When SpaceX goes public on Friday with what is expected to be a record-setting initial public offering, it will cap two decades of founder and CEO Elon Musk¡¯s ambition to transform rocketry, satellite communications and humanity¡¯s reach into space.
Each step of the way, there has been a guiding hand largely out of view: the company¡¯s president, Gwynne Shotwell, who has spent 24 years focused on building and selling SpaceX through her engineering expertise and dealmaking ?instincts. Along the way, colleagues say Shotwell, 62, developed a more elusive skill: managing Musk, himself.
She frames her job in simple terms, telling Time magazine earlier this year ?that ?she wants to be ¡°helpful to Elon¡± and ¡°add value.¡± But SpaceX veterans and industry observers see her as a key figure at ?the space industry leader, whose rise has made her one of the world¡¯s most powerful female executives.
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