Elon Musk's Chicago Loop May Be Ambitious to a Fault
*By Britt Terrell*
Elon Musk is a man with ideas...a lot of them.
But Vanity Fair's Maya Kosoff wonders if his latest project may be more than he can handle.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO won his bid to build a tunnel from downtown Chicago to O'Hare International Airport, partnering with Mayor Rahm Emanuel to modernize the city's struggling transportation system.
The task, though, may be particularly tricky.
"With public infrastructure, you have contracts with the government, and digging a tunnel underneath the city literally disrupts people's lives. I think it's more impactful so therefore it's kind of the most difficult (problem) to solve," Kosoff said.
The issues are only exacerbated by the fact that the airport link is far from Musk's only project. His SpaceX still aims to send humans to Mars by 2014, and Tesla is developing new cars and trucks, even as it continues to struggle with meeting production targets and burns through cash.
And in her article, ["Is Elon Musk Scamming Chicago?"](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/06/is-elon-musk-scamming-chicago), Kosoff points out that the cost and the time it will take to construct the Chicago Express Loop may also be far higher than anticipated.
"It's supposed to cost a billion dollars," Kosoff said. "But look at the cost of other public infrastructure projects in the country. It cost a billion dollars to build less than a mile of the expanded Q train on \[New York City's\] Upper East Side."
Musk estimates the 18-mile track will take three years to complete and says his Boring Company - not taxpayers - will foot the bill.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/elon-musks-next-big-endeavor).
Umbilical cord blood banking platform Anja Health raised $4.5 million dollars in a seed round led by Seven Seven Six, a venture capital firm founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Anja Health offers a personalized, doctor-backed cord blood bank, which lets new parents freeze stem cells from their child's umbilical cord so they can be used to treat diseases in the future. It's a process Anja has called 'Hollywood's best-kept secret,' as celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Serena Williams, and more have all banked their umbilical cord blood. Kathryn Cross, the founder of Anja Health, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Catching you up on what you missed in today's news. Elon Musk has increased his commitment to purchase Twitter to $33.5 billion, Apple is raising its hourly wages for retail stores to compete for talent, and Roblox has announced that it will be partnering with the medically prescribed video game ‘Endeavor’ to help treat patients with ADHD.
Actor Jimmy O. Yang is partnering with Chinese food chain Panda Express for his YouTube series "Jimmy's Kitchen." The comedian joined Cheddar News to talk about the partnership as well as upcoming ventures. "Panda Express could not be more perfect like even before this deal, I was just wearing a Panda Express hat for fun when I go outside," he said.
The number of births in the U.S. increased last year for the first time in seven years. According to a new federal report, about 3.6 million babies were born in 2021, only about a 1% increase from 2020. Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst for creditcards.com, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss why the pandemic baby boom was more like a baby bust, and how to raise kids while on a tight budget.
