>I guess it depends on how close other firms were to implementing or even considering vertical landing and recovery technology.

Aside of i being done in the 50s by russians and NASA having a working prototype ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_DC-X

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But I meant a completely different point: Do look at the acomplishments in the 50s/60s and you will see the actual inventors/engineers being lauded for their visionary ideas. And now look at the last 20 years and you will see the managers/CEOs being lauded for the visionary ideas of their engineers.

So:

>Does it not require a vision to believe you can not only enter, but revolutionize an existing 'cutting edge' industry?

If I would believe that Elon Musk did any part of development I could accept "visionary" (somehow..) but as it is Musk seems to have about nothing to do with the development of SpaceX except being a posterboy for money. And no, this isn't what I call visionary because kids since the 19th century dreamed of flying to Mars....