Musk Is the $350 Billion Rocket Man Who Fell to Earth
The popcorn emoji is out in force as the world's richest person feuds with its most powerful leader. Even Thierry Breton, the European regulator who was a frequent target of Elon Musk's ire, is at it. Still, as entertaining as the billionaire's spat with Donald Trump may be, it also carries costly lessons for a $630 billion space economy dominated by Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. — such is the danger of codependence between de facto monopolies and increasingly protectionist states.
This danger wasn't high on the agenda at the peak of Trump's bromance with Musk, when the president-elect described SpaceX's reusable rocket revolution in the way a Renaissance monarch might have praised a successful colonial expedition — with a mix of national pride, geopolitical influence and financial potential: ' I called Elon. I said, 'Elon, was that [landing maneuver] you?' He said, 'Yes, it was.' I said, '...Can Russia do it?' 'No.' 'Can China do it?' 'No.' 'Can the United States do it, other than you?' 'No, nobody can do that.' 'That's why I love you, Elon.''
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