bank
Larry Page Invests To Change Your Daily Commute
The future is here – flying cars may no longer be a fictional notion of futuristic and optimistic technological predictions, thanks to Google’s co-founder Larry Page.
Page has reportedly invested up to 100 million US dollars to fund two new startup companies, which are dedicated to the development of the technology which has up until now remained a distant yet somehow attainable possibility, represented in varying degrees of plausibility by fictional films and cartoons alike.
With just under $37 billion at his disposable, the 12th wealthiest person on the planet (according to Forbes Rich List) is also CEO of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, and has played a pivotal role in the development of Google from a fledgling search-engine startup.
Alphabet’s current status is that of a trustworthy source of information with respect to fact, fiction, and a power.
The company is in the position to take risks and gamble on everything from pictures of the moon, to curing devastating diseases, which is a testament to Page and his business partner Sergey Brim’s talent and track record.
Flying cars, however, is a notion that even Google seems to have found hard to believe in – there has been no support from Alphabet for this side-project.
Amidst tight security and secrecy, Page’s funding helped Zee.Aero take flight in their business venture and set up offices on Google property – land previously unheard of and impossible to secure for up-and-coming companies.
This in is itself was a curious move.
Even more so were the employee's strict instructions to deflect questions from the public, should they ever be quizzed about the details of their new endeavors.
[ms_divider style=”normal” align=”left” width=”100%” margin_top=”30″ margin_bottom=”30″ border_size=”5″ border_color=”#f2f2f2″ icon=”” class=”” id=””][/ms_divider]
[ms_featurebox style=”4″ title_font_size=”18″ title_color=”#2b2b2b” icon_circle=”no” icon_size=”46″ title=”Recommended Link” icon=”” alignment=”left” icon_animation_type=”” icon_color=”” icon_background_color=”” icon_border_color=”” icon_border_width=”0″ flip_icon=”none” spinning_icon=”no” icon_image=”” icon_image_width=”0″ icon_image_height=”” link_url=”https://offers.thecapitalist.com/p/warrenbuffet/index” link_target=”_blank” link_text=”Click Here To Find Out What It Said…” link_color=”#4885bf” content_color=”” content_box_background_color=”” class=”” id=””]Warren Buffett Just Told His Heirs What He Wants them To Do With His Fortune When He Dies. [/ms_featurebox]
[ms_divider style=”normal” align=”left” width=”100%” margin_top=”30″ margin_bottom=”30″ border_size=”5″ border_color=”#f2f2f2″ icon=”” class=”” id=””][/ms_divider]
Page’s desired anonymity within the company – know simply as ‘GUS’, or ‘the guy upstairs’ to employees- also made for an increase in public interest once his association became known.
Why keep his investments secret?
Zee.Aero was soon joined by Kitty Hawk on Page’s list of startup investment expenditure, as Google X’s Sebastian Thrun of the research division decided to follow the flying car dream and take off with his startup effort.
Both companies aim to produce a small, self-sufficient and compact vehicle that can take off and land vertically.
With Kitty Hawk’s staff having been sequestered from the Zee.Aero original team, it’s difficult to understand the differences between each company's designs as of yet, and calls into question the necessity for the division of the workforce in the first place.
Suffice it to say that both designs revolve around the production of a vehicle with the potential to change the daily commute forever.
As the leading airborne vehicle enthusiast, Paul Moller recalled a chance meeting with a young and idealistic Page at a talk on flying car technology in 2000, at the Palo Alto Research Centre (PARC) Page’s cautious questioning of the practicality of such a vehicle ultimately served him well.
As Moller’s determination and impatience to succeed let him declare bankruptcy in 2009.
Page’s contrasting careful planning and investment has evidently had some measure of success, however, as outside observers of both Zee.Aero and Kitty Hawk have noted regular test flights and safety checks of strange looking contraptions on the grounds of both companies.
Zee.Aero apparently has two prototype planes that it tests at grounds in the airport at Hollister, CA.
According to outside sources both designs are similar to a miniature version of the modern commuter plane – a bulbous cockpit with a slender body, yet the later design features several propellers along the sides.
Both vehicles reportedly seat one person, yet secrecy surrounding technical functions or details has prevented any further knowledge or insights to the mechanical aspects of them.
It is in part the secrecy surrounding the mysterious research and trials in advances to this transport system that makes it all so intriguing – why exactly did Larry Page feel the need to maintain such a strict level of security on his investments?
Why did the company seemingly split in two in the early days of production, leading Page to double his expenditure and form Kitty Hawk almost as an afterthought to Zee.Aero?
What exactly is this fascination with airborne transport that centuries after its discovery still seems to captivate us with its magical, almost dreamlike possibilities?
According to Bloomberg, the fascination with flying cars has long been a focal point of Northern California in particular, and with this in mind, it makes sense that any potential breakthrough in the technological advancement of the kind will eventually occur here.
While many dreams of achieving the goal, Larry Page has found himself in a position (and with enough money) to help fund the research and work that will (hopefully) drive us into the future that has been so often depicted on TV and film.
Trials, errors, and failures are all a part of the process of improvement and discovery, leading us to land at whatever destination required.
With the Google empire behind them, the potential and possibilities to Zee.Aero’s and Kitty Hawk’s research is endless.
