[espitia]

Having just finished watching The Men Who Built America[1], Musk reminds me so much of the great American entrepreneurs of the last 200 years (Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Morgan, Ford, Carnegie). Ridiculously ambitious and fearless entrepreneurs who literally by sheer force of will moved humanity forward.

[1]http://www.history.com/shows/men-who-built-america (available on Netflix)

[hueving]

It's definitely possible, but he's not in that category yet IMO. If Tesla actually makes a car that middle class Americans want and can afford, then he can seriously disrupt the motor industry and be on par with those guys. At this point though, Tesla could go out of business and it would just be a footnote in automotive history 30 years from now. SpaceX is similar at this point, it's on the path to something great, but right now its just an early competitor in the private space industry.

[smackfu]

Quite an illustrious group: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robber_baron_(industrialist)

Just pointing out some people have a VERY different opinion of those rich men.

[j-b]

The origin of the term is quite interesting. From the wiki link:

The term robber baron derives from the medieval German lords who charged nominally illegal tolls (tolls unauthorized by the Holy Roman Emperor) on the primitive roads crossing their lands or the larger tolls on ships traversing the Rhine—all such actions without adding anything of value,(see robber baron) but instead lining one's pockets to the detriment (added costs) of the common good.