When you think about the economy of the future, what do you think about? It might include electric vehicles, wide use of solar power, and many other options. At the moment, one of the driving forces to bring these ideas to reality is Elon Musk who made a great deal of money through pay-pal and invested it in Telsa, SpaceX, Solar City and other things. When he began his investments the infrastructure did not exist, thus his story makes a wonderful read. One of the books about him is called Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance published by HarperCollins, NY, 2015. Often people believe if you made millions, you can establish brand new worlds, although it is possible, it is also expensive, which is why most people only do a part of it. Elon Musk was fortunate he was able to do 3 industries and to have sales pick up, just as he need even more money to continue the work.

There are many themes in the book, however, the power of the information age, having people work long and hard for you; who have bought into the dream and want to make reality gives any country hope in the future. Mr. Musk and his teams of people examined closely what systems exist from the established companies and then determined it was easier and less expensive and having more control if you do it yourself. For example in the early days of Detroit – Henry Ford, GM and other auto companies were vertical integrated or produced just about everything you see in the car. Now days the companies do the final assembly and the sales and marketing end, but not necessarily the pieces. There can be very good reasons for the change. Mr. Musk decided it was easier and better to build in one factory, perhaps as the numbers climb and the prices fall, things will change, but for now his companies are vertically integrated.

There are many interesting aspects of the book, for example recently there have been many recalls from the auto companies, with Telsa, it is similar to the Microsoft improvements (at least for this computer receives). The software companies send an update through the internet and your machine is updated. Telsa can send a software update and the car is updated to the better features.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, Mr. Musk’s companies do not pay dividends and are still valued as growth companies. It depends on how fast they grow for the stock to grow. An important takeaway is how the industries were created and the vacuum the older established companies left in the market. When a company brings in dividends because it is making profits it controls some aspect of the market. There are edges where new competitors can compete, because the larger company does not really want to be there this is where Mr. Musk’s companies has an edge and used it.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.