Walter Isaacson: “Instead of buying an island or a yacht, Elon decided to send a rocket to Mars”

Walter Isaacson: Instead of buying an island or a yacht, Elon decided to send a rocket to Mars. People thought he was nuts.

“Elon's first two companies, which are Zip2 and then what we'll call PayPal, are both successful, and they both make him like 100 million or so, which is a lot of money. And instead of buying an island or buying a yacht, he wants to keep putting his chips on the table. So, he decides he wants to send a rocket to Mars. And [the guys from the PayPal Mafia] keep saying, what are you talking about? He says, well, if we don't become a spacefaring civilization, human consciousness may die out. And they say, hey bro, you're going nuts.”

Walter Isaacson interview on The 92nd Street Y, October 13, 2023