Elon Musk is the richest man in the word. He is founder and chief executive officer of Tesla and SpaceX, two of the most iconic companies ever. And now he is undertaking the largest IPO (initial public offering) in history – SpaceX is set to go public next week. A single share will be priced at $135, which means the company aims to raise about $75 billion at a valuation of about $1.77 trillion. The numbers are astronomical which, given Musk’s ambition to colonize Mars, is the pitch perfect adjective.
However, those among you who are thinking of investing in SpaceX, in getting in on the action while the action is hot, might want to ask yourselves this. What happens to SpaceX if something happens to Elon Musk? Which is possible. He’s singular. But he’s also like you and me in that he is a mere mortal who is, therefore, vulnerable. Vulnerable to having an accident or to getting seriously ill. Vulnerable to – however much he tries to fend them off – the vicissitudes of aging.
I’m certain that Musk has some sort of succession plan. I’m equally certain that he is the axis around which everything in his domains turn – including SpaceX. SpaceX is betting its future on Elon Musk’s future. The prevailing assumption being – the assumption on which the IPO is based – that Musk is impermeable. Which he is not.
Leadership experts have forever disagreed about how important leaders really are. On the one extreme are those who argue that they are all important. On the other are those who insist that they are unimportant. That they are mere pawns on the chessboard of history. As Leo Tolstoy, an expert on everything, concluded in War and Peace, “A king is history’s slave.”
Let’s say though that Tolstoy was wrong. That while many leaders are no more than bit players, some really are stars. They matter – some even a great deal. In which case Musk is among the chosen few. Whatever his flaws, he is as wildly inventive, singularly brilliant, and ferociously ambitious a leader as he has been a successful one.
Space, moreover, is his dreamscape. Safe to assume that for the rest of his sentient life every fiber of Musk’s self will be devoted to the pioneering success of SpaceX. So, if you’re inclined, and persuaded that he’s just getting started, you might want to throw some of your weight behind SpaceX. But if you’re nervous about Musk’s mortality and everything that this implies, you might want to put your pennies elsewhere.