Aerospace, energy, healthcare, mobility, and media. Thirty years ago, we'd be talking about General Electric. Today, we're talking about Elon Musk. He's the CEO of Tesla, xAI, and SpaceX, which also owns the telecoms company Starlink. He owns the social media platform X. He's developing neural implants and underground tunnels. He's put at least $10 million behind fertility research. The similarities aren't all encompassing, of course. GE was a company, and Musk is a person. But the distinction can get a bit blurry in an era when his net worth eclipses the market cap of 97% of the S&P 500. In fact, Musk's net worth is approaching $800 billion, almost as much as GE at its peak when adjusted for inflation. Musk, the individual, captivates many of his peers, just like Welch did. Executives today talk of being 'hardcore' and espouse 'first-principles thinking,' just like CEOs of the 1980s sought to emulate Welch through 'accretive' mergers and mass layoffs. Today, Musk's empire spans...
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