Investor Mocks Elon Musk Over Coffee—Moments Later, Karma Calls
The rain hammered the windows of Brew & Bean’s coffee shop like a thousand tiny bullets. Joseph Fergies loved mornings like this. They made him feel secure, tucked away from the world’s chaos in his favorite corner seat, his expensive suit immaculate, his gold phone gleaming on the table. Next to him sat Riley, his business partner, equally polished and confident.
“Today’s the day, Riley,” Joseph grinned, swirling his coffee. “Jerry Williams is calling in ten minutes. I’ll show him I’m the sharpest investor in Austin.”
At the next table, a tired man in a black hoodie and worn jeans hunched over a battered laptop, sipping black coffee. His hair was a mess, his eyes shadowed by sleepless nights. Joseph didn’t give him a second glance. People who dressed like that weren’t worth noticing.
The phone rang. Joseph answered, voice booming. “Jerry! Great to hear from you. Best month of my career. Just yesterday, I made another perfect call.”
Riley nodded, always ready to boost Joseph’s ego. “Tell him about the rocket guy,” she whispered.
Joseph’s grin widened. “You won’t believe this, Jerry. Some crazy guy came to our office last week, wanted money for his rocket company. Rockets! Can you imagine?”
Jerry laughed on the other end. “What’s he want, to go to Mars?”
Joseph laughed so loudly heads turned. “Exactly! Mars, Jerry. He said he’d put people on Mars, make electric cars, even stick computer chips in people’s brains. I told him to come back when he lives in the real world.”
The man in the hoodie looked up for a moment, then returned to his laptop.
Joseph strutted around the table, voice rising. “Business is about facts, not dreams. I told that guy, ‘Kid, I’ve been doing this ten years. Your ideas are too big, too expensive, too crazy. Come back when you have something real.’”
He didn’t notice the small white business card that slipped from the man’s pocket, landing at his feet. Riley pointed it out. Joseph picked it up, still talking. “You’ve got to protect investors from these dreamers, Jerry. They’ll waste your time.”
.
.
.
He glanced at the card. Three words in clean black print:
Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink
Joseph’s smile froze. His hand trembled. Riley read the card and her eyes widened. “Is that…?”
“No,” Joseph muttered, stuffing it in his pocket. “Anyone can print a card. He’s nobody.”
But the man in the hoodie was gone. Joseph felt a chill crawl up his spine.
He tried to laugh it off, but the business card burned in his pocket. The rain outside seemed colder. The coffee tasted bitter. He barely heard Riley suggest they head back to the office.
Then his phone rang again. Unknown number.
“Joseph Fergies speaking,” he answered, trying to sound confident.
A calm, professional voice replied, “Mr. Fergies, this is Dr. Sarah Kim from Chun Biotech Solutions. I’m calling to inform you that Chun Biotech has just been acquired—for $2.8 billion. The buyer is Neuralink Corporation. The CEO personally oversaw the deal.”
Joseph’s cup slipped from his hand, shattering on the table. Hot coffee splashed everywhere.
Neuralink. The company he’d just mocked. The man in the hoodie.
“But… that’s impossible,” Joseph stammered. “My brother’s company… it’s just a startup.”
“Your brother’s neural interface technology is revolutionary,” Dr. Kim continued. “It will help paralyzed patients control computers with their thoughts. Neuralink sees it as the foundation for consumer brain-computer interfaces.”
Joseph felt the room spin. He’d been secretly funding his brother David’s company for three years, hiding his support behind shell companies. David had no idea the money came from Joseph.
Now, the impossible dream had come true. And the man he’d laughed at had just changed everything.
He staggered outside into the rain, letting it soak his expensive suit. His phone buzzed again—a text from an unknown number:
Coffee shop. 1 hour. We need to talk. —Elon Musk
Joseph’s heart pounded. He had one hour to figure out what to say to the man he’d just mocked.
The Meeting
Back at Brew & Bean, Joseph waited, nerves jangling. The tables seemed smaller, the plaque on his corner seat colder. When Elon Musk walked in, still in his hoodie and jeans, Joseph saw him differently: not as a nobody, but as a man who had just bought his brother’s future.
Elon ordered a black coffee, then sat opposite Joseph without a word.
“You wanted to see me?” Joseph managed, his voice barely steady.
Elon set his coffee down. “Tell me about your brother.”
Joseph hesitated. “He’s… brilliant. Always was. I… I funded his company anonymously. Didn’t want him to know.”
Elon nodded. “Why?”
Joseph stared at the table. “I was scared. Scared of being wrong. My reputation is built on being the smart one. If I supported David and he failed, I’d look like a fool. But if I funded him secretly and he succeeded… well, I could take credit, quietly.”
Elon’s gaze was steady. “You wanted to bet on the future, but only if you couldn’t be blamed.”
Joseph’s face burned with shame. “Yes.”
Elon leaned forward. “Do you know why I bought your brother’s company?”
Joseph shook his head.
“Because it will help paralyzed people walk again,” Elon said. “Because it will let people who can’t speak talk to their families. Because it’s the next step in human evolution. And because someone believed in it when no one else would.”
He pulled out a folder and slid it across the table. “Future Ventures. Your shell company. You started something bigger than you realize.”
Joseph opened the folder. Inside were investment records—his initial funding for David’s company, then dozens of other investments in breakthrough tech startups. Some he recognized, most he didn’t.
“I only funded David,” Joseph protested.
Elon shook his head. “Your first investment inspired others. Scientists, engineers, dreamers—they saw someone backing the impossible. They joined in. Future Ventures became a beacon for people who believe in changing the world.”
Joseph’s eyes widened as he saw the portfolio’s value: $12.4 billion.
“You own 25%,” Elon said. “But the money isn’t the point. The point is, you started a movement.”
Joseph’s phone buzzed—another text. This time, from his brother David.
Marcus, turn on the news. Now.
Joseph looked up at the TV on the wall. The news anchor’s voice rang out:
“In an extraordinary breakthrough, a brain-computer device developed by Chun Biotech has allowed a paralyzed seven-year-old girl to walk for the first time in three years…”
The camera showed a little girl, Emma Rodriguez, taking her first steps. Her mother wept with joy.
Joseph’s throat tightened. His money had made this possible. His brother’s dream had come true.
Elon’s voice was gentle. “You gave her that chance. You believed in impossible dreams, even if you were afraid to admit it.”
Joseph wiped his eyes. “I want to do more. I want to support breakthrough technology openly, not just in secret.”
Elon smiled. “That’s why I asked you here. We’re launching Future Ventures Public—a fund to back impossible dreams, out in the open. I want you as co-founder.”
Joseph stared at him. “After everything I said this morning?”
Elon nodded. “Everyone’s afraid of being wrong. But the world changes when someone’s brave enough to support the impossible.”
The Future
Three months later, Joseph stood in the new Future Ventures headquarters, sunlight streaming through the windows. Scientists and engineers bustled through the halls, working on technologies that seemed like magic.
David walked in, holding a newspaper. The front page showed Emma Rodriguez running in a school race.
“You did this, Marcus,” David said quietly. “You gave her that chance.”
Joseph smiled, pride and gratitude mixing in his chest. “We did it, David. Together.”
As they walked through the building, Joseph thought of the journey that had begun with a laugh in a coffee shop. He’d been arrogant, afraid to risk his reputation. But he’d found the courage to believe in impossible dreams—and to help others do the same.
The world didn’t need more critics. It needed believers. It needed people willing to take a chance on the future.
Joseph’s phone buzzed again—a message from a 14-year-old girl in India with an idea to clean city air. “Everyone says it’s impossible,” she wrote.
Joseph smiled and typed back: “Let’s talk. Impossible dreams are our specialty.”
And as he looked out at the city, Joseph knew that the best days were still to come. Because sometimes, the people we laugh at are the ones who change the world—and sometimes, the hardest thing is simply having the courage to believe.
