On Sun, 8 Apr 2018 16:12:06 -0700 Derek Lyons <fairwater@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
On Sun, Apr 8, 2018 at 3:56 PM, Perry E. Metzger
<perry@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
And it does look like at least some of the bets on space will pay
off. SpaceX has been invested in by Founders Fund, Google, Draper
Fisher Jurvetson, Capricorn, and others. It isn't certain that
they'll make their money back, but unlike ten years ago when some
of the money went in, I think there's a pretty high probability
at this point that they're going to have pretty high return, at
least if SpaceX can avoid losing too much money on BFR
development.
If they just run the Falcon 9 launch business at 20 or 30
launches a year, they're probably doing reasonably well as a
going concern, and if they can grow the business at a reasonable
pace, they'll be doing nicely.
Vulture capitalists and other equity investors don't make their
money back from operations - they make it back when the company
goes public or is bought out. Neither appears likely for SpaceX in
the near term.