QOTD: Would You Rather Own a Mansion or an EV Startup?
We brought you news this morning that Fisker founder and boss Henrik Fisker has apparently listed his L.A. mansion for sale for more than Fisker appears to be worth.
So, would you rather own the house or own a small automaker?
I perused the real-estate listing this morning and I gotta say, the house is pretty sweet. Living there would be tempting -- and if I could afford that house, I might be able to afford another house here. So I could live there part-time and still keep roots in Chicago. Sweet!
On the other hand, even given Fisker's current struggles, owning a car company seems like it would be a lot of fun for a car enthusiast. Sure, there'd be all the usual headaches that all car-company CEOs deal with, but imagine being the boss at an automaker and being able to influence product decisions.
OK, yeah, this is a silly QOTD, and it's not even a Friday. That's OK, QOTDs can be fun. So, what would you choose?
Sound off below.
[Image: Fisker]
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Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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HEH. Owning an EV startup is like the old joke: Want to become a millionaire? Start as a billionaire.
I'll take the mansion, preferably in an urban area, with land for expansion. Then I'd turn it into a boutique hotel. Then I'd sell it and live in a beach house on a secluded cove.
Well, I can live in the mansion.
Since the house is in better condition than the car company, I'd take the house.
You can't buy Fisker for $27 million. All that buys is the shares, which are basically worthless at this point. To buy the company you have to ante up the $1.3 billion owed to its creditors, otherwise they'll just take it away from you in a few weeks.
For all we know the house may also be leveraged to the hilt. That seems to be how this guy rolls.
Still, if I had to choose, I'd choose the house. I hate EVs.