Elon Musk

South African entrepreneur Elon Musk is known for founding Tesla Motors and
SpaceX, which launched a landmark commercial spacecraft in 2012.

Who Is Elon Musk?

Elon Musk is a South African-born American entrepreneur and businessman who founded
X.com in 1999 (which later became PayPal), SpaceX in 2002 and Tesla Motors in 2003.
Musk became a multimillionaire in his late 20s when he sold his start-up company, Zip2, to a
division of Compaq Computers.

Musk made headlines in May 2012, when SpaceX launched a rocket that would send the first
commercial vehicle to the International Space Station. He bolstered his portfolio with the
purchase of SolarCity in 2016 and cemented his standing as a leader of industry by taking on
an advisory role in the early days of President Donald Trump's administration.

In January 2021, Musk reportedly surpassed Jeff Bezos as the wealthiest man in the world.

Early Life
Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa. As a child, Musk was so lost in
his daydreams about inventions that his parents and doctors ordered a test to check his
hearing.

At about the time of his parents’ divorce, when he was 10, Musk developed an interest in
computers. He taught himself how to program, and when he was 12 he sold his first software:
a game he created called Blastar.

In grade school, Musk was short, introverted and bookish. He was bullied until he was 15 and
went through a growth spurt and learned how to defend himself with karate and wrestling.

Family
Musk’s mother, Maye Musk, is a Canadian model and the oldest woman to star in a Covergirl
campaign. When Musk was growing up, she worked five jobs at one point to support her
family.

Musk’s father, Errol Musk, is a wealthy South African engineer.

Musk spent his early childhood with his brother Kimbal and sister Tosca in South Africa. His
parents divorced when he was 10.

Education
At age 17, in 1989, Musk moved to Canada to attend Queen’s University and avoid
mandatory service in the South African military. Musk obtained his Canadian citizenship that
year, in part because he felt it would be easier to obtain American citizenship via that path.

In 1992, Musk left Canada to study business and physics at the University of Pennsylvania.
He graduated with an undergraduate degree in economics and stayed for a second bachelor’s
degree in physics.

After leaving Penn, Musk headed to Stanford University in California to pursue a PhD in
energy physics. However, his move was timed perfectly with the Internet boom, and he
dropped out of Stanford after just two days to become a part of it, launching his first
company, Zip2 Corporation in 1995. Musk became a U.S. citizen in 2002.
 Companies
Zip2 Corporation
Musk launched his first company, Zip2 Corporation, in 1995 with his brother, Kimbal Musk.
An online city guide, Zip2 was soon providing content for the new websites of both The New
York Times and the Chicago Tribune. In 1999, a division of Compaq Computer Corporation
bought Zip2 for $307 million in cash and $34 million in stock options.

PayPal
In 1999, Elon and Kimbal Musk used the money from their sale of Zip2 to found X.com, an
online financial services/payments company. An X.com acquisition the following year led to
the creation of PayPal as it is known today.

In October 2002, Musk earned his first billion when PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5
billion in stock. Before the sale, Musk owned 11 percent of PayPal stock.

SpaceX
Musk founded his third company, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX,
in 2002 with the intention of building spacecraft for commercial space travel. By 2008,
SpaceX was well established, and NASA awarded the company the contract to handle cargo
transport for the International Space Station—with plans for astronaut transport in the future
—in a move to replace NASA’s own space shuttle missions.

Falcon 9 Rockets
On May 22, 2012, Musk and SpaceX made history when the company launched its Falcon 9
rocket into space with an unmanned capsule. The vehicle was sent to the International Space
Station with 1,000 pounds of supplies for the astronauts stationed there, marking the first time
a private company had sent a spacecraft to the International Space Station. Of the launch,
Musk was quoted as saying, "I feel very lucky. ... For us, it's like winning the Super Bowl."

In December 2013, a Falcon 9 successfully carried a satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit,

a distance at which the satellite would lock into an orbital path that matched the Earth's
rotation. In February 2015, SpaceX launched another Falcon 9 fitted with the Deep Space
Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite, aiming to observe the extreme emissions from the
sun that affect power grids and communications systems on Earth.

In March 2017, SpaceX saw the successful test flight and landing of a Falcon 9 rocket made
from reusable parts, a development that opened the door for more affordable space travel.

A setback came in November 2017, when an explosion occurred during a test of the
company's new Block 5 Merlin engine. SpaceX reported that no one was hurt, and that the
issue would not hamper its planned rollout of a future generation of Falcon 9 rockets.
The company enjoyed another milestone moment in February 2018 with the successful test
launch of the powerful Falcon Heavy rocket. Armed with additional Falcon 9 boosters, the
Falcon Heavy was designed to carry immense payloads into orbit and potentially serve as a
vessel for deep space missions. For the test launch, the Falcon Heavy was given a payload of
Musk's cherry-red Tesla Roadster, equipped with cameras to "provide some epic views" for
the vehicle's planned orbit around the sun.
In July 2018, Space X enjoyed the successful landing of a new Block 5 Falcon rocket, which
touched down on a drone ship less than 9 minutes after liftoff.

BFR Mission to Mars

In September 2017, Musk presented an updated design plan for his BFR (an acronym for
either "Big F---ing Rocket" or "Big Falcon Rocket"), a 31-engine behemoth topped by a
spaceship capable of carrying at least 100 people. He revealed that SpaceX was aiming to
launch the first cargo missions to Mars with the vehicle in 2022, as part of his overarching
goal of colonizing the Red Planet.

In March 2018, the entrepreneur told an audience at the annual South by Southwest festival in
Austin, Texas, that he hoped to have the BFR ready for short flights early the following year,
while delivering a knowing nod at his previous problems with meeting deadlines.

The following month, it was announced that SpaceX would construct a facility at the Port of
Los Angeles to build and house the BFR. The port property presented an ideal location for
SpaceX, as its mammoth rocket will only be movable by barge or ship when completed.

Starlink Internet Satellites

In late March 2018, SpaceX received permission from the U.S. government to launch a fleet
of satellites into low orbit for the purpose of providing Internet service. The satellite network,
named Starlink, would ideally make broadband service more accessible in rural areas, while
also boosting competition in heavily populated markets that are typically dominated by one or
two providers.

SpaceX launched the first batch of 60 satellites in May 2019, and followed with another
payload of 60 satellites that November. While this represented significant progress for the
Starlink venture, the appearance of these bright orbiters in the night sky, with the potential of
thousands more to come, worried astronomers who felt that a proliferation of satellites would
increase the difficulty of studying distant objects in space.

Tesla Motors
Musk is the co-founder, CEO and product architect at Tesla Motors, a company formed in
2003 that is dedicated to producing affordable, mass-market electric cars as well as battery
products and solar roofs. Musk oversees all product development, engineering and design of
the company's products.

Roadster
Five years after its formation, in March 2008, Tesla unveiled the Roadster, a sports car
capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds, as well as traveling nearly 250 miles
between charges of its lithium ion battery.

With a stake in the company taken by Daimler and a strategic partnership with Toyota, Tesla
Motors launched its initial public offering in June 2010, raising $226 million.

Model S
In August 2008, Tesla announced plans for its Model S, the company's first electric sedan
that was reportedly meant to take on the BMW 5 series. In 2012, the Model S finally entered
production at a starting price of $58,570. Capable of covering 265 miles between charges, it
was honored as the 2013 Car of the Year by Motor Trend magazine.
In April 2017, Tesla announced that it surpassed General Motors to become the most valuable
U.S. car maker. The news was an obvious boon to Tesla, which was looking to ramp up
production and release its Model 3 sedan later that year.
In September 2019, using what Musk described as a "Plaid powertrain," a Model S set a speed
record for four-door sedan at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey County, California.

Model 3
The Model 3 was officially launched in early 2019 following extensive production delays.
The car was initially priced at $35,000, a much more accessible price point than the $69,500
and up for its Model S and X electric sedans.

After initially aiming to produce 5,000 new Model 3 cars per week by December 2017, Musk
pushed that goal back to March 2018, and then to June with the start of the new year. The
announced delay didn't surprise industry experts, who were well aware of the company's
production problems, though some questioned how long investors would remain patient with
the process. It also didn't prevent Musk from garnering a radical new compensation package
as CEO, in which he would be paid after reaching milestones of growing valuation based on
$50 billion increments.

By April 2018, with Tesla expected to fall short of first-quarter production forecasts, news
surfaced that Musk had pushed aside the head of engineering to personally oversee efforts in
that division. In a Twitter exchange with a reporter, Musk said it was important to "divide and
conquer" to meet production goals and was "back to sleeping at factory."
After signaling that the company would reorganize its management structure, Musk in June
announced that Tesla was laying off 9 percent of its workforce, though its production
department would remain intact. In an email to employees, Musk explained his decision to
eliminate some "duplication of roles" to cut costs, admitting it was time to take serious steps
toward turning a profit.

The restructuring appeared to pay dividends, as it was announced that Tesla had met its goal
of producing 5,000 Model 3 cars per week by the end of June 2018, while churning out
another 2,000 Model S sedans and Model X SUVs. "We did it!" Musk wrote in a celebratory
email to the company. "What an incredible job by an amazing team."

The following February, Musk announced that the company was finally rolling out its
standard Model 3. Musk also said that Tesla was shifting to all-online sales, and offering
customers the chance to return their cars within seven days or 1,000 miles for a full refund.

Semi Truck
In November 2017, Musk made another splash with the unveiling of the new Tesla Semi and
Roadster at the company's design studio. The semi-truck, which was expected to enter into
production in 2019 before being delayed, boasts 500 miles of range as well as a battery and
motors built to last 1 million miles.

Model Y and Roadster

In March 2019, Musk unveiled Tesla’s long-awaited Model Y. The compact crossover, which
began arriving for customers in March 2020, has a driving range of 300 miles and a 0 to 60
mph time of 3.5 seconds.

The Roadster, also set to be released in 2020, will become the fastest production car ever
made, with a 0 to 60 time of 1.9 seconds.

SolarCity
In August 2016, in Musk’s continuing effort to promote and advance sustainable energy and
products for a wider consumer base, a $2.6 billion dollar deal was solidified to combine his
electric car and solar energy companies. His Tesla Motors Inc. announced an all-stock deal
purchase of SolarCity Corp., a company Musk had helped his cousins start in 2006. He is a
majority shareholder in each entity.

“Solar and storage are at their best when they're combined. As one company, Tesla (storage)
and SolarCity (solar) can create fully integrated residential, commercial and grid-scale
products that improve the way that energy is generated, stored and consumed,” read a
statement on Tesla’s website about the deal.

The Boring Company

In January 2017, Musk launched The Boring Company, a company devoted to boring and
building tunnels in order to reduce street traffic. He began with a test dig on the SpaceX
property in Los Angeles.

In late October of that year, Musk posted the first photo of his company's progress to his
Instagram page. He said the 500-foot tunnel, which would generally run parallel to Interstate
405, would reach a length of two miles in approximately four months.

In May 2019 the company, now known as TBC, landed a $48.7 million contract from the Las
Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to build an underground Loop system to shuttle
people around the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Twitter
In October 2022, Musk officially bought Twitter and became the social media company's
CEO after months of back and forth.