Background information
Elon Musk is an influential entrepreneur and investor. He is best known for his roles in the development of companies such as Tesla, PayPal and SpaceX. He has been called “the face of the 21st century” due to his innovative and often unexpected business decisions. As one of the most famous and successful figures in the world of technology, few have been able to reinforce an empire as impressive as Musk’s. But what was his financial background that allowed him to reach his current stations?
Early career
Musk’s family background wasn’t wealthy. However, his ambition and drive for success led him to create and invest in some of the most profitable ventures of our time.
At the young age of 12, Musk taught himself how to program and then sold his first piece of software, a game titled Blastar, for $500. Musk used this early technology investment to fund his future business endeavours. Musk enrolled in a graduate program at Stanford University for a PhD in applied physics, but dropped out after two days to start Zip2, an online city guide for newspapers that was later sold to Compaq for $22 million.
With this money, Musk then moved on to other ventures. He founded X.com, a financial services and e-mail payment company, which later merged with Confinity to become PayPal. The eventual sale of PayPal to eBay in 2002 yielded Musk US$165 million.
The stock market
Musk invested a portion of his wealth in the stock market to further increase his financial capacity. In 2013, Musk’s stock investments amounted to around US$107 million, and he consulted Goldman Sachs for advice on further investments.
This, however, is still not the most impressive thing when it comes to his investments. One of his most emblematic venture is Tesla, the electric car manufacturer. The initial public offering of Tesla in 2010 raised US$226 million and Musk was given US$78 million, creating one of the most impressive stories of modern time when it comes to venture.
Non tech investments
Aside of his venture in the tech industry, Musk has further reinforced his empire in the field of renewable energy. He has invested in Solar City, a company that produces solar panels and batteries, and is currently engaged in the largest power storage project in America with the creation of a grid-scale battery plant in Australia. This project has been considered by experts as a breakthrough in renewable energy storage.
Verdict
It is indisputable that Elon Musk has achieved a tremendous level of wealth throughout his career. The sale of his PayPal stock in Ebay alone gave him an impressive US$165 million. Moreover, the successful launch of Tesla and other ventures have allowed Musk to further strengthen his wealth.
Charitable endeavours
In recent years, Musk has pledged to donate billions of dollars to charities and educational causes that focus on environmental conservation, education and renewable energy. In 2018, he donated over US$5.5 million to Tesla STEM, an organization that provides high-quality STEM programs to underserved communities around the world.
He also donated US$10 million to the Future of Life Institute, an MIT-linked organization that is researching methods to avoid the potential dangers posed by artificial intelligence. The donation was accompanied by a comment: “This is a case where you have a very serious danger to the public. It’s the morally right thing to do”.
Reflections on wealth
Throughout his career, Musk stayed focus to a number of ambitious and cutting-edge projects that combine a technological background with an innovative vision for the future. Many of these projects required large investments that forced Musk to invest his own funds in their development. With the sale of his tech companies, he accumulated a large sum of money that allowed him to venture in other industries and increase his wealth even more.
Musk’s ambitions
Musk’s ambition isn’t the accumulation of wealth but the possibility of creating a sustainable human civilization on Mars and eliminating the boundaries between humans and machines. The billionaire entrepreneur declared that “if there was a way that I could not pay taxes, I would.” His figure is also associated with luxury cars and airplanes that speak of an incredible amount of wealth.
Financial means
Though the exact amount of his wealth is difficult to determine, experts believe that the majority of Musk’s wealth lies in the stock of Tesla and SpaceX, the rocket and space exploration enterprise. By its latest count, at the end of December 2019 Tesla stock was worth US$22 billion dollars, making it the highest valued car manufacturer in the world at the time.
Conclusion
It is indisputable that Elon Musk’s success as an entrepreneur and investor has allowed him to amass an impressive amount of wealth. His holdings include stocks from companies like Tesla and SpaceX, venture investments and charitable endeavours. Throughout his career, he has been driven by his ambition to create and revolutionise industries, but it is his capacity for innovation, hard work and risk-taking that has allowed him to reach his current level of success.
