Elon Musk story. Elon Musk

Only a lazy person would ignore one of the most outstanding achievers in modern technology. Elon Musk is a man of extraordinary talent. His quotes have become colorful expressions, his incredible dreams have come true and his achievements are doing a world of good.

What kind of education do you think he had? Quite often people think only about his university background. Elon Musk’s education began much earlier. As a young child, he asked: “Where does the world start and end?” It’s certainly not every child that has such questions on their mind.

Elon Musk's education background is rich. When he was 8 years old, once he had read all the books in the local library, he started reading the Encyclopaedia Britannica - a wide-ranging English-language encyclopaedia. It is difficult to imagine how one could concentrate on reading for 10 hours a day, but it was Elon’s favorite hobby. And thanks to his awesome photographic memory he retained all that new information. Elon Musk's homeschool education curriculum was full of books on many different aspects of life.

After his parents ’divorce, Elon stayed with his father. He spent his early years in South Africa. He was a reserved boy. For example, he pretended to be deaf although he was not. He was bullied at school and did not stand up for himself. Once, some boys broke his nose kicking him down the stairs. His relationships with his peers were not good. Probably, it was the after-effects of the divorce, that led to him immersing himself in his hobby and disliking communication.

He was presented with his first computer, a Commodore VIC-20 when he was 10 years old. Elon used it for programming. The BASIC course he took was designed to last 6 months, but he completed it in 3 days. His habit of needing to understand everything new thoroughly was invaluable. Perhaps, it was the reason he wrote the game Blaster at the age of 12, which he later sold for $ 500.

He was overcome by an existential crisis when he was 14 years old. He read “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and decided, that his mission would be world salvation. Elon emigrated to Canada with his brother in order to avoid military conscription in South Africa.

With no-one waiting for him there, he spent his first year job-hunting. He worked on sawmill for a salary - $ 18 per hour. He worked in a narrow tunnel removing hot coals, sand and mud. It was impossible to move aside. By the end of the first week only 3 of the original 30 workers remained, including Elon. He tested himself in many different occupations, even those not related to his interests. So, Elon Musk’s skills and characteristics are quite diverse.

Elon Musk's Educational Background

Elon studied physics at Pretoria University in his last six months in South Africa. His passion for knowledge did not abate. He decided to study at King's University when he was in Canada. After that, when he went to the US he was admitted to the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with an undergraduate degree in economics and physics. He applied to Stanford University later, where he planned to pursue a PhD, but dropped out after a few days. He decided that the future would depend on the Internet not on academic degrees.

Elon Musk's education quotes are quite profound. For example: “My background educationally is physics and economics, and I grew up in sort of an engineering environment - my father is an electromechanical engineer. And so there were lots of engineery things around me. " Many of his quotes are truly inspiring. For example, “I think we have a duty to maintain the light of consciousness to make sure it continues into the future.”

He has proven that anyone's dreams can come true. They are much deeper than we can imagine. You have to agree that his biography, education is pretty interesting and inspiring. Here are some more of his quotes:

“I think it matters whether someone has a good heart” and “I think that’s the single best piece of advice: constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.”

It is fascinating to get to know the story of how Elon Musk started to realize his ideas. He is living proof that if you want to change the world, start with yourself. So, Elon Musk’s timeline can be summed up in the following words: “Did you know that by 2040 Mars could be colonized, by us, with a city?”

He has destroyed stereotypes and made massive technological breakthroughs. Follow Elon Musk’s Twitter

Take a look at the main episodes of Elon Musk's biography:

Elon Musk was born on June 28, 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa.

“Elon has always been an introvert. Where most people go to a great party, Elon will rather spend time in the library reading. For him, they were entertainment. Once, at the age of 3-4, he asked the question: “Where does the whole world begin and end?". Such questions made me understand that he thinks in a special way, " - in one of the interviews, the father of Ilona Errol Musk shared his memories.

Ilona's mother, Maye Musk, is Canadian by nationality, professional and model, whose face appeared on cereal packages Special K and magazine cover Time.

In 1979, parents Errol and Maya Musk divorced. 9-year-old Elon and his younger brother Kimbal decided to stay with their father.

In 1983, at the age of 12, Elon sold his first written game to a computer magazine called "Blastar" for $ 500. Musk himself considered that game trivial.

The young researcher's school years were not the best. Ashley Vance "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX and a quest to a fantastic future"tells the story of how Musk was hospitalized when a group of bully at school lowered him down the stairs and beat him unconscious.

After high school graduation, Ilon, along with his mother Maye, sister Tosca and brother Kimbal moved to. He spent the next 2 years studying at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

However, Elon began to continue his studies in, where he received degrees in physics and economics.

While studying in Pennsylvania, Elon and his friend from the University Adeo Ressi rented a 10-room house, which, at times, was turned into a real nightclub. This was an early entrepreneurial experiment for both students.

After graduating from the university, Ilon decided to continue his studies for a degree. PhD (Ph.D.) in, but eventually gave up on this venture and decided to test his luck in the incipient Internet fever. Elon Musk will never remember studying at Stanford again.

Elon and his brother Kimbal (pictured below) took $ 28,000 from their father's budget to found the company. Zip2 - a web startup that provided city travel guides to newspapers such as New York Times and Chicago Tribune .

According to Musk, while the company Zip2 got to his feet, he literally lived in the office and took a shower at the local branch of a youth volunteer organization YMCA . All these efforts will be generously rewarded the moment the company Compaq will acquire Zip2 per $ 341 000 000 .

Photo: Noah Berger | REUTERS

After the deal, Elon Musk's own budget will amount to $ 22 million, half of which in 1999 the young entrepreneur will spend on founding another company in the field of online banking - X.com ... A year later the project will merge with the startup Confinity, which by then was founded by Peter Thiel. This merger will create a new company called PayPal.

Elon Musk was appointed CEO of the newly created company PayPal. But after a while, serious quarrels will arise within the project: Elon insisted on transferring the company's servers from a free operating system Unix on a product that the CTO disagreed with PayPal Max Levchin (pictured).

Photo: Getty | Drew angerer

In 2000, Musk took his first vacation in a long time. While Elon was in, the board of directors PayPal made the decision to fire him and made Peter Thiel the new CEO.

"This is the problem of vacations", - in one of his interviews, Ilon later jokes.

However, Musk will remain one of the largest shareholders. PayPal, which will bring him $ 165 million of the $ 1.5 billion he will pay in 2002 for PayPal company eBay.

Before the sale PayPal science fiction lover Musk already had the idea of \u200b\u200bsending mice or plants to Mars. He even tried to acquire decommissioned Soviet missiles for these purposes. But a Russian seller wanted more than $ 8 million for the rocket, which made Musk think about building his own cheaper version.

In 2002, Elon Musk founds a company known as Space Exploration Technologies or simply Spacex ... Musk's goal will be to develop processes that will help make space travel more accessible.

Photo: Mario Anzuoni | Reuters

The first devices Spacex will become Falcon 1 named after a spaceship Millenium Falcon from the movie Star Wars..

..and the ship Spacex dragon named after the song "Puff the Magic Dragon"... With this name, Elon Musk wanted to answer all the skeptics who argued that Spacex will never be able to launch a spacecraft.

Long term goal Spacex is the colonization of Mars. In an interview, Musk noted that he would not withdraw the shares. Spacex on an IPO (initial public offering) as long as the "colonial transporter to Mars" does not make regular flights.

At the same time, Elon Musk still has a lot of tasks on Earth. In 2004, he makes his first investment of $ 70 million in Tesla Motors - a manufacturing company that he co-founded with one of the most experienced executive managers, Martin Eberhard.

Elon Musk took an active role in the work on the company's products, and also took over as chairman. He also helped develop the first electric car - Tesla Roadster , the release of the first version of which began in 2006.

Photo: Scott Olson | Getty Images

Since that was not enough, in 2006 Musk implemented the idea. SolarCity - a manufacturing company whose products were supposed to help fight. Elon Musk brought in his cousins \u200b\u200bPeter and Lyndon Raive to develop the company.

Returning to business Tesla, everything did not go exactly as Elon himself expected. Led by Eberhard Tesla burned more financial resources than she was able to bring. In 2007, on the initiative of Musk, at one of the board meetings, Eberhard was removed from further work.

In 2008, with the onset of the global financial crisis, Musk had to invest $ 40 million in Tesla and lend an additional $ 40 million to avoid bankruptcy. In the same year, Musk becomes CEO Tesla, which, of course, is not accidental.

That year the company SpaceX, Tesla and SolarCity completely ruined the Mask. He describes 2008 as the worst year of his life since Tesla still continued to lose money and Spacex faced rocket launch problems Falcon 1 ... By 2009, Elon was surviving only on personal loans.

Photo: Bobby Yip | REUTERS

Around the same time, Elon Musk is going through a divorce from his first wife, Justin Musk, a Canadian writer who gave him 6 sons.

2008 brings two good news to Ilona: Spacex receives a $ 1.5 billion contract with NASA for space flights, and for business Tesla finally, outside investors are found.

By 2010, the situation changed dramatically again: in June of that year Tesla valued at $ 226 million for an IPO and becomes the first public since Ford in 1956. At this point, Elon sells shares in the company for $ 15 million to get his financial condition back on track.

Photo: Brendan McDermid | REUTERS

Elon Musk's extraordinary career has become noticeable in other circles as well. Tony Stark image from "Iron Man" was based in part on Elon's real life. Moreover, in the second part of the film, Musk himself appears in the frame.

All this time, Ilona's personal life was filled with a series of different events. In 2008, he begins dating actress Talulah Riley. In 2010 they will get married, and in 2012 they will divorce. By July 2013, they will get married again, but in December 2014, Elon Musk will again file for divorce, although he will then take back the documents. In March 2016, Riley will file for divorce.

Photo: Pascal Le Segretain | Getty Images

Business with work during that period will go well. By the end of 2015 Spacex will make 24 successful launches to the International Space Station, doing much research in the process. Some time later Falcon 9 will make the first successful landing of a reusable orbital rocket on a water platform.

Ideas still do not stop visiting Elon Musk. Despite the movement towards solar energy, electric vehicles and the colonization of Mars, Musk set to work on a new project called Hyperloop - a transport system capable of moving passengers over long distances at a speed of more than 1000 km / h.

Elon Musk is convinced that in the near future, humanity may face the threat of losing control over artificial intelligence, and therefore at the end of 2015 the entrepreneur presented another - OpenAI aiming atdevelopment monitoring.

Photo: jurvetson | Flickr

At the beginning of 2016, it became known about another incredible project by Elon Musk - the production of lithium-ion batteries, the area of \u200b\u200bwhich will be more than 300,000 square meters. The Gigafactory is expected to be able to produce more batteries than all comparable factories around the world combined. The launch of the project is scheduled for 2020.

In June 2016, Elon Musk presented his , with the aim of bringing together two of its largest energy projects “under one roof”. Later in August, the $ 2.6 billion deal was finally confirmed.

In December 2016, Elon Musk founds another business - THE BORING COMPANY - a drilling and construction company, whose tasks will be to create underground infrastructure in busy metropolitan areas, thanks to which residents and motorists will be able to avoid traffic jams, as well as help in the development of bullet train projects Hyperloop.

This person evokes admiration, respect and envy. His success is natural: talent, charisma and business sense are complemented by efficiency, ability to correctly prioritize. Major milestones: computer company Zip2, PayPal, TeslaMotors, SolarCity, SpaceX.

The story of Elon Musk is interesting in that, upon birth, he was not a contender to become a famous billionaire. He was born in South Africa, in the family of an engineer and nutritionist. Despite the fact that the boy was smart and developed from childhood (he went to school a year earlier than his peers), even his parents recognized the fact that his son's contacts with peers were not going well. Subsequently, he himself will say: "I was a little nerd child, smart enough ... so during school time I just read a lot of books and tried not to get in the way of people."

The guy compensated for the lack of friends by constantly reading everything that came into his hands: from comics about Spider-Man to encyclopedias. At 17, after leaving school in Pretoria, the future billionaire takes bold decision start an independent life in the USA.

In 1989, he boarded a plane to Canada, realizing that his parents would not be able to help financially, and he would have to rely on himself. For a whole year, Elon lived a difficult life: he worked wherever he could, earning a living. Admission to Quins University in Ontario changes the situation. A talented student attracted attention, and in 1992 his dream of getting to the United States is fulfilled thanks to a scholarship to study in Pennsylvania. At the University of Pennsylvania, Elon becomes a bachelor of business in a year, devotes his second year to studying physics and also receives a bachelor's degree.

The story of serial businessman Elon Musk

The term appeared relatively recently, it is used to refer to entrepreneurs who apply talent, giving rise to various, sometimes unrelated, projects.

Elon's first project is a computer game Blastar, the creation of which brought 500 in 12 years. Originally, Elon and his brother were going to rent the development in the game room. They did almost everything for this:

• found a room for rent;
• agreed with a vending machine provider who could supply the equipment.

However, it was not possible to get the approval of the city: the parents did not know about the idea of \u200b\u200btheir sons, and the young entrepreneurs were not 18 years old.

Second start-up more successful. To open the Internet company Zip2, Elon leaves graduate school at Stanford University, having been there for only two days! The decision is explained as follows: "I realized that nothing was happening at Standford, so I called the teachers, said that I wanted to start my own company and agreed that if nothing worked out, there would be an opportunity to go back."

As part of Zip2 activities:

• a platform was developed that allowed newspapers to provide customers with commercial services;
• many print publications, including reputable ones, are being transferred to the digital era;
• the first on-line city directory is being created.

The success of the idea is easily quantified: Zip2 was sold to Compaq for $ 307 million and $ 34 million in securities. Musk joined the Silicon Valley millionaires when he was only 28, receiving $ 22 million.

This transaction went down in history as the largest financial transaction carried out for cash.

The third part of the business story of Elon Musk - PayPal electronic payment system. Initially, the startup was named X.com, after merging with a competing company Confinity on a parity basis, it is named PayPal. Musk's contribution to the development of the company is invaluable:

• development of a fundamentally new business model;
• competent, talented advertising, close to viral;
• bringing the payment system to the first positions.

All this has changed the principle of shopping: today we can no longer imagine how it is possible to carry out them without the help of the Internet. Previously, it took a week to make a purchase with a card, PayPal makes a payment in a few seconds. The value of the idea is evidenced by the purchase of the company by a competitor - Ebay - for $ 1.5 billion. Musk sold his stake in the company for $ 180 million.

The fourth billionaire project - TeslaMotors - can rightfully be considered one of the most ingenious. Starting with the fact that Musk invested all the savings in the project and ending with the fact that he personally participated in the development, proving that he is not only a businessman, but also an inventor. Everything went great at first:

• the release of the debut model of the Roadster sports car, in the development and design of which Musk personally took part (the development of the battery module was often carried out in his garage, the design of the headlights, as well as the body material - the merits of the billionaire inventor);
• receiving a GlobalGreen Award for contributing to sustainable production;
• a change in the image of an electric car: uncomfortable, small cars, after working on them, Musk's teams turned into prestigious high-speed sports cars;
• attracting new investors such as Larry Page, Sergey Brin, etc.

The situation escalated in 2007, when it came to the opening of the conveyor line. It turned out that the management's miscalculations led to the fact that the cost of the electric car would be twice as high as that included in the estimate - 92 thousand dollars. Technical flaws were also identified (the transmission concept proposed by CEO Eberhard turned out to be erroneous and requiring serious improvements).

There were a few weeks with zero bank accounts. I had a choice: take all the capital left over from the PayPall sale and invest in Tesla, or Tesla dies. (Quote from the 2014 film Billionaire Elon Musk, How I Became a Real Iron Man).

The entrepreneur takes the situation into his own hands, saving the company from bankruptcy:

• fires Eberhard and top managers who made major mistakes;
• invests in Tesla all the money he had at that time - $ 20 million;
• ruthlessly reduces the number of company employees, leaving only those who are needed;
• negotiates with suppliers, bargaining for every cent;
• attracts investors in traditional and non-traditional ways (fortunately, there are many of them, you just need to competently look for options);
• seeks any means, even sells his favorite McLaren F1 car.

Soon the whole world started talking about a fundamentally new means of transportation, environmentally friendly, stylish and almost perfect. More information about the sources of investment is in Table 1. In 2016, it became known that in America there was a fatal accident involving the innovative Tesla sedan. This reduced the share price by 3%, but everyone is sure that the company's development cannot be stopped.

The company's profits up to 2015 inclusive had a negative trend, that is, the company worked at a loss. According to the billionaire, profitability will increase significantly when sales reach one million cars a year in 2020. So far, the increase in losses is associated with a decrease in prices in key regions for the company: Europe, China, USA. On this moment Model S and Model M electric vehicles are available for sale.

A logical continuation was the opening of gas stations for electric vehicles from Tesla Supercharger. The idea is that they will be available worldwide, making electric vehicles more affordable.

Fifth project: SpaceX.

In the long run, I would really like to go to Mars. This is SpaceX's primary goal. (Quote from the 2014 film Billionaire Elon Musk, How I Became a Real Iron Man).

The most ambitious project supported at the state level in the USA. The company was founded in 2002, its goal is the ability to travel to other planets using modern high-tech rockets. The starting point is Mars.

Achievements in this area are already colossal:

• reduction of costs by 10 times;
• creation of a rocket and three types of liquid engines from scratch;
• a change in the concept of space flights, from now on the goal is the colonization of space, and not episodic flights there.

Today, Musk's "crazy" idea is not only generally recognized, but also supported at the state level. NASA has signed a contract with SpaceX for 12 missions to deliver cargo to the ISS.

How did Musk manage to reduce the cost of flights? When a theodolite was needed to level the surface of the rocket, Musk did not order it from government agencies, he bought it on eBay, while saving $ 25,000.

The delivery of a man to Mars is planned for 2026.

"Personal style" by Ilona Mask and the success story

Elon Musk never had a choice whether to do or not. The question was: what to do next? (Quote from the 2014 film Billionaire Elon Musk, How I Became a Real Iron Man).

Elon Musk is not a man with a business acumen. He is a dreamer working to make his projects, even the most fantastic, come true. Nevertheless, in difficult situations, he acts like a tough businessman, not looking back at personalities. An incomplete list of situations where the actions of an entrepreneur, which seemed to the rest of the madness, led to tremendous success:

• investing money not just in innovative, but in revolutionary projects;
• the ability to see one step ahead where others did not see the prospects;
• the desire not only to make money, but to change the world.

To make the idea of \u200b\u200ban electric car attractive, Musk changed the worldview of people. From now on, driving an electric car is easy, convenient and prestigious! A whole network of gas stations was also built, serving this type of machine.

In addition to the fact that this man is an inventor and a successful businessman, he also became the prototype of the famous character in comics and movies - Iron Man. By the way, he starred in Iron Man 2 as a friend of the protagonist. They talk and talk about his phenomenon!

Elon Musk's story is both impressive and instructive. It gives hope to those who dream of success and are willing to work for it day and night.

The Western world is supported by active, lively, smart, a little adventurous people who create their own business. And even if there were hundreds of losers for one successful businessman, it was they who became the engine and brand of the West. And one of them was Elon Musk.

Childhood

Elon Musk's biography is very similar to similar stories about the life of the same businessmen, politicians, famous actors and scientists. Moreover, often all these professions were combined in the same people. Musk is not a Native American - he was born in Pretoria, South Africa in the early seventies. The city in which Elon Musk was born was formed as the administrative capital of the country, which was also considered a scientific center. His parents worked there - dad (an engineer by profession) and mom - in their youth, a Canadian model, and then a nutritionist. In the family, besides Elon, two more children grew up.

At ten years old, Elon was handed the first computer, which allowed him to actively engage in new technologies. Already at the age of twelve, he managed to realize his first computer game for $ 500. The teenager invested the proceeds in a pharmaceutical company and after a while earned several times more for shares. With this money, Musk moved to Canada at the age of 17. There he learns a new life, including learning what poverty is. So, he learned to exist on $ 1 a day, fortunately, without getting a disease of the digestive tract.

Formation of a worldview

In his youth, Musk literally devoured philosophical and religious books. But the most significant impact on him had science fiction, for example, the book "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." According to the future businessman, it was then that he decided that it was necessary, first of all, to be able to ask the right questions. And when he got a job in college, he already understood how to influence the development of civilization - he would work on resettlement of earthlings to new planets. The entrepreneur set himself the task of making fantasy real in order to contribute to the development of the space industry. And he began to look for funds.

First steps in business

In the early nineties, Musk changed his place of residence and stopped in the United States, where he got a job at the University of Pennsylvania and began to study such opposite subjects as physics and business. He is writing his doctoral dissertation at Stanford University, but does not attend classes. Together with his fellow students like him, Musk creates the firm Zip2. At the end of the twentieth century, this campaign was bought by Compaq Computer for $ 307 million, of which the young man received $ 20 million. With this money, he acquired a McLaren F1 plane and moved to elite housing.

From X.com to SolarCity

The businessman did not stay still. Elon Musk, whose biography is full of a variety of, often just wonderful, phenomena, creates a new company at the end of the twentieth century immediately after he sold the previous one. X.com was successful at first, but then there were problems. A couple of years later, the company was renamed PayPal, merging with the latter.

Both structures worked on the development of individual electronic money transfers via e-mail, and the result of the commercial transaction was the merger of payment systems. In practice, however, this did not work out that way. Musk stood firmly behind the X.com brand without renaming it PayPal. Colleagues thought differently. This led to a split in the leadership of the campaign.

The development of events ended with the departure of Musk by decision of the board of directors. But the very idea of \u200b\u200bElon to form a new company by merging the two firms, together with the rapid development of a computerized online payment system, contributed to the growth of the company's image in record time. The firm has already been irrevocably converted to PayPal. Significant changes and growth in value made it possible to place the securities on the exchange in early 2002. In the same year, PayPal was acquired by eBay for $ 1.5 billion. Given that Musk had 11.7% of the firm, he received $ 175 million.

New business

In 2006, Musk formalized SolarCity, the firm he still owns and maintains. This organization is working to create compact power plants for individual use on building roofs. But the leading principle was not to build power plants for the owners of houses on their own, but to get them on lease for a long period. The buyer can himself analyze the commercial benefits of the implementation of such a project, because he buys his individual solar power plant for a very low price. Ordinary Americans usually become their masters. The business turned out to be successful.

But Elon Musk himself was already moving towards other projects.

Happy end American style

Here you need to make a short pause. Elon Musk, whose biography has both turbulent success and fiasco, has been very lucky when it comes to innovative ideas. IN last years his firm moves more successfully than rivals. In the structure of more than 30 operational centers in the USA, another client comes every five minutes, and there is a large line of those who wish to work with solar energy ahead. SolarCity has already installed similar equipment in more than tens of thousands of homes and is now ranked as one of the largest.

Hence, serious shifts in the fate of Musk himself. Elon Musk's fortune is estimated at $ 10.7 billion on the Forbs list of billionaires in 2016.

In December of the same year, he was among the members of the Presidential Forum on Strategy and Policy under President Trump, a small group of 16 American businessmen assembled to develop solutions for the 45th President of the United States on economic issues.

Elon Musk for his still not very long life received a large number of awards for what he managed to invent. In 2008, he was named the 75 Most Significant People of the Year by Esquire magazine. In 2011, the businessman receives the Heinlein Prize for great achievements in the commercialization of space. At the same time, Forbes included him in the list of the 20 most influential young big businessmen.

Elon Musk was the second entrepreneur to form three firms worth over $ 1 billion each. After that, a large number of businessmen wanted to reproduce this success. However, they were in for a fiasco. It seems that the businessman worked under different laws. Or he was born under the wing of fortune.

Spacewalk

Elon Musk, whose biography shows that in any case it is impossible to stop, creates a rocket company in 2002. At the same time, it was immediately announced that the main task was to reduce the cost of space flights and the exploration of Mars. Elon Musk (SpaceX - his brainchild) is defined as a private author, manufacturer of a number of launch vehicles and a commercial operator of space structures.

And success awaited him again. In the same year, NASA entered into a $ 1.6 billion contract with the company for 12 launches of the Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station to replace obsolete carriers.

Such great interest was aroused, according to the recollections of Elon himself, not only by the desire for profit, but also by the ideas of major science fiction writers, in particular, the novels of Isaac Asimov with his ideas for the widespread development of the universe. The businessman believed that the expansion of the possessions of mankind on several planets would be a good defense against the danger of the elimination of civilization.

To date, SpaceX has made a number of space rockets and the Dragon spacecraft. In 2010, it turned out to be the first spacecraft to be successfully launched, launched into orbit, and returned. Later, in 2015, it was the first spacecraft to join the ISS.

In 2006, Musk's firm managed to take first place in the NASA competition for grants for space objects and earned $ 278 million from this. Five successful flights have already been completed.

Tesla

Elon Musk's name is forever associated with another company - Tesla Motors. In 2010, the shares of the firm, which never showed normal returns, were put up for public sale. And the moment was so successful that at once the price of the shares in the auction rose by 41%. Forbes dubbed them the most profitable stocks of the year.

In 2012, Musk expressed confidence that in half a century all cars will be electric. He began to work on this line, and in 2008 Elon Musk still created the Tesla Roadster - this is the first electric car put into mass production.

Business plan

The mask is often likened to Steve Jobs. He used the phrase "field of distortion of reality", convincing everyone that the impossible is possible. Musk's comrades at work claim that he collects material so that technology develops within the framework of his reality.

His company Tesla Motors was often on the verge of ruin, although Elon Musk himself achieved great results in business. The biography of Tesla, the creator, makes it clear that the businessman by all means tried to keep the company afloat. The situation has improved over the years.

A little about personal

Elon Musk's personal life is not original in comparison with other famous people. The first wife, Justin Musk, studied with Elon at the same university in Canada. Their marriage took place in 2000, they have five sons. But in the fall of 2008, the couple decided to break up, since Musk began dating English actress Taluda Riley. The second marriage took place in 2010 and was unsuccessful - the couple divorced several times, then converged again, until in 2016 they parted forever.

At the moment, Elon Musk is dating American actress Amber Heard.

Gotta live differently

Elon Musk, whose biography teaches us to constantly go out of the ordinary, believes that innovation is hampered by the ability of people to think in analogies. Therefore, they do not organize fresh ideas, but try to improve existing ones. The businessman believes that it is necessary to expand reality and organize something fundamentally opposite.

By the way, space seems to be unrealistic for business. It takes a lot of money to implement projects in this area. But Musk is convinced that costs can be dramatically reduced by defining a new mission for flights. Because of this, he formed SpaceX, whose goal is to colonize planets. The entrepreneur notes that when it is necessary to relocate the people of the Earth to another planet, it must be done inexpensively.

It's hard to live as an innovator

This is what Elon Musk is all about. One of the firm's successes is General Motors' decision to develop the Chevy Volt. It is a small machine with electrical charging potential. At the level of an electric car, it is able to drive 65 km. During the creation period, 33 thousand people wanted to buy a car.

Elon Musk, whose plans are always optimistic, became successful by implementing seemingly insane ideas. However, he not only became a self-sufficient person, fed his family, he also went down in history. A businessman seeks to improve life and therefore works on projects that in the coming years will give an opportunity for humanity to develop.

Elon Reeve Musk (June 28, 1971) is an American and Canadian billionaire. Known as a talented engineer and inventor, founder and owner of SpaceX. Chief Designer Tesla Motors. Forbes estimates he has a net worth of over $ 12 billion.

Childhood

Elon was born in South Africa in the city of Pretoria. The boy's mother was Canadian and worked as a nutritionist. Father, native South Africa, worked as an engineer. Relationships in the family did not work out, so the parents soon separated. The boy stayed with his father, which was not the best choice. The man was distinguished by his temper and tough temper.

Elon did well in school and was an introverted boy. For these or some other reasons, his classmates disliked him. The child was constantly bullied, it even came to systematic beatings.

However, at home, Elon was a completely different person. At the age of 10, his big dream came true - the boy received a personal computer for his birthday. Unlike most of his peers, who used cars solely for entertainment, he became interested in programming. Having mastered it on his own, Elon decided that the knowledge gained should pay dividends. As a result, the boy created a video game that was a success and went off like hot cakes. And this despite the serious cost of $ 500.

The earnings plan did not end there. In fact, it has just started. With the money raised, the boy bought shares in a pharmaceutical company.

He picked it up by analyzing information from newspapers. And he was right. Soon he had enough money on hand to make his dream come true.

Study

Elon has always dreamed of getting to the USA. It was this country that he considered an ideal place for all those who have a sharp mind and a desire to apply it. However, he could not simply come to a foreign country. At the same time, a real prospect loomed in front of the young man soon to wear military uniform... Therefore, he decided to take advantage of his mother's citizenship and the fact that she had relatives in Canada.

Despite the protests of his parents, the young man packed his things and went to another continent. In Canada, he entered the University of Kingston. Thanks to his excellent studies, Elon received a scholarship from the University of Pennsylvania and soon crossed the cherished border.

Among university subjects, he gave preference to physics and business. Needless to say, he succeeded in the chosen directions. Now it was possible to determine the future. After analyzing the situation, the young man realized that there are three things that interest him.

In those years, the development of the Internet was just beginning. In him, Elon saw an inexhaustible source of opportunity. He was also attracted by alternative energy sources and space.

In 1995, the young man went to Stanford. He intended to continue his education, but soon gave up this venture.

Career

Instead of studying, Elon teamed up with his brother and created the Zip2 company. She was focused on developing software for news companies. After 4 years, the brothers sold it, as a result Musk became richer by $ 22 million.

Elon's next brainchild was PayPal, an internet payment service that eBay acquired, paying Musk $ 1.5 billion in person.

He now had sufficient funds to devote time and effort to his own projects. Since Musk has already mastered the Internet, he turned his gaze to space and alternative energy sources.

Space

Elon has always been obsessed with colonizing Mars. He was interested in the project of placing greenhouses there, in which plants could be grown automatically. Since the cost of implementing this plan did not fit into any framework, the businessman decided to start small. From your own rocket.

In 2002, he created SpaceX, and in 2006 the Falcon9 launch vehicle made its maiden flight. Then the Dragon spacecraft was born, making flights to the World Space Station.

Energy

Elon Musk did not forget about alternative energy sources. He invested a large sum of money in SolarSity, a solar installation company.

TeslaMotors designs and manufactures electric vehicles.

Personal life

Elon Musk's personal life interested journalists after his first divorce. Despite the fact that the couple separated peacefully, the press was attracted by the fact that the family had five young sons. Elon met his first wife in Canada when he was a simple student.

The second wife of the billionaire was the young actress Talulah Riley. Their relationship did not last long and ended in divorce.

Criticism and scandalous incidents

Rescue operation at Thamluangnangnon cave

Elon Musk's attempt to take part in the rescue operation carried out in the Thamluangnangnon cave and the events that followed caused a great public outcry. The American businessman said that he was discussing options for saving people together with cavers. On July 10, 2018, after 8 children were rescued, he brought a mini-submarine he created to the rescue site, using elements of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, which was supposed to help children unprepared for diving. However, the rescuers considered that it was inappropriate to use it.

Caver Vern Unsworth, who played a key role in the rescue operation, criticized the proposal, calling it a publicity stunt. According to him, this plan had no chance of success: a submarine with a rigid frame would not have passed even the first 50 meters, along the way he spoke rudely to Musk. In response, Elon posted a tweet in which he called the British diver a pedophile. Musk quickly erased this tweet, but he already managed to cause a wave of negative reaction and numerous articles in various media, the situation caused a short-term drop in the value of Tesla shares. A few days later, Elon apologized to Unsworth.

Joe Rogan's podcast

In September 2018, Musk attended a show by American comedian Joe Rogan. During the conversation, the entrepreneur smoked a mixture of marijuana and tobacco, having previously asked Rogan if it was legal. Elon said he rarely smokes marijuana, explaining that the drug has no effect on him.

Allegations of violation of the securities law

In the fall of 2018, a number of Tesla traders and shareholders sued Musk and accused the head of the company of violating the securities law. The investigation into this administrative case was taken up by the US Federal Securities Commission (SEC). The lawsuit alleged that Musk deliberately leaked false information on his Twitter account to influence Tesla's stock price. In his personal account, the head of the company announced the decision to make Tesla a private company and that he had already found the finance to buy back shares. In the messages, he also indicated that he plans to buy back the securities at the rate of $ 420 per share, that is, above their market value.

Due to criticism from users social network and shareholders Musk decided to keep Tesla a public company. In September 2018, the US Department of Justice, in parallel with the administrative case, opened a criminal case against Tesla. According to the SEC lawsuit, Musk faces a ban on holding managerial positions in public companies.

In response to the accusations, Elon Musk stated the following:

I am deeply disappointed with the SEC's unfounded accusations. I have always acted in the best interest of investors and honesty is the most important value in my life. The facts will prove that I never put anyone at risk.

On September 29, 2018, Musk and the SEC settled these charges out of court. According to the agreement, Musk will remain the head of Tesla, but will not be able to serve as chairman of the board of directors for three years. In addition, he must pay a $ 20 million fine. The same fine was imposed on Tesla.

Philanthropy

Elon became chairman of the board of the Musk Foundation. In January 2015, the foundation donated $ 10 million to the Institute for the Future of Humanity for research into the control of artificial intelligence.

In July 2018, the entrepreneur offered his help in an operation to rescue children from the flooded Tham Luang cave. Four engineers from Tesla, SpaceX and The Boring Company were sent to help the rescuers. A mini-submarine designed specifically for this operation was delivered to Thailand, but Thai rescuers refused to use it. Speleologist Verne Unsworth, who played one of the key roles in the rescue operation, criticized Musk's proposal - according to him, a submarine with a rigid frame "could not swim even the first 50 meters from the beginning of the cave."

Politics

In December 2016, he became a member of the President's Forum on Strategy and Policy under President Donald Trump, a group of 16 American entrepreneurs whose task is to advise the 45th President of the United States on issues related to economic growth and job creation. and an increase in labor productivity, but in 2017 withdrew from further participation in the forum in protest against Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement.

Movie

According to Jon Favreau, director of the film Iron Man (2008), Elon Musk served as the inspiration for the film incarnation of Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr.

In 2010, Musk appeared in the film "Iron Man 2" in the role of himself (in the story Elon is Tony Stark's friend). In 2013, he also played himself in an episode of the film Machete Kills. Musk is seen among viewers attending the presentation of artificial intelligence in the science fiction movie Supremacy (2014, at 00: 07: 39-41), and his name is in the credits.

Elon Musk made a cameo appearance in The Simpsons, Season 26, Episode 12, which aired on January 25, 2015.

In episode 9 of season 9 of "The Big Bang Theory" he plays a cameo.

In 2017, he starred in the comedy Why Him? in the role of himself.

Also at the end of episode 6 of season 1 of Sheldon's Childhood, Musk sits at a table and reads a synopsis of young Sheldon.

Condition assessment

In 2015, unofficial data appeared on the Internet, according to which the state of Elon Musk is 13.1 billion US dollars.

Already in the next year, there was also official information provided by Forbes. According to the American financial and economic magazine, Musk owns an amount equal to $ 10.7 billion.

Elon Musk now

Elon Musk's main goal remains the creation of a human colony on Mars. In a 2011 interview, he stated that the first settlers would travel to the Red Planet over the next two decades. By 2040, Musk predicts, 80,000 people will live on Mars.

Work continues on the BFR - Big Falcon Rocket - a launch vehicle and spacecraft with a payload of 150 tons. The BFR is expected to replace previous generations of the Falcon and become the primary vehicle for transporting goods and people to Mars.