Musk's Grand-Prize Framing to Bend Reality

"Musk, “PayPal” was a fine name—for a stand-alone payments service. But “X.com” was (or at least, would be) the world’s financial nerve center. “There’s a decision,” Musk argued. “Do you want to go for the grand prize, or do you not want to go for the grand prize?”"

"“What was more potent than the mathematical exercise was the story,” Payne would appreciate later, “and Elon was very good at pointing to the future—just as he is today—and saying the objective is over there, and I know it’s over there, and we should all go over there.”"

"Narratives like Musk’s played well in the media, successfully tapping the public’s perennial interest in underdog stories. But Musk also had a special knack for capturing the press’s attention. He discovered that his willingness to veer into exaggeration often did the trick; X.com wasn’t even in existence yet, and it was already earning breathless press mentions."