[Alberta's Child]

I am not sure that any of Musk’s companies ever offered dividends. I got the impression that he is not in favor of that, preferring that anything extra be plowed back into the company.

I believe you can say the same thing about Amazon and Facebook. I would steer clear of any company like that where it’s almost impossible to distinguish a profitable enterprise from a racket built on smoke and mirrors.

[Empire_of_Liberty]

I certainly agree that Musk could be lying. Amazon and Facebook don’t even try, nor do they have a factory floor to sleep on.

In general, I think you have a good perspective, though. Most cons would be loath to part with even small dividends in order to appear legitimate. Also, even the hard-working, 100%-growth company can devolve into smoke and mirrors in the absence of dividends.

Returning to my original post, though, even Bernie Madoff “paid off returns” to his investors - for a while. ;-)