[chooseaname]

I don't think he's visionary. We all want to play with rockets and electric cars. He just happens to have enough money to go out and do it.

[leesec]

I think you are drastically over estimating how many people with his money would go out and start a rocket company and an electric car company and risk losing all of their wealth because of it.

[gbear605]

Then why is Musk (and Bezos with Blue Origin) the only ones who have done so? There are a lot of people who have more money than Musk had when he founded SpaceX and Tesla.

[chooseaname]

Interest?

Look at Bill Gates. He could certainly build rockets, but he'd rather help people solve other, arguably more important, problems.

Or Larry Ellison. He'd rather go race boats and play with swords.

[kitsunesoba]

I’d argue that opening up a new frontier for society’s restless (space) to relieve the pressure that’s been mounting from the lack of any kind of frontier is as important as anything else. If we keep ignoring that pressure it’s eventually going to have massive destabilizing effects… in fact, I think we’re seeing some of that already.

[kgwgk]

John Carmack has also burned some money playing with rockets.

(And Musk did not really found Tesla.)