Al, you're a Cal-Tech genuis. Is Elon Musk a dope?

[Pigmeat]

The way he regularly crashes rockets has me thinking he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

[Fansome]

Wow, and after all this time I had assumed that "Elon Musk" was some sort of men's aftershave...

[Pigmeat]

Wow, and after all this time I had assumed that "Elon Musk" was some sort of men's aftershave...

I did too, until he started raining rockets down on the planet. He's no Hai-Karate man, that's for certain.

[ChrisSmolinski]

Cuba Protests Cow Death By Rocket: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1928&dat=19601205&id=LlEpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UWoFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5343,3440615&hl=en

[Fansome]

All kidding aside, I do have some insight on this. I've known a number of people like this guy, and this is how it goes.

A really smart guy has a great idea, and it pans out. He makes a lot of money, and starts to think of himself in grand terms.

After his initial success, he needs extra cash to realize his grandiose dreams, and he starts talking up like-minded venture capitalists, or corporate partners. The common thread is that the guy is a ticket to wealth and happiness, and investors don't want to miss the boat. They give him the money he needs, but don't exercise the control that's necessary to make sure that what he's doing is within reason.

Once over-extended, the next event is crash-and-burn, and everyone pays the price.

I recall sitting in a limo on the way to the CES in Vegas, with a number of salesmen from Activision. They were all very excited, but kept asking me if video games were going to go the way of CB radio, the last fad that had burned them. I had no answer, but the video game crash happened about a year later, and we were all out of jobs.

The way he regularly crashes rockets has me thinking he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

[Fansome]

And who's this Chris guy trying to horn in on our schtick?

[Pigmeat]

I know, Al. The guy acts like he owns the place.