
  - scottyah 5mo ago
    Money is created, it's not a fixed sum (as we can tell from inflation) and it's just meant to equate to value added/produced by people. Here's a good starting point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHe0bXAIuk0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHe0bXAIuk0
deleted 5mo ago
[deleted]
_carbyau_ 5mo ago
Yeah, but lets practice some empathy. Starting point: money can't buy happiness. So what to do to be happy? Extreme wealth removes most practical goals like buying things or going places and doing things. Not that you can't do them, but it's not a meaningful goal to work towards. They have to create their own meaning, whatever that is. A billionaire trying to create purpose for themselves can be boring, or weird. Which one gets media coverage? Gates Foundation, Zukerberg's fitness craze, MacKenzie Scott's philanthropy, Bezos and Musk's [whateverness] are all just variations on a theme. And like all people, some will be better at it than others. Note though, that they will do what it takes to stay wealthy because what would they be without that?

vixen99 5mo ago

As a straight answer (for 'one') I'm sure we could think a dozen projects that would ameliorate suffering for countless people before breakfast without trying. However I appreciate that's not your point.

sjsdaiuasgdia 5mo ago

Which is why we should start using 'greed' as the primary way we talk about this sort of person. "Greediest man in the world Elon Musk..." "Captains of Greed" instead of "Captains of Industry" "Larry Ellison, notable for his legendary greed,"