At the tender age of 18, in 1989, Elon Musk left his home in Canada to avoid the military draft and join his brother in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa. The ambitious young entrepreneur had a tenacious spirit, one that would later be known around the world. Little did people know that his decisions would shape the future of our world.
Since his early days, Elon Musk held some intriguing interests, such as physics, quantum mechanics and computers. He was an avid reader and a self-taught programmer. Further, he yearned to challenge himself intellectually. In 1992, he pursued Bachelor of Science degrees in economics and physics at Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada.
But Musk had bigger plans in mind. By the time he was 18, he had already founded his first software company – Zip2 Corporation, a web-based city guide. His ideas and passion for success led him to the hallways of Stanford University, where he completed a Graduate Program in Energy Engineering.
Though Musk had many victories, leading Zip2 was his biggest success story at only 18 years old. He sold the company for more than $300 million in cash and stock options, concurrent with his 24th birthday.
Afterwards, Elon Musk shifted his focus to space exploration and formed X.com, a business venture to create an online financial services company. By the age of 27, Musk had already changed the course of space exploration and revolutionized internet payments.
When asked what makes Musk so successful, experts often point to his ability to think like a scientist — gather data and make analysis. They also note his appreciation of the big picture in business and his devotion to the long term.
From early on, Musk was driven by the
