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Tech

Elon Musk Bought a $1 Million Supercar in His First Video Appearance Ever

Back in 1999, after three hard-fought years in the Silicon Valley, the fledgling tech entrepreneur *finally* bought that McLaren F1.

It's 1999. The people of the world wait with baited breath as Y2K, and a potentially catastrophic computer glitch, fast approaches. The Blair Witch Project grosses over $125 million at the box office. And a young engineer, entrepreneur, and inventor named ​Elon Musk has just bought a $1 million McLaren F1 supercar.

That's him up there, waiting to gaze upon said luxury vehicle for the first time.

"There are 62 McLarens in the world," muses Musk, in what's ​apparently his first video appearance, which was featured in a 1999 documentary on young rich people. "And I will own one of them."

Enjoying newfound wealth after three hard-fought years in the Silicon Valley, and looking sheepish in an oversized brown suit, Musk covers the bases: selling his software company, Zip2, for a cool $400 million in cash ("Those are just a large number of Ben Franklins"); and his plan to transform personal banking with X.com, a banking and mutual funds company "on the Internet."

It's all one big poker game, he explains. And yet, he's got higher motives. It's not really about the McLaren; it's about the satisfaction of creating things. His then-fiancée, Justine Wilson, is right there with him: "My fear is that we become spoiled brats. That we lose a sense of appreciation and perspective." (Wilson eventually married Musk, ​and later claimed on her LiveJournal, after her and Musk spilt, that Elon ​has "huge steel balls.")

That's the spirit.