[agumonkey]

Is it too far fetched to say he benefited from SpaceX research ? if so, this kind of gene transfer reminds me of Apple years when the iPhone benefited from iPod and Mac hard and software knowledge to leapfrog the competition, and then later helped the MBA do it again.

[mncolinlee]

I would imagine this is less the case than Subaru and Saab benefiting from their own aeronautical research. Unlike Subaru and Saab, SpaceX is a different company with different engineers than Tesla.

Rather, I think this speaks more to Elon Musk's uncanny ability to attract and hire good engineers.