Loading video...

Video Failed to Load

Go Home

ELON MUSK'S IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE: RISK EVERYTHING OR LET ONE COMPANY DIE "The most difficult choice I faced in life was in 2008. I think I had maybe $30 or $40 million left in 2008 I had two choices: I could put it all into one company, and then the...

XFreeze's profile picture

X Freeze

160,967 subscribers

56,687 views • 6 months ago •via X (Twitter)

News & PoliticsScience & Technology
LIVE

Anya Rossi• Live Now

Private livecam show

0 Comments

No comments available

Comments from the original post will appear here

Related Videos

ELON MUSK: "The most difficult choice I faced in life was in 2008." "I think I had maybe $30 or $40 million left… I had two choices: I could put it all into one company, and then the other company would definitely die, or split it between the two companies. But if I split it between the two companies, then both might die." "I couldn't bring myself to do it, so I split the money between the two. Fortunately, thank goodness they both came through."
2:44

ELON MUSK: "The most difficult choice I faced in life was in 2008." "I think I had maybe $30 or $40 million left… I had two choices: I could put it all into one company, and then the other company would definitely die, or split it between the two companies. But if I split it between the two companies, then both might die." "I couldn't bring myself to do it, so I split the money between the two. Fortunately, thank goodness they both came through."

Resist the Mainstream

99,930 views • 5 months ago

ELON: THE MOST DIFFICULT CHOICE IN MY LIFE “I think I had maybe $30 million left - I had 2 choices, I could put it all into one company, and then the other company would definitely die, or split it between the two companies. And if I split it between the two companies, then both might die. When you put your blood, sweat, and tears into creating something or building something, it's like a child. It's like, which one am I gonna let starve to death? I couldn’t bring myself to do it - I split the money between the two. Fortunately, thank goodness they both came through.” Source: Elon Musk
0:39

ELON: THE MOST DIFFICULT CHOICE IN MY LIFE “I think I had maybe $30 million left - I had 2 choices, I could put it all into one company, and then the other company would definitely die, or split it between the two companies. And if I split it between the two companies, then both might die. When you put your blood, sweat, and tears into creating something or building something, it's like a child. It's like, which one am I gonna let starve to death? I couldn’t bring myself to do it - I split the money between the two. Fortunately, thank goodness they both came through.” Source: Elon Musk

Mario Nawfal

94,372 views • 1 year ago

ELON MUSK: “We had the third consecutive failure of the Falcon 1 rocket for SpaceX. Tesla almost went bankrupt. We closed our financing round 6 p.m. Christmas Eve, 2008. It was the last hour of the last day that it was possible. We would have gone bankrupt two days after Christmas otherwise. What's your pain threshold? Well, it's real high. So, yeah, SpaceX is alive by the skin of its teeth. So is Tesla. If things had just gone a little bit the other way, both companies would be dead. And one of the most difficult choices I have ever faced in life was in 2008. I think I had maybe $30 million or $40 million left in 2008, and I had two choices. I could put it all into one company, and then the other company would definitely die. Or split it between the two companies. But if I split it between the two companies, then both might die. And when you put your blood, sweat, and tears into creating something, building something, it's like a child. So it's like, which one am I going to let one starve to death? I couldn't bring myself to do it, so I split the money between the two. Fortunately, thank goodness, they both came through. (2:00) ... Well, there's a ton of failures along the way, that's for sure. As I said, for SpaceX, the first three launches failed. We were just barely able to scrape together enough parts and money to do the fourth launch. If that fourth launch had failed, we would have been dead. So, multiple failures along the way. 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 the bad ones, well, there was no point in hiring them, so I ended up being chief engineer of the rocket. So if I could have found somebody better, then we would have maybe had less than three failures.”
3:07

ELON MUSK: “We had the third consecutive failure of the Falcon 1 rocket for SpaceX. Tesla almost went bankrupt. We closed our financing round 6 p.m. Christmas Eve, 2008. It was the last hour of the last day that it was possible. We would have gone bankrupt two days after Christmas otherwise. What's your pain threshold? Well, it's real high. So, yeah, SpaceX is alive by the skin of its teeth. So is Tesla. If things had just gone a little bit the other way, both companies would be dead. And one of the most difficult choices I have ever faced in life was in 2008. I think I had maybe $30 million or $40 million left in 2008, and I had two choices. I could put it all into one company, and then the other company would definitely die. Or split it between the two companies. But if I split it between the two companies, then both might die. And when you put your blood, sweat, and tears into creating something, building something, it's like a child. So it's like, which one am I going to let one starve to death? I couldn't bring myself to do it, so I split the money between the two. Fortunately, thank goodness, they both came through. (2:00) ... Well, there's a ton of failures along the way, that's for sure. As I said, for SpaceX, the first three launches failed. We were just barely able to scrape together enough parts and money to do the fourth launch. If that fourth launch had failed, we would have been dead. So, multiple failures along the way. 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 the bad ones, well, there was no point in hiring them, so I ended up being chief engineer of the rocket. So if I could have found somebody better, then we would have maybe had less than three failures.”

Dima Zeniuk

90,275 views • 7 months ago

Elon Musk on the hardest decision in his life: “It's just when I started running out of money from PayPal and the markets went into a recession, that's when bankruptcy was knocking at the door. It was in 2008. From 2008 through 2012, bankruptcy was knocking at the door. I had one of the toughest decisions I ever had to make in 2008. I had like $40 million left or something from the PayPal sale. And I could put it all on SpaceX or all on Tesla and increase the probability that either one would survive. Or I could split it. But to me, the company's like a kid. It's not like just a company to me. So it's sort of like if you've got two kids, how could you really say, okay, we're going to let one kid starve? So I was like, I couldn't bring myself to say I'm going to, you know, definitely that company's going to die or definitely that company's going to die. So I ended up splitting the money and gave $20 million to Tesla and $20 million to SpaceX. But that could have ended up being a super dumb decision, and both companies could have gone bankrupt as a result. So at the time, I was like, 'Man, this would really suck if both companies go bankrupt because I kind of split the meal.' But then, fortunately, the fourth launch of SpaceX reached orbit. If that fourth launch had failed, SpaceX would be dead for sure. And then we closed the Tesla financing round on the last hour of the last day that it was possible, which was 6 p.m. December 24th, 2008.”
2:20

Elon Musk on the hardest decision in his life: “It's just when I started running out of money from PayPal and the markets went into a recession, that's when bankruptcy was knocking at the door. It was in 2008. From 2008 through 2012, bankruptcy was knocking at the door. I had one of the toughest decisions I ever had to make in 2008. I had like $40 million left or something from the PayPal sale. And I could put it all on SpaceX or all on Tesla and increase the probability that either one would survive. Or I could split it. But to me, the company's like a kid. It's not like just a company to me. So it's sort of like if you've got two kids, how could you really say, okay, we're going to let one kid starve? So I was like, I couldn't bring myself to say I'm going to, you know, definitely that company's going to die or definitely that company's going to die. So I ended up splitting the money and gave $20 million to Tesla and $20 million to SpaceX. But that could have ended up being a super dumb decision, and both companies could have gone bankrupt as a result. So at the time, I was like, 'Man, this would really suck if both companies go bankrupt because I kind of split the meal.' But then, fortunately, the fourth launch of SpaceX reached orbit. If that fourth launch had failed, SpaceX would be dead for sure. And then we closed the Tesla financing round on the last hour of the last day that it was possible, which was 6 p.m. December 24th, 2008.”

Eva Fo𝕏 🦊 Claudius Nero's Legion

317,697 views • 8 months ago

“In 2008, I had to choose — save Tesla or SpaceX. I split my last $30M between them, knowing both might die. Thankfully, they both survived”— Elon Musk
2:44

“In 2008, I had to choose — save Tesla or SpaceX. I split my last $30M between them, knowing both might die. Thankfully, they both survived”— Elon Musk

Tesla Owners Silicon Valley

111,671 views • 9 months ago

Warren Buffett brilliantly explains how he chooses winning stocks/companies - so simple but genius "When i was 23, if i got interested in the coal business, I would go out and see the CEOs of eight or ten coal companies. And the interesting thing was I never made appointments or anything. I just dropped in. But they felt a fellow from Omaha who looked like me couldn't be too harmful... so they they'd always see me. And I would and ask them a lot of questions, but two questions I would ask them were: One, if they had to put all of their money into any coal company except their own and go away for 10 years and couldn't change it, which one would it be and why? And after I got an answer to that, I would ask, if they had to sell short an equivalent amount of money in one coal company, which would it be and why? And if I went around and talked to everybody in the coal business about that, I would know more about the coal companies from an economic standpoint than any one of those managers probably would. So, I think there's lots of ways to learn about business."
1:08

Warren Buffett brilliantly explains how he chooses winning stocks/companies - so simple but genius "When i was 23, if i got interested in the coal business, I would go out and see the CEOs of eight or ten coal companies. And the interesting thing was I never made appointments or anything. I just dropped in. But they felt a fellow from Omaha who looked like me couldn't be too harmful... so they they'd always see me. And I would and ask them a lot of questions, but two questions I would ask them were: One, if they had to put all of their money into any coal company except their own and go away for 10 years and couldn't change it, which one would it be and why? And after I got an answer to that, I would ask, if they had to sell short an equivalent amount of money in one coal company, which would it be and why? And if I went around and talked to everybody in the coal business about that, I would know more about the coal companies from an economic standpoint than any one of those managers probably would. So, I think there's lots of ways to learn about business."

Triple Net Investor

33,063 views • 1 year ago

Peter Thiel on Elon Musk 🔊 “You know, when Elon was building both Tesla and SpaceX in the 2000s, people thought he was just really, really crazy. I think even those of us who had worked with him at PayPal, I mean, there’s this PayPal book that David Sacks and I thought of writing, and the Elon chapter was titled something like, “The Man Who Knew Nothing About Risk.” There are all these crazy Elon stories I could tell... If one of the two companies had succeeded, you would say, “Well, maybe he still got really lucky,” but when two out of two companies that people thought were completely harebrained in the 2000s, when they both succeed, man, you have to somehow reassess it, and somehow, the rest of us, somehow, are too risk averse, or there’s something about risk he knows that we don’t, or something like this.”
0:55

Peter Thiel on Elon Musk 🔊 “You know, when Elon was building both Tesla and SpaceX in the 2000s, people thought he was just really, really crazy. I think even those of us who had worked with him at PayPal, I mean, there’s this PayPal book that David Sacks and I thought of writing, and the Elon chapter was titled something like, “The Man Who Knew Nothing About Risk.” There are all these crazy Elon stories I could tell... If one of the two companies had succeeded, you would say, “Well, maybe he still got really lucky,” but when two out of two companies that people thought were completely harebrained in the 2000s, when they both succeed, man, you have to somehow reassess it, and somehow, the rest of us, somehow, are too risk averse, or there’s something about risk he knows that we don’t, or something like this.”

ValueAnalyst

3,574,300 views • 2 years ago

Anne Hathaway on her choice to stop drinking alcohol: "One of the things I learned about myself was my personality has always had two glasses of champagne. So I don't need to have another one because, otherwise, then I have a third and then it gets messy. So if I have one, it's like three."
1:27

Anne Hathaway on her choice to stop drinking alcohol: "One of the things I learned about myself was my personality has always had two glasses of champagne. So I don't need to have another one because, otherwise, then I have a third and then it gets messy. So if I have one, it's like three."

Anne Hathaway Archives 🦕

1,144,541 views • 3 months ago

Are Sengun and Jokic comparable players? I think so but it’s one difference between the two, and i break it down in detail 👇
4:18

Are Sengun and Jokic comparable players? I think so but it’s one difference between the two, and i break it down in detail 👇

Drenchmansports

17,897 views • 11 months ago

THIS! "I think in Q1 I was easily getting through on that one set of tyres and they pulled me in when I was like seven tenths up and then I put a new tyre on so I lost the two that I would have, the extra tyre that I would have for Q3." "I think that definitely probably, I would imagine that cost me a couple of tenths probably at the end, going from a used to a new.. but nonetheless, it wouldn't have been pole but so a perfect lap I probably would have been maybe third or something." - F1 2025 Monaco -
0:29

THIS! "I think in Q1 I was easily getting through on that one set of tyres and they pulled me in when I was like seven tenths up and then I put a new tyre on so I lost the two that I would have, the extra tyre that I would have for Q3." "I think that definitely probably, I would imagine that cost me a couple of tenths probably at the end, going from a used to a new.. but nonetheless, it wouldn't have been pole but so a perfect lap I probably would have been maybe third or something." - F1 2025 Monaco -

sim

192,485 views • 1 year ago

Magic Johnson says he built 125 Starbucks, sold them back to the company and used the money to help buy the Dodgers for $2.2 billion “What I did with Starbucks, I let the first one build the second one. I didn’t take any money from the profits we made. Then I let the second one build the third one and fourth one, and on and on and on. I didn’t take no money out until we built 50 stores” “Because it was important to scale the business, but also put myself in a position where I could sell those stores back to Starbucks and Howard Schultz. We built 125 Starbucks, and then I was able to sell all of them back. That was my exit strategy” “We did that in five or six years. I sold Starbucks, and who would have ever thught that the Dodgers would be for sale. I used the money that came back to me from the Starbucks sale and put it into the Dodger deal. Them and the Yankees, those are the two biggest brands. I knew it we would hit a homerun”
1:16

Magic Johnson says he built 125 Starbucks, sold them back to the company and used the money to help buy the Dodgers for $2.2 billion “What I did with Starbucks, I let the first one build the second one. I didn’t take any money from the profits we made. Then I let the second one build the third one and fourth one, and on and on and on. I didn’t take no money out until we built 50 stores” “Because it was important to scale the business, but also put myself in a position where I could sell those stores back to Starbucks and Howard Schultz. We built 125 Starbucks, and then I was able to sell all of them back. That was my exit strategy” “We did that in five or six years. I sold Starbucks, and who would have ever thught that the Dodgers would be for sale. I used the money that came back to me from the Starbucks sale and put it into the Dodger deal. Them and the Yankees, those are the two biggest brands. I knew it we would hit a homerun”

dank

1,007,951 views • 3 days ago

Stanley Druckenmiller explains a “One-Way Bet”: “What’s a ‘One-Way Bet?’ That’s when you have a lot of conviction that something might not move, but if it moves, it’ll only move in one direction… So I bought the Treasuries thinking, for example, the 2-year I think it was like 230 or something. If I’m wrong, it goes to 240. And you can envision a scenario where you could make 150 or 200 basis points. So I didn’t necessarily think I was going to make money, but it was a great risk-reward.”
0:33

Stanley Druckenmiller explains a “One-Way Bet”: “What’s a ‘One-Way Bet?’ That’s when you have a lot of conviction that something might not move, but if it moves, it’ll only move in one direction… So I bought the Treasuries thinking, for example, the 2-year I think it was like 230 or something. If I’m wrong, it goes to 240. And you can envision a scenario where you could make 150 or 200 basis points. So I didn’t necessarily think I was going to make money, but it was a great risk-reward.”

Investment Wisdom

97,722 views • 10 days ago

#DunkFSRICHwithDUNK #JoongFSLUCKYwithJOONG : i’m writing a JoongDunk fanfic. in the story only one of you can survivein the end. if you had to chooses would you want yourself to survive or the other person? why? 🌞i want to die … i want to be someone die … it must be drama … if someone survives someone dies… if that’s how it … i will be someone die : why? 🌞cause i don’t want him to die ….. 🌻: it’s okay we can survive both because one survive the other one can help each other if you can each other —— : if you could change one thing about the ending of this story what would you want to change the most? 🌞: die too ( die 2 both die) 🌻: both happy ending
1:07

#DunkFSRICHwithDUNK #JoongFSLUCKYwithJOONG : i’m writing a JoongDunk fanfic. in the story only one of you can survivein the end. if you had to chooses would you want yourself to survive or the other person? why? 🌞i want to die … i want to be someone die … it must be drama … if someone survives someone dies… if that’s how it … i will be someone die : why? 🌞cause i don’t want him to die ….. 🌻: it’s okay we can survive both because one survive the other one can help each other if you can each other —— : if you could change one thing about the ending of this story what would you want to change the most? 🌞: die too ( die 2 both die) 🌻: both happy ending

🇻🇳Jaidee’s aunt Bamnie🐣

24,757 views • 1 month ago

–– Great. Your hair always looks perfectly styled- G: Not today, I don't think! I was on the boat this morning and it was going crazy - But do you style it every morning? Fans are dying to know G: No, so my secret is: I shower obviously every day, but I only wash my hair every three days. Directly after the wash, I put wax in it, but then for the next two days, I don't put any more wax. So I just have the water, and then I style it and let it dry in this position. I don't like to style it too much; I like it to be more natural. But this is how it feels natural. Like, I didn't put any wax this morning, I just showered, I put my hands through my hair, it dries, and then it goes like this. Credit to GeorgeRussell_CN in weibo
0:54

–– Great. Your hair always looks perfectly styled- G: Not today, I don't think! I was on the boat this morning and it was going crazy - But do you style it every morning? Fans are dying to know G: No, so my secret is: I shower obviously every day, but I only wash my hair every three days. Directly after the wash, I put wax in it, but then for the next two days, I don't put any more wax. So I just have the water, and then I style it and let it dry in this position. I don't like to style it too much; I like it to be more natural. But this is how it feels natural. Like, I didn't put any wax this morning, I just showered, I put my hands through my hair, it dries, and then it goes like this. Credit to GeorgeRussell_CN in weibo

sya ୨ৎ

30,746 views • 2 months ago

rosé talked about story behind two years “..i woke up crying one morning and i was like so weird i thought i was over it and it had been two years since i was being settled down but then it’s so weird how you like don’t want to be like that but sometimes just like your mind your body just decided to not let go of something” 🥺
1:15

rosé talked about story behind two years “..i woke up crying one morning and i was like so weird i thought i was over it and it had been two years since i was being settled down but then it’s so weird how you like don’t want to be like that but sometimes just like your mind your body just decided to not let go of something” 🥺

hiro

51,761 views • 1 year ago

I had everything people think they want. The money. The fame. The lifestyle. And I was still miserable. Underneath it all, I was exhausted, anxious, depressed, and slowly losing myself. When everything finally fell apart, I was left with one choice: keep going down the same road or fight for my life. So I chose to try. Not halfway. Not someday. Everything I had. And that decision changed everything. If you're struggling right now, don't count yourself out. Your comeback could start with one decision, too. (888) 464-2144
0:41

I had everything people think they want. The money. The fame. The lifestyle. And I was still miserable. Underneath it all, I was exhausted, anxious, depressed, and slowly losing myself. When everything finally fell apart, I was left with one choice: keep going down the same road or fight for my life. So I chose to try. Not halfway. Not someday. Everything I had. And that decision changed everything. If you're struggling right now, don't count yourself out. Your comeback could start with one decision, too. (888) 464-2144

Mike The Situation ☝🏻

238,801 views • 2 months ago

I love Elon Musk's old interviews. I really enjoy hearing what he said back then, knowing what the future holds. This "CBS Sunday Morning" interview was recorded in 1998, when then 27-year-old Elon talked about starting his first company: “That was the summer of '95. I had no money whatsoever. I was working, doing research in Silicon Valley on a completely different subject and trying to start this company at the same time. And when it came time to decide do I want to do graduate studies or do I want to start this company and I decided to start the company. I had no money. As a graduate student, I would have received a scholarship and a stipend and so forth. In starting the company, I had nothing. I had no income source. So we found that an office was actually cheaper than an apartment in Silicon Valley. So we got this dinky little office that had a leaky roof. It was just the nastiest place you can imagine. And you lived in it. And I lived in it too and showered at the YMCA. This lasted for about three or four months. And the reason we chose this office, in addition to it being really cheap, was that there was an internet service provider on the floor below. So we were able to get really cheap internet access by drilling a hole in the floor and connecting to their server directly.”
1:06

I love Elon Musk's old interviews. I really enjoy hearing what he said back then, knowing what the future holds. This "CBS Sunday Morning" interview was recorded in 1998, when then 27-year-old Elon talked about starting his first company: “That was the summer of '95. I had no money whatsoever. I was working, doing research in Silicon Valley on a completely different subject and trying to start this company at the same time. And when it came time to decide do I want to do graduate studies or do I want to start this company and I decided to start the company. I had no money. As a graduate student, I would have received a scholarship and a stipend and so forth. In starting the company, I had nothing. I had no income source. So we found that an office was actually cheaper than an apartment in Silicon Valley. So we got this dinky little office that had a leaky roof. It was just the nastiest place you can imagine. And you lived in it. And I lived in it too and showered at the YMCA. This lasted for about three or four months. And the reason we chose this office, in addition to it being really cheap, was that there was an internet service provider on the floor below. So we were able to get really cheap internet access by drilling a hole in the floor and connecting to their server directly.”

Eva Fo𝕏 🦊 Claudius Nero's Legion

24,726 views • 1 month ago

Elon Musk: “Since I couldn't get a job at an Internet company, I had to start a Internet company.” “I should point out that I didn't actually at first intend to start a company. I tried to get a job at Netscape. I sent my resume in to Netscape and Marc Andreessen knows about this, but I don't think he ever saw my resume. And then nobody responded. And then I tried hanging out in the lobby of Netscape to see if I could bump into someone, but I was too shy to talk to anyone. So I'm like, man, this is ridiculous. So I'll just write software myself and see how it goes. So it wasn't actually from the standpoint of like, I want to start a company. I just want to be part of building the Internet in some way. And since I couldn't get a job at an Internet company, I had to start a Internet company.” Elon Musk at Y Combinator, June. 16, 2025
0:40

Elon Musk: “Since I couldn't get a job at an Internet company, I had to start a Internet company.” “I should point out that I didn't actually at first intend to start a company. I tried to get a job at Netscape. I sent my resume in to Netscape and Marc Andreessen knows about this, but I don't think he ever saw my resume. And then nobody responded. And then I tried hanging out in the lobby of Netscape to see if I could bump into someone, but I was too shy to talk to anyone. So I'm like, man, this is ridiculous. So I'll just write software myself and see how it goes. So it wasn't actually from the standpoint of like, I want to start a company. I just want to be part of building the Internet in some way. And since I couldn't get a job at an Internet company, I had to start a Internet company.” Elon Musk at Y Combinator, June. 16, 2025

ELON CLIPS

47,379 views • 1 year ago

I've included two videos of the car running into me... one inside the car and one outside. With the FSD 14 light reversing issues I was curious if it would stop for a person m, especially a child so I ran a couple tests. When I was standing straight up, the car, wouldn't continue to move backwards, but when I crouch down so I was the height of a kid or a pet it ran into me. I even tried walking at first and then crouching down and when I was walking it showed red on the screen so it knew I was there, but then the red went away when I stopped and crouched down. I was thinking if it saw me walking, there would be object permanence and it would stop.
0:43

I've included two videos of the car running into me... one inside the car and one outside. With the FSD 14 light reversing issues I was curious if it would stop for a person m, especially a child so I ran a couple tests. When I was standing straight up, the car, wouldn't continue to move backwards, but when I crouch down so I was the height of a kid or a pet it ran into me. I even tried walking at first and then crouching down and when I was walking it showed red on the screen so it knew I was there, but then the red went away when I stopped and crouched down. I was thinking if it saw me walking, there would be object permanence and it would stop.

Lincoln

18,544 views • 20 days ago

When Trump asks American companies to build a drone like the Iranians: - I told one (military-industrial) company: - "I need a lot of drones. You know, Iran makes good drones, and they cost 35-40 thousand dollars apiece." - So I told them: “I want to see something like this.” Two weeks later they came to me with a drone worth 41 million dollars. - I said, "That's not what I was talking about. Forty-one million? I'm talking about something that costs $35,000 to $40,000 so you can launch them in the thousands."
0:43

When Trump asks American companies to build a drone like the Iranians: - I told one (military-industrial) company: - "I need a lot of drones. You know, Iran makes good drones, and they cost 35-40 thousand dollars apiece." - So I told them: “I want to see something like this.” Two weeks later they came to me with a drone worth 41 million dollars. - I said, "That's not what I was talking about. Forty-one million? I'm talking about something that costs $35,000 to $40,000 so you can launch them in the thousands."

Sprinter Observer

30,852 views • 1 year ago