New York 2006

Chapter 204 Investing in SpaceX
On August 2008, 8, a large Chinese supermarket opened in the 17th Avenue commercial district of Sunset Park, Brooklyn, New York. Luo Ji came to attend the ribbon-cutting event.

"I sincerely wish that Chinese supermarkets will become more prosperous and prosperous, and that they will be able to provide consumers with high-quality, low-price, and value-for-money products. At the same time, I also hope that Chinese compatriots living in the United States will have a better life. The better you come, the more prosperous your life will be."

Bang bang bang bang, the audience below burst into warm applause.

Luo Ji then performed two more songs live and took photos with shareholders, employees, and merchants of the supermarket. The whole process lasted two hours, and he got 100 million yuan.

The Chinese owner of the supermarket smiled and said, "Logic, thank you for accepting our commercial performance invitation. I heard that you rarely accept commercial performances now."

"Mainly because I don't have time. But I like you very much. My accountant Lin Qingji said that you are very good. You donated a lot of money during the earthquake a few months ago."

"I can't compare to you. You donated much more than me."

"Everyone is doing what they can, so you don't have to be modest. That donation was a joint effort by the Chinese compatriots. I hope that Chinese people all over the world can unite. Whether it's China, Singapore, the United States or Malaysia. "

"That's what I think too, we are all one family, one family."

After the news of the earthquake came out some time ago, Chinese Americans in the United States took action, and various chambers of commerce united to donate money and materials.The Long Live Luo Ji charity fund also donated a lot of money.

"I'm quite busy right now, so I'll leave first," Luo Ji said.

"Bye-Bye."

Luo Ji's newly purchased business car was driving on the way to the company. The roads in the city center of New York were still too congested, so he had to stop and go.Luo Ji spoke to Fiona who was sitting next to him.

"In the future, except for commercial performances with very high remuneration, and some more special ones, I will reject all others. Do you know?"

"What about foreign countries? Recently, there was a rich Indian family. Her daughter got married. She likes you very much and wants you to perform at her wedding for 200 million dollars."

Luo Ji thought for a moment: "Forget it, that country in India is a bit chaotic. I'm afraid something will go wrong."

"It's not that serious. The rich and poor in India seem to live in two worlds. They pay great attention to safety. Haven't you seen that there are many Indians in Silicon Valley?"

"Forget it, my time is too tight. I will start school in September, and there will be filming for the second part of The Twilight Saga."

Fiona said: "Okay, I will help you find a better reason to refuse."

In August 2008, the hot spot in the world was the Olympic Games being held in China.At this time, relevant news was being played on the radio, and the DJ on the radio said excitedly.

"Today, Michael Phelps won his eighth gold medal in the 4×100m medley relay, breaking Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in a single Olympic Games since 1972. He set a History is America’s hero.”

Fiona exclaimed: "He really did it!"

Since Phelps won four gold medals in this year's Olympic Games, media around the world began to speculate whether he could break the world record. This news has been very popular, but I didn't expect that he actually achieved it.

Luo Ji sighed: "He has become the biggest winner in this year's Olympics. Various brand endorsements are definitely indispensable."

Competitive sports are still very charming. They create the limits of what the human body can do and compose a hymn about human beings.

But Luo Ji quickly put this behind him. He had more important work to do now.The car drove along and Luo Ji soon arrived at the investment company.

The receptionist was already waiting, and she took Luo Ji to the conference room.At this time, Eileen Lee and two older middle-aged Chinese people appeared on the big screen.Everyone is preparing for a video conference.

These two middle-aged Chinese men are temporary technical consultants hired by the investment company. One is an expert in the aerospace field and the other is an expert in the automotive field.

"Hi, Logic," Erin Lee said.

"I'm really sorry to keep you waiting."

"It's okay, we just arrived."

Luo Ji said directly: "Then let's get straight to the point. Let's talk about the situation of SpaceX first."

Erin Lee said: "In the past few days, Musk has provided us with some documents about SpaceX, which contain some of the company's financing history. Indeed, as he said, this company is his own. To support it, he has invested more than 80 million US dollars so far. He now owns nearly [-]% of the shares of this company, and the other shares belong to some of the company's engineers and several small external investors."

Luo Ji asked doubtfully: "Is [-] million meters enough to develop a rocket? Not to mention they have launched three times, not to mention the company's operations, material procurement, company employee wages and site expenses."

Erin Lee smiled and said: "Of course this money is not enough, but after investigation, I found something interesting. Musk and Michael Griffin have a particularly good relationship. The two of them went to Russia before to buy Rocket."

"Michael Griffin?"

"He's the administrator of NASA."

"Director of NASA?" Luo Ji asked confused.

"Yes."

Eileen Lee continued: "After Michael Griffin became NASA administrator, he launched the COTS plan. The reason for this plan was to deal with the increasingly high cost of rocket transportation. The total funding is 5 million US dollars, and the purpose It is to support private aerospace companies and reduce the cost of rocket launches. At that time, 20 aerospace companies applied to NASA for the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program." "You mean, Musk got the opportunity because of his special relationship with the NASA administrator. Got financial support?”

"Yes, Kist Rocket and Aircraft Company was also supported at that time. Both he and SpaceX received financial and technical support from NASA. SpaceX received 2.78 million US dollars of financial support to develop hunting machines. Eagle Rocket. Many employees in these two companies are from NASA."

Luo Ji asked in confusion: "Kist Rocket and Aircraft Company, how come I haven't heard of this company?"

"This company was founded by former NASA engineers, but they used engineers' thinking to develop the company. As a result, the investors' money was burned before the rocket was developed, so it failed completely."

"NASA provided at least [-] million meters of support, so why did it fail so quickly?"

Eileen Li said: "Such a large amount of money is certainly not given at once. NASA has also set up many phased tasks for these two companies. Only when the rocket is developed to a stage will it receive subsequent financial support."

Luo Ji nodded, this is only reasonable.Although Musk has a good relationship with the director of NASA, NASA’s money does not come from strong winds. There must be mission indicators.

"So what's going on with SpaceX now?"

"SpaceX has launched three rockets, and all of them crashed. They have not completed NASA's phased tasks. Now SpaceX does not receive financial support from NASA, and the company's cash flow is not much, so they urgently need to find external investors."

Luo Ji thought for a moment: "How is Musk?"

Eileen Lee said: "He is indeed an energetic person. He does everything in the company himself. He is a very qualified entrepreneur."

The Chinese aerospace expert added: "Musk has almost all aerospace engineering knowledge. He explained the entire process of our visit. He could answer all the aerospace questions I asked. He is a qualified aerospace engineer."

He knew Musk before. He graduated with a physics major and was also a young genius. It really made sense for him to learn aerospace expertise by himself.

Luo Ji looked at the two of them and said, "So does SpaceX's business logic make sense?"

Erin Lee said: "It makes perfect sense. Musk himself has a good relationship with the director of NASA. If the rocket launch is successful, NASA's order will not be a problem. What is blocking SpaceX now is funding and aerospace engineering issues. "

Luo Ji looked at the aerospace industry expert: "So, do you think if I invest, his next rocket launch will be successful?"

The Chinese aerospace industry expert thought for a moment: "It's hard to say. Many of their engineering issues are confidential. They just told us a rough idea, but I have studied their first three rocket launches. This company does have technology that surpasses that on earth." Most countries.”

"Then tell me a little bit about their technology." Luo Ji thought for a while and added, "Try to use words that I can understand."

"The design of the Falcon 1 rocket enables the lowest price for launching satellites into low Earth orbit, and some parts are reused. The first section is made of aluminum alloy, and it uses partitions to separate the fuel tanks for liquid oxygen and kerosene... "

After Luo Ji listened, he was confused. There were many English words in it that he had never heard of.

He pretended to understand and nodded with satisfaction: "Yes, not bad. What is the company valuation given by Musk?"

Erin Lee said: "$2.8 million. Musk revealed to me that the Founders Venture Capital Fund is contacting him. If we consider investing in SpaceX, we must hurry up, but I think he is bluffing and it is just a negotiation. It’s just a means.”

"Ah."

Erin Lee said: "Logic, do you plan to invest in this company?"

Luo Ji posed this question to the two of them: "What do you think? I need your opinions."

Erin Lee said: "Although Musk is not a liar as the media said, I think it is better not to invest. If another launch fails, the company will be completely bankrupt. SpaceX still owes a lot of money to the bank, and you will lose all your money." Go back, the risk is too great.”

Luo Ji looked at the aerospace industry experts.

Chinese aerospace industry experts immediately retorted: "I think we should invest in Logic. This company does not lack technology, it just lacks the funds for trial and error. Think about it, if the rocket is successfully launched, although it has the support of NASA, it still You will become the first private company in the world to successfully launch a rocket. This is something that not many countries can do! You will also be praised by the media. You are an investment genius."

"And Musk's dream is to colonize Mars. This company is likely to grow into a space transportation giant like in science fiction movies in the future. It is really a pity not to seize this opportunity."

"Even if you fail, you can still pay for your dream. You are not short of money, Logic, your film and record company is so profitable..."

This Chinese aerospace industry expert is obviously somewhat idealistic. Spaceflight may be his dream, and he keeps talking about it.Eileen Lee thinks about it from a venture capital perspective.

Both of them made sense, but Luo Ji was obviously moved by the prospects described by the aerospace experts.For large companies capable of interstellar travel in the future, it is still worth taking the risk.

The most important thing is that more than 2000 million is really not much to him.The record company and the film company provided him with huge cash flow. If he didn't spend the money, he would definitely have to pay a large amount of tax next year.

Luo Ji made the final decision: "Eileen, tell Musk that I am willing to invest, but the valuation needs to be reconsidered. Also, I need a seat on the board of directors, and I need to be notified of all major decisions of the company."

"Ok."

"Okay, let's talk about the company Tesla! This is the key point."

(End of this chapter)