Elon Musk

Elon Musk

The co-founder of Telsa Motors and PayPal, Elon Musk, is a successful business magnate. Presently he is the CEO and Chief designer of Space X, Telsa Motors and the Chairman of SolarCity.

Elon Musk was born on 28th June, 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa. He got his first computer at the age of 10 and after just two years had sold commercial software that he had created, for 500 dollars. He enrolled in Queen’s University in Canada but left to pursue business and physics at the University of Pennsylvania. He had always wanted to go to the United States as he believed ‘it was where great things are possible’, and indeed he achieved the greatness he was looking for. He later attended Stanford University for only two days after which he left to initiate ‘Zip2’. They sold this company to Compaq for 307 million dollars in cash and 34 million as stock options.

In March 1999, he co-founded X.com which was an online payment and financial facility. In 2000, the company formed a merger with Confinity that was also a similar website. In 2001, X.com was officially re-named ‘PayPal Inc.’ Musk started a marketing campaign that led to its successful growth. Next year eBay acquired the company for 1.5 billion dollars in stock. He was PayPal’s biggest shareholder with 11.7 percent shares until its sale. Musk’s third venture was the creation of SpaceX or ‘Space Exploration Technologies’ in 2002. SpaceX is responsible for the development and manufacturing of space launch vehicles. It primarily focuses on the advancement of the rocket technology. ‘Falcon 1’ and ‘Falcon 9’ are the first launch vehicles made by SpaceX. Its first spacecraft is called ‘Dragon’. Musk is also the CEO of Telsa Motors, a car company that designs and manufactures affordable electric cars for the mainstream consumers. The first vehicle made by the company is an electric sedan and Model X which is a SUV. He also spearheads SolarCity, the main objective of which is to fight global warming and air pollution.

Elon Musk became a multi-millionaire when he was in his twenties. His dedication and excellent entrepreneurial skills turned him into a billionaire by the time he was thirty. According to Time magazine he is one of the 100 people who have affected the world. In 2010, he was presented with the most prestigious award in air & space, the ‘FAI Gold Space Medal’ by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. In 2011, he was awarded with $500,000 as Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space Commercialization. The same year he was ranked in ‘America’s 20 Most Powerful CEO’s 40 and Under’ by Forbes. He is recognized as a ‘Living Legend in Aviation’ and was given the ‘George Low’ award by American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Musk is also the founder of ‘Musk Foundation’ which is known for its philanthropic work related to science education, clean energy and pediatric health. Musk has signed ‘The Giving Pledge’ which means that he will donate most of his wealth to charitable works. His current net worth is $2.4 billion.