Elon Musk’s Tunneling Venture The Boring Company Is Selling Hats

Most people who dream of being entrepreneurs or a force for positive change in the world would perhaps envy Elon Musk for his achievements since he left PayPal. He started Tesla (and SolarCity, now a Tesla subsidiary) to electrify the automotive (and power storage) industry, and SpaceX changed the way we look at rocket launches (now we look at rocket landings too).

While Musk has founded Neuralink to develop an interface that connects the human brain with computers and also created the hyperloop concept — giving it away for use by anyone who wants to — to change urban transport, he has another venture with the same aim. The Boring Company digs tunnels which Musk says will bypass the traffic congestion in urban areas. And the company’s latest offering are hats.

Musk announced Tuesday the sale of what he called “the world’s most boring hat” on Twitter, with a link to the company’s website where the one-size-fits-all hats retail for $20, shipping and taxes included.

There was speculation among his followers on Twitter why the company was selling the hats. Of course, someone asked Musk if selling merchandise was how he planned to fund the Boring Company, instead of going to the stock market.

For $20 a hat, it may be a long time before Musk raises enough money to meet the financial needs of the Boring Company, but Musk seems to be quite taken with hats in general. In a photograph he resurfaced late Wednesday, one he originally shared on Twitter in May, Musk, 17 at the time, is seen wearing two hats — at the same time, one over the other — holding a hammer.

The Boring Company hats, though, seem to be doing brisk business, about 4,000 of them selling in just one day. And that, even before the company has anything tangible to show for itself, which is perhaps an indication of how many people believe Musk to get things right.

To add incentive to the sale of the hats, Musk even announced an incentive for the buyer of the 5,000th hat (which, by the way, would mean $100,000 worth of hat sales, possible in just about two days — no small feat).

The company’s second boring machine, which will be its real business eventually, is “almost ready,” Musk said, and also announced its name — Line-Storm — after a poem by Robert Frost.

The first tunneling machine was named Godot, in honor of the tragicomic play “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett.

Keeping up with news about names, Musk also revealed Wednesday that the name for his tunneling venture itself was the brainchild of actress Talulah Riley, who is currently playing the character of Angela on HBO’s “Westworld.”

Riley graciously took credit.

Musk also credited director JJ Abrams for creating the logo of the company, which features on the hats.