Paypal
Prior to working on Tesla, Elon Musk’s entrepreneurial journey started when, together with Peter Thiel and Max Levchin, he founded the revolutionary money transfer platform PayPal. Musk served as the chairman of PayPal and also led the company as the CEO, overseeing its merger with eBay in 2002 for US$1.5 billion of which he received US$165 million.
PayPal’s success was largely propelled by its validity in the field of financial technology, global reach, and solutions that enabled more secure and efficient payments. Throughout his tenure as CEO and chairman, Musk played a vital role in driving the company to becoming one of the leading payment processes in the world.
In a recent interview, Musk stated that his time at PayPal as chairman and CEO was a pivotal moment in teaching him to think global and have limitless ambition. He also highlighted that at PayPal, mistakes were allowed on the path of learning something really new.
“The culture of the company was such that it was permissible to fail, and you could learn from those mistakes. You can take risks there and have a higher-resolution path to go at something that you could get at other companies” he said.
Additionally, Musk is still actively involved with the company as a member of the PayPal Mafia, a term used to indicate the group of former employees from PayPal who established and invested in numerous successful technology companies such as YouTube, LinkedIn and Yammer.
SpaceX
After leaving PayPal, Musk went on to establish the aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company SpaceX, for which he serves as the CEO, CTO and lead designer. The primary aim of the company is to reduce space travel costs and enable the colonization of Mars.
SpaceX was established in 2002 as a private venture aimed at reducing the cost of space exploration and facilitating space transfers and launches. The main objective of the company is to build cost-efficient rockets and spacecrafts, and develop innovative technologies in order to explore its potential for interplanetary exploration.
The success that Elon Musk has achieved with SpaceX has been immense. To date, SpaceX has managed to launch over 150 successful missions with over 6 manned launches and its Falcon 9 rocket still in use with Space Shuttle missions. SpaceX has also broken many records such as being the first private company to launch and land a vehicle in orbit.
Moreover, SpaceX has partnered with numerous agencies such as NASA and the Air Force, and has also developed new propulsion systems including the Merlin engine, – the first fully reusable rocket system in the world.
In his words, Musk has defined SpaceX’s primary mission as “Making life multiplanetary”. Through this objective, SpaceX’s long-term ambitions include establishing a self-sustaining colony on Mars and eventually facilitating the exploration and colonization of other planets.
SolarCity
Musk went on to found the renewable energy company SolarCity in 2006. Established with the mission of bringing affordable and sustainable energy in the mainstream market, SolarCity quickly became the leading rooftop solar panel provider in the United States.
With the intention of making renewable energy accessible to all, SolarCity provides solar panel systems and utilizes cutting-edge Powerwall batteries during power outages. The company has developed partnerships with numerous conglomerates such as Google and Tesla, in which it serves as the leading partner for Tesla’s home power batteries.
SolarCity is also deeply invested in research and development, and has developed several programs focused on the usage of energy efficient technologies. Over the years, SolarCity has helped a staggering 2.5 million customers save over USD $8 billion on energy bills and is, till date, one of the leading renewable energy companies in the United States.
Musk himself serves as the Chairman of SolarCity and was instrumental in facilitating its merger with Tesla in 2016, making it the world’s first fully integrated sustainable energy company.
Zip2
Musk’s entrepreneurial journey first began in 1995 with the formation of software company Zip2, which he founded along with his brother Kimbal.
Zip2 served as the advent of Musk’s journey towards success, developing a revolutionary web software that focused on providing a directory and information related to city-based services.
The company went on to become one of the first major successes of the dotcom era and was later acquired by Compaq in 1999 for a monumental $307 million, of which Musk personally received US$22 million.
Though this was his first foray into business, Musk had already formed the basis for the opportunities of PayPal and even served as a major financier for the company due to the success of Zip2.
X.com
X.com was another company established by Elon Musk and was founded along with Peter Thiel. It was created in 1999 and served as the predecessor of PayPal.
At the time, X.com was the world’s largest online financial services website and allowed users to transfer and store money online. The services developed by X.com include online payments, online banking, stock trading, e-commerce payment solutions, payment gateway solutions and real-time payment solutions.
The company was later acquired by eBay and merged with the payment platform Confinity to form the payment powerhouse that is now known as PayPal.
The Boring Company
In 2016, Elon Musk set up The Boring Company, an infrastructure and tunnel-construction company that aims to reduce traffic congestion in large cities by constructing underground tunnels and loop systems.
The company is reported to have raised a total of $106.5 million in funding since its inception and has already made some major creditable accomplishments such as the construction of test tunnels in Hawthorne, California and Las Vegas.
The Boring Company made headlines with the launch of one of its major projects, the Loop, a high-speed underground public transportation system that will facilitate travel between major cities and airports. As of 2021, the Loop is due to be presented in three major cities in the United States.
Electric Vehicles
Apart from these major companies, Elon Musk has also revolutionized the field of electric vehicles with his automotive company Tesla. Founded in 2003, the pioneering electric vehicle manufacturer is credited with being the world’s first electric-only automotive manufacturer.
Launching a range of electric cars and vans, the company went on to shake the industry by revolutionizing electric cars with the Tesla Model S, which became the world’s first electric-only car. The company has also introduced a range of sustainable energy products and eco-friendly infrastructure.
Tesla has also broken several records as the first company to introduce fully self-driving technology with Tesla Autopilot, as well as being listed by many as the world’s best selling plug-in electric passenger car.
The success of Tesla can largely be attributed to its focus on the development of cutting-edge innovation such as LIDAR, radar and ultrasonics, as well as its robust production lines and dedicated software updates.
OpenAI
OpenAI is a non-profit artificial intelligence research company which was created in 2015 with the mission to develop AI in a responsible and safe manner. The company is considered to have made some major creditable accomplishments, such as building an AI-based computer system which is twice as efficient as its competitors in producing text.
In addition, the company created one of the world’s most sophisticated robotic arms and deployed it in warehouses and manufacturing plants to reduce costs and human reliance. OpenAI is also actively involved in the development of humane general artificial intelligence and has partnered with Microsoft to further accelerate its research goals.
Elon Musk, who serves as one of the founding members of the company, believes that AI is a potential existential threat to humankind and that OpenAI can help mitigate this threat.
Neuralink
Neuralink is a neuroscience and artificial intelligence research startup founded by Elon Musk in 2016. The company is focused on developing implantable brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs, with the mission of developing and integrating the most advanced AI applications into everyday life.
Neuralink is currently developing a wireless brain-machine interface called the Neuralink Link, which is designed to be implanted within the human brain and aims to bridge the gap between humans and AI through the development of BCI technologies.
The company has also conducted a series of experiments on neural implants, which are reported to be aimed at discovering ways to improve the speed at which communication signals travel between the brain and a computer. It is also working on developing AI-based brain-to-computer interfaces that could allow people to communicate with computers and machines without any hardware.
