I think the reason Musk gets so much attention is: 1) Tesla and SpaceX are both successful and in the news; 2) he doesn't just bankroll the projects, he's on the ground executing them while advocating for them zealously in the press.

It's the same reason why Bill Gates has gotten such attention for his philanthropic work. He lends something which is in a way more valuable than his money: his personal time and ability to execute.

Jeff Bezos: http://www.blueorigin.com/

In addition to glass, the google guys get credit for http://www.planetaryresources.com/ and the driverless cars ;)

What did the Google guys do for Glass or driverless cars other than bankroll them?

Isn't that kind of the point?

So what? what did Elon musk do for spacex and tesla other than bankroll them?

edit: meant as reply to GP :)

Quit his day job to run them?

No, Tony Stark builds and code everything himself. From scratch.

I would add: Khosla, who pushed green tech as a VC and with his private money.

ratan TATA , who pushed the low cost indian car , which is a sort of science fiction in his culture.

Idan ofer , who invested in "better place" the electric car company with the swappable batteries.

And BTW , i'm sure bezos see full e-commerce(including groceries and fashio and furniture) as a science fiction.

Gosling is a senior employee of Liquid Robotics, joining four years after it started. He didn't found it.

Is that relevant?

The link I've posted is the press release announcing him joining the company.

If he decides to pick up from a point where progress has been made, that's just less time wasted reinventing the wheel.