One of history’s biggest construction projects reveals where Luke is looking for profits as Musk builds his own empire.
Listen to the audio version of this article (generated by AI).
Editor’s Note: Elon Musk certainly doesn’t have much trouble raising money. But as my InvestorPlace colleague Luke Lango explains below, even billions of dollars can only get you so far.
More than a century ago, the builders of the Panama Canal learned the same lesson. Before they could finish one of the world’s greatest engineering projects, they first needed the people, equipment and infrastructure to make it possible. And Luke believes Musk is running into a similar challenge today as he pushes ahead with everything from AI and robotics to rockets and underground tunnels.
That’s why Luke has spent months tracking the outside companies Musk still needs to turn those ambitions into reality. I recently joined Luke and Eric Fry to walk through that research – including one stock name and ticker you can get completely free. Click here to watch the event and get the full story.
In the meantime, I’ll turn things over to Luke to explain why Musk’s latest $3 billion funding round offers another important clue…
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When John Frank Stevens came to Panama to dig a canal in 1905, he found the area ravaged by yellow fever.
The previous chief engineer had just resigned, and the workers were in desperate need of housing, food, and the strength to finish the job. Those who had enough gathered along the waterfront, waiting for passage home. Despite this, the full weight of the U.S. government and all its money stood behind the Panama Canal project.
But not even President Theodore Roosevelt could persuade the scores of sick, injured, and tired to continue digging. So, Stevens did something unexpected. He suspended the bulk of the excavation.
Instead of digging harder, Stevens started fixing everything that made digging nearly impossible.
He improved housing and food supplies. He backed the sanitation campaign led by U.S. Army physician William Gorgas to bring yellow fever and malaria under control. And he rebuilt the railroad needed to bring supplies in and haul millions of tons of excavated dirt out.
In other words, before the Panama Canal was dug, Stevens had to make sure it was a place where both people and machinery could work.
I thought about that when I heard Elon Musk had just raised $3 billion for The Boring Company – his effort to build networks of underground tunnels that can move cars beneath congested cities.
The new funding is meant to help Boring expand its engineering, production, and operations teams and push ahead with projects from Las Vegas and Nashville to Dubai and the broader United Arab Emirates.
But Musk apparently wanted something else from some of the people writing those checks.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the company told certain investors they would also need to help recruit employees or assist with business development. That could mean introducing The Boring Company to government officials in places where it wants to dig new tunnels.
The money will help expand the company’s engineering, production, and operations teams, support projects in Las Vegas, Nashville, and Dubai, and fund more than 150 kilometers of planned underground infrastructure across the United Arab Emirates.
That’s what caught my attention.
This comparison between Roosevelt’s canal and Musk’s tunnels has its limits, of course. But financing a project and assembling everything that’s required to build it are two different achievements. That’s something Stevens would have been familiar with.
At first glance, this looks like another story about investors lining up to hand Musk billions.
Look closer, and it’s a story about what money alone can’t buy him.
Across Musk’s empire, the gaps are filled by engineers, specialized factories, component suppliers, and infrastructure that could take years of development. For investors, it’s exactly those dependencies that I want you to pay attention to.
Because every time Musk runs into something he can’t build fast enough, cheaply enough, or on his own, somebody else gets an opportunity to sell it to him.
And some of those companies could be tiny compared with Musk’s empire. A big order from Tesla Inc. (TSLA), Space Exploration Technologies Inc. (SPCX), or The Boring Company might barely register on Musk’s spending – while transforming the supplier getting the check.
That’s the opportunity I want to show you today: Follow what Musk still needs, find the companies that can provide it, and you may find some of the biggest winners of his next expansion before Wall Street does.
Why The Boring Company Asked Investors for More Than Money
Now, look at who participated in this Boring Company funding round.
Among others, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Temasek, Baron Capital, and UAE-backed investors.
These are some of the biggest, best-connected investors in the world. They have plenty of money. But they also know people. They know engineers, business leaders, and government officials. And I think that’s a big part of what Musk is trying to bring into the company here.
You can build a really good tunneling machine but still run into red tape getting permission to put it underneath a city. You need engineers, local partners, and government approvals. And those can be harder to come by than another billion dollars.
So when I look at this round, I see Musk both raising money and recruiting a network that could help him put that money to work.
The UAE-linked investors are a good example. The Boring Company plans more than 150 kilometers of underground infrastructure there, including its Dubai Loop – a planned network of underground tunnels and stations designed to move passengers around the city in Tesla vehicles.
Bringing in well-connected local investors could help Boring recruit people, find partners, and navigate the dozens of approvals required before the first tunnel gets dug.
To me, that explains why Musk wants more from these investors than a check. He needs help turning a funded project into a working tunnel.
Dubai’s 48 Permits Show Why Capital Is Not Enough
Look at what needs to happen in Dubai.
The first phase of the Loop is expected to cover about 6.4 kilometers and include four passenger stations connected by underground tunnels, with Tesla vehicles carrying riders between them. Before digging can begin, The Boring Company says it needs to seek roughly 48 permits and no-objection certificates from around 10 different entities.
That’s just the first phase. And it’s in an extremely business-friendly jurisdiction. Imagine what Musk would need to dig in Chicago or Paris.
Now, Musk can build a faster tunneling machine. But how fast that machine digs doesn’t matter much if you’re still waiting for permission to put it in the ground.
Utility lines have to be mapped. Roads and buildings above the route have to be accounted for. Safety requirements have to be met. And all of it requires people who understand how to get a complicated infrastructure project approved and built in that particular market.
You can’t create that kind of expertise overnight.
And that’s the larger point. Across Musk’s empire, he keeps running into things that money alone can’t produce quickly – capabilities that other people and companies have spent years building.
For investors, that’s where this story gets much bigger than The Boring Company.
Across Musk’s Empire, Capital Is Only the Starting Point
Take SpaceX. Musk can build a more powerful rocket, but to launch it more often, he needs manufacturing capacity, specialty materials, advanced electronics, and trained workers. He also needs permission to launch.
You see the same problem at xAI. Musk can spend billions building enormous data centers packed with AI chips, but those chips need electricity, cooling systems, and high-speed networking to work. If you’re waiting on a grid connection, buying another thousand chips doesn’t solve the problem.
Then look at Tesla Inc. (TSLA). Musk wants to mass-produce robotaxis and humanoid robots. That means taking technology that works in development and turning it into something you can manufacture, deploy, and service at enormous scale.
For robotaxis, you need regulatory approvals, charging infrastructure, and people who can keep the fleet operating. For humanoids, you need sensors, semiconductors, precision components, and manufacturing partners that can deliver them reliably.
And remember, the suppliers have to scale right alongside you. If you want to build a million robots, you need a supply chain capable of supporting a million robots.
That’s where this gets really interesting for investors.
Musk can raise billions almost overnight. But he can’t build a new power plant, qualify a new factory, train thousands of workers, or create years of manufacturing expertise overnight.
Other companies already have some of those capabilities. And as Musk’s ambitions get bigger, I want to know which ones can deliver what he needs, when he needs it.
Because Musk’s next expansion could become their next major order.
Follow Musk’s Spending to the Companies Getting Paid
When I study Musk’s empire, I keep coming back to one question: What does he need that somebody else is better positioned to deliver?
It could be a utility with power available where he wants to build. A manufacturer with capacity ready to go. A supplier whose components have already passed years of testing.
The next question is: How much could that business grow if Musk starts buying more?
Because an order that represents a small part of his spending could make a meaningful difference to a smaller supplier’s revenue. That’s the opportunity I’ve spent months researching across his AI, robotics, and space businesses.
And I reveal a lot of that research during my Vertical AI Event.
In that workshop, I map Musk’s empire on screen and trace his spending into the outside companies he still depends on. My colleagues Louis Navellier and Eric Fry join me to examine the opportunity, and you’ll get the name and ticker of one stock poised to benefit completely free.
You can watch it now, but access is available for a limited time.
You’ll see where we believe Elon Musk’s most important supply constraints are developing, which companies could help resolve them, and why I’ve circled September 24 as a potential catalyst for Musk’s next move.
More than a century ago, the Panama Canal couldn’t be built with money and ambition alone. John Frank Stevens needed the people, equipment, transportation, and infrastructure that could turn President Roosevelt’s enormous project into something that actually worked.
Musk faces his own version of that problem today. He has the money. He has the ambition. What he doesn’t have is everything required to build it all himself.
That’s where I see the opportunity. I want to show you the companies that could get paid to supply what Musk still needs.
Watch the Vertical AI Event now and get your free stock pick before access closes.
Sincerely,
Luke Lango
Senior Investment Analyst, InvestorPlace
