The recent flurry of headlines around SpaceX\u2019s mega IPO makes it easy to forget that Elon Musk has been working toward establishing life on Mars for more than two decades.<\/p>\n
This summer, the rocket company made its debut on the Nasdaq in the largest IPO in history. For the first time, analysts had the chance to examine the company\u2019s inner workings. Within the prospectus<\/a>, the SpaceX team wrote the company\u2019s aim was to \u00a0\u201cbuild the systems and technologies necessary to make life multiplanetary, to understand the true nature of the universe, and to extend the light of consciousness to the stars.\u201d<\/p>\n So, no small task.<\/p>\n The undertaking may be a little too lofty for analysts more interested in the company for its AI, satellite, and rocket capabilities\u2014and their skepticism wouldn\u2019t be the first. Indeed, once upon a time, famed investor Ray Dalio warned Musk against committing too fully to the space race.<\/p>\n Speaking on the My First Million podcast<\/a> in an episode released over the weekend, the Bridgewater Associates founder recalled telling Musk\u2014fresh off the sale of PayPal\u2014not to sink his $180 million in proceeds into a quest for life on Mars.<\/p>\n The hedge fund titan first met Musk in 2002, when Dalio was researching the personality types of founders and entrepreneurs. The Tesla<\/a> CEO was a \u201cshaper,\u201d Dalio said\u2014someone \u201cwho love[s] to go from visualization\u00a0to actualization and to be on that mission.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cMaking money is not a big deal for him,\u201d Dalio added. It\u2019s a surprising claim given the fact that Musk is the wealthiest person on Earth.<\/a> But Dalio explained that he doesn\u2019t believe Musk is driven by wealth in a performative sense: \u201d\u00a0He doesn\u2019t need a house. He doesn\u2019t need security. He doesn\u2019t need anything. He didn\u2019t even need my level of needing.\u201d <\/p>\n Musk has been open about his unusual lifestyle: He said he slept under his desk while working for Tesla and referred to the EV-maker\u2019s factories as his \u201cprimary residence.\u201d<\/a> He slept on sofas<\/a> in the Twitter offices in 2023, having bought the business, and also reportedly told friends<\/a> he was sleeping in the DOGE headquarters during his stint in D.C. last year.<\/a><\/p>\n