Halfway to Anywhere 255
Jurvetson said. “I was a believer all along, and just wanted
my partners to let me invest in something this cool. I really
like rockets.”^300 Jurvetson, who launches small rockets as a
hobby, has an office full of space memorabilia. “You can’t
finesse your way around this stuff,” he said. “There’s not a
lot of room for artistry because the physics will bite you in
the ass.”^51
Jurvetson had previously invested in Tesla and became
the first owner of the Model S. “I whip out my wallet, where
I always keep one check, fill it out for the full price of the
car, and then toss it across the table,” Jurvetson said of what
happened at a board meeting. It stunned everyone. “Well, I
guess you get the first car,” a surprised Elon said, who got
the second car.^228
Because of SpaceX’s unconventional business model,
not everyone would be allowed to invest in the company.
“When I’ve recruited investors, I’ve made sure they’re like-
minded,” Elon said. “SpaceX will create a great deal of value
over the long term, but there will be times when that hori-
zon is beyond what some investors would be comfortable
with. I’m going to make sure I have sufficient control of the
company to optimize for the very long term.”^316
This is the reason why it will take a long time before
SpaceX becomes a public company. “Mars requires devel-
oping complex technology over a decade, but market cares
about next three months,” Elon said.^250 He added that going
to Mars will not yield any immediate revenues, so the stock
market would say no to make us an interplanetary species.
In September 2008, it was time for the fourth stressful