Some could interpret purchasing this car as behaving characteristics of imperialistic rats.

In 1999, Elon Musk and his partner Justine were on a street in Silicon Valley waiting

for the delivery of his million-dollar McLaren F1 supercar.

But they weren't alone.

A camera crew from CNN was with them, aiming to show the riches being pulled in by the Nouveau-Riche of the tech industry.

Musk had recently received his multi-million dollar payout from the sale of Zip2

and was not only splurging on an ostentatious toy,

but also starting to try to build his profile as more than just another kid who cashed in on the dot-com boom.

The CNN cameras captured Musk's awkward demeanor, ill-fitting suit, and thinning hairline,

the latter of which he's since filled in, but he was determined to become someone else.

When Salon profiled Musk that year, they spoke to Richard Sorkin, the man who took over as

chief executive of Zip2

when Musk was made Chief Technology Officer. He said the crux of their disagreement was over the

company's profile and whether its product should be targeted at businesses or consumers.

Musk wanted to go for the public, not because there was a real business case to do that,

but so they'd know the

brand and the man behind it. The salon reporter asked Sorkin if it was because Musk wanted to be

on the cover of Rolling Stone. Sorkin said, quote, yes, for Elon, that's what general visibility meant.

Remember, Musk was reading books about business leaders and was actively looking to have the media

pay attention to him. The salon article gave some further insight into how he Remember, Musk was reading books about business leaders and was actively looking to have the media pay

attention to him. The salon article gave some further insight into how he planned to do that, with

splashy displays like the McLaren F1 purchase. The journalist explained, quote, the public relations

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