Moved to the main forum for a little while. Cost saving moves are something Blazer fans should keep an eye on.
If we ever wondered where over the cap tax money could come from...they're selling some really expensive toys.
I know we have at least a couple of financial types posting here, so compared to them I'm prbably talking out of my ass...which is the source for a lot of my opinion by the way... but I wouldn't read much into this move. Even with all kinds of trust protection, Jody Allen likely has a huge estate tax bill to pay and selling off assets is about the only way she has to come up with that kind of cash. She has probably already decided what her core holdings are. Maybe the Blazers are core or maybe they are on the edge. I'd anticipate we'll hear about more assets being sold
My gut says this is good news for Blazer fans. Jody makes more on interest by the nanosecond than she could spend I'm sure. Paul set her up forever and beyond. She flew the big plane in Paul's memory, then put Stratolaunch on the market. She probably didn't grow up wanting to be an astronaut like Paul did. I like Paul's choice of "Stratolaunch" as he was known to play Stratocaster fender guitars.
Makes some sense, Stratolaunch is a pretty big gamble, and a huge money sink until it could get commercial launches. If you didn't have an owner familiar with all aspects of the business, it seems like it would be hard to know when you are throwing good money after bad, or making a reasonable long term bet. This way assets and technology get into the hands of those who are most likely to do something with it.
Here is a pretty interesting read on the Stratolaunch program. Reads like a forum. Kind of fun conversations. https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=27520.2360
I'm of the opinion that this means nothing for the Blazers. Paul was passionate about space. If Jody isn't, why keep pouring money into it?
I agree with you there. I was reading the comments on that link and it's pretty much done. They did the initial "Flight for Paul" and then they really don't have any more need?
The only part that matters to me is a) whoever runs it wants to be in Portland. b) wants to win. c) smart enough to put the right people in charge.
