All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg · Tuesday, September 15, 2026
SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell recounted her unexpected path to joining the company, initially meeting Elon Musk by chance after a lunch with a friend who was considering working for him. She advised Musk on improving business development, which led to her being offered a Vice President position.
“And I took him out to lunch, kind of a going away lunch. And he's like, oh, when I dropped him back off, he said, oh, come on in and meet Elon.”
“And, um, I said, hey, I think you really need, I think you need a full-time person to run your business development shop, you know, you've got kind of a part-timer, he's a contractor, you know, it's not a great look.”
“And then I got back to my office and I got a call from Elon's assistant, Mary Beth, and she said, Elon wants you to apply for the new Vice President of Business Development position.”