We’ve all heard of him, as he has been booming in the news recently. The space explorer, inventor, and engineer and billionaire. The CEO of SpaceX, CEO of Tesla, brain behind the Hyperloop concept. He even made flamethrowers for his boring company. Some people only know him as the SpaceX guy, or the Tesla guy, but in reality, he has a very diverse background with something to interest anybody. So who is this person? What does he do? How do his philosophies tie in with his evident success?

Elon Musk was born in South Africa. He wanted to move to Canada and attend Queens university. This is partly due to the mandatory enrollment in the South African army at a certain age. After some time attending Queens University, he decided to transfer to Penn State. He had originally intended to transfer to Stanford University but, after two days after enrollment, he dropped out after seeing first hand how successful the internet was becoming. He had already made a website, Zip2. Zip2 found enough success that he sold it later and made an approximate profit of $300 million. At that time, the internet – though not nearly as impressive as it is today – was entering its first phase in true success. This is where our friend, Elon, made his mark by founding X.com, a company that later turned into the very successful PayPal.com.

So what does he do now? The thing is, he founded a few other companies up to this point and all of them can’t seem to stay out of the news. He founded SpaceX in early 2000; while NASA is a government run program, SpaceX functions as a private rocket program. Recently, he created quite the spectacle in California with the launch of a rocket that convinced everybody that aliens were coming. In February 2018, SpaceX launched the “Falcon Heavy,” an unmanned rocket with massive cargo capacity that holds the record for the most powerful rocket ever launched. Part of the hype around this launch centered around Musk’s choice of cargo: his very own cherry-red Tesla Roadster.

In addition to SpaceX, Musk created the car company, Tesla. The Tesla company has shown the profitability of getting electric cars out on the road. One of the most famous models is the Tesla Model S. It is electric sedan with a range of over 250 miles which is compatible with a variety of charging stations. Musk innovated the car industry by taking what was thought to be impossible – making electric cars practical – a reality. The car even became 2013 car of the year by Motor Trend Magazine!

Musk’s next idea was for the “Hyperloop One” concept. It is a train system in a decompressed tube which allows the trains to move at speeds of up to 700 miles an hour. Questions were raised about the pricing since he estimated the project to cost almost 4 billion dollars less than what California calculated.

Musk has also raised questions about the future of artificial intelligence. He acts as co-chair of a non profit organization called OpenAI. His description of the possible dangers and hazards of AI led Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of facebook, to openly disagree with Musk. Musk fired back in a tweet saying that Zuckerberg has a limited grasp on this particular subject.

In some ways, Musk is the next in a long tradition of American business men making extraordinary amounts of money. Two of the richest men in the world – Bill Gates and Jeff Besos – both come from the United States. Musk is a unique billionaire, however. His money is a direct result of his extravagant, innovative ideas. The combination of his profitability, innovation and sense of humor makes him a truly unique man. Elon Musk is changing the world.

Sources:

https://www.biography.com/people/elon-musk-20837159

https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/03/elon-musk-billion-dollar-crusade-to-stop-ai-space-x

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