Elon Musk: I Became SpaceX’s Chief Engineer Because No One Better Would Join

Elon Musk: I ended up being SpaceX's chief engineer.

“I tried very hard to get the right expertise in for SpaceX. I tried hard to find a great chief engineer for the rocket.

But the good chief engineers wouldn't join, and for the bad ones, there was no point in hiring them. So, I ended up being chief engineer of the rocket [Falcon 1].

If I could have found somebody better, then we would have maybe had less than three failures.”

Source: SXSW, March 11, 2018