Has Musk ever handled the operational aspects of the companies he claims to run? Does he really understand what it takes to make a company _work_?

For instance, my understanding of SpaceX is that he really should be seen as the initial financier of it to chase a crazy idea. Gwynne Shotwell is really the one in charge of day-to-day operations. It's just that Musk shows up for the fun bits and gets all the sound bites in.