Before SpaceX Was a Tech Giant, Elon Musk Made This Bold Claim: ‘I Have Not Met Anyone Who Could Do This’

In 2007, former Inc. writer Max Chafkin described the entrepreneur as someone who “just might change the world.” He turned out to be right.

BY AMAYA NICHOLE, NEWS WRITER

Elon Musk poses for a portrait at in Los Angeles, California on July 25, 2008. Photo: Getty Images

When Inc. named Elon Musk its Entrepreneur of the Year in 2007, he made a surprising statement. When asked whether he would ever hire someone else to run SpaceX, he paused and said, “This may be presumptuous, but I have not met anyone who could do this.”

Nineteen years later, today, he rang the Nasdaq opening bell as the CEO of a $1.77 trillion dollar company, a milestone that made Musk the........

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