Musk’s value out of this world, but 2022 looks to have some turbulence

ELON Musk has had a year for the ages. Last Wednesday, SpaceX’s Dragon cargo ship delivered a full turkey dinner and other supplies to the International Space Station, capping 12 months during which the company completed 31 launches, a record.

Neuralink, his brain computer interface company, which has developed a system to sew computer chips into the brain, raised $US205m ($284m) from outside investors and is primed to launch its first trials in severely disabled people next year.

Following Tesla’s lead, the entire auto industry finally went all-in on electric vehicles.

Start-ups and century-old incumbents alike pledged hundreds of billions of dollars for all-electric models, while Tesla shares have surged during 2021 to push the company’s market value just north of $US1 trillion.

Musk’s net worth soared to $US260bn and he was honoured as person of the year by both Time magazine and the Financial Times.

And yet 2022 is set to be a crucial period teeming with herculean challenges that could bring Musk back down to earth. For one, Tesla is facing at least six sexual harassment lawsuits filed this month by women who complained of an “unsafe work environment” rife with sexist comments and unwanted advances.

When they complained, several women said in court filings they were moved from their workstations and conditions did not improve.

At SpaceX, Musk is preparing to send Starship, the largest rocket ever built at nearly 120m tall, on its first orbital flight next month. The fully reusable rocket is the key to Musk’s ambitions to take humans back to the moon, and then onto his grander goal of colonising Mars.