Early Life
Elon Musk is the founder of world-renowned technology companies Tesla, SpaceX, and the Boring Company. He was born in South Africa in 1971 and currently lives in the United States of America. Musk was quite curious growing up, musing machine parts together to create ‘zombies’ and rockets. Despite this enthusiasm, Musk struggled in school due to his dyslexia and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
After high school, Musk attended Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and then moved to the United States. Musk eventually graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997, earning degrees in economics and physics. His grades, however, did not reflect the success he would later achieve in the technology realm.
Early Career
Musk began his entrepreneurship journey in 1995, when he founded Zip2, a web software company. The following year, he founded X.com, an online financial services/payments company that merged with Confinity in 2000. Confinity was a founder of an online money transfer service, PayPal. By 2002, PayPal was publicly traded, Musk owned 11.7% of it, and was worth around $180 million.
From 2003 to 2008, Musk acted as CEO of Tesla Motors. He purchased an electric car engineering company (Tesla Motors) in two parts, which would evolve into one of the most successful companies in the world. Musk named it after Nikola Tesla, a physicist and inventor.
SpaceX
Musk founded SpaceX, a space exploration company, in 2002 with the sole purpose of colonizing Mars. SpaceX has been responsible for a multitude of successes and breakthroughs, most notably the Falcon Heavy rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft. Falcon Heavy is the world’s most powerful rocket by a factor of two, and the Crew Dragon is a human-rated spacecraft. Together, they launch United States astronauts into space.
In 2018, SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy rocket, carrying Elon Musk’s personal Tesla Roadster. This was the first successful launch and demonstrated the capability of SpaceX. In 2020, Crew Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station.
The Boring Company
Musk founded The Boring Company, in 2016, with the mission of “reinventing transportation” and reducing traffic. The company aims to build pioneering underground transportation systems that are faster, safer, and more affordable than existing public transportation systems.
The Boring Company has achieved a number of successes since its launch, including a fully operational underground car tunnel. Additionally, they have continued to develop at a rapid pace, signing a major contract to build an express train service in Las Vegas.
Criticism and Controversy
Elon Musk has received criticism in recent years due to his uncompromising attitude and reportedly ‘irregular managerial behavior’. Over the years, he has faced numerous lawsuits, restrictions, and sanctions due to his questionable approaches to doing business.
Musk has also had a few controversies in the way of stock manipulation and misleading statements. In 2018, he was sued for fraud due to his tweets claiming he had secured funding for a privatisation for Tesla. He was forced to retract his statements and pay a $40 million settlement.
Philanthropy and Awards
Musk has donated extensively to science and engineering education, with his philanthropic focus being to extend opportunities to underprivileged students from all backgrounds. He also founded the Musk Foundation, a private charity organisation with the mission of improving human life and Earth’s environment.
Musk has received many awards over the years, including the 2019 Reinvention Award, given to him by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum. He received the award for his entrepreneurial successes, such as founding SpaceX and providing hope of a future of space exploration.
Personal Life
Musk is known for his work ethic and ambition, devoting countless hours of his time to his numerous business endeavors. With a net worth of $178 billion, as of March 2021, Musk has been listed as the world’s richest person by Forbes. Despite his impressive achievements and financial success, Musk spends most of his free time with his six sons, whom he co-parents with actress Amber Heard.
In 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Musk donated $20 million to various pandemic relief efforts. He also has allied with the governments of India, United Arab Emirates, and the United States to produce medical supplies. Most recently, Musk donated $1 million to the Victims International Foundation to help with relief efforts in India.
Leadership Style
Musk’s leadership style has been described as inspirational, tenacious and charismatic. His ‘fail-fast’ approach has led to quick results which, in turn, has helped the companies he works with to stay ahead of the competition. Musk is also known for his ability to motivate and instill confidence in his team. He has gone as far as to call corporations a ‘team of teams’, emphasizing the importance of cooperation in the workplace. Musk’s hands-on approach to leadership has allowed him to accelerate and improve the work process at several companies, such as Tesla and SpaceX.
Musk’s success has been attributed to his relentless obsession with detail. He is known to hire experienced personnel to discuss and analyze every detail of his ideas and concepts. Musk has also created a unique working relationship with experts and suppliers to ensure that projects stay on track and follow his high standards. Much of Musk’s success has come from his ability to break new grounds and think outside of the box.
