Elon Reeve Musk (June 28, 1971) is an American and Canadian billionaire. Known as a talented engineer and inventor, founder and owner of SpaceX. Chief designer of Tesla Motors. According to Forbes, he has a net worth of more than $12 billion.

Childhood

Elon was born in South Africa in Pretoria. The boy's mother was Canadian and worked as a nutritionist. His father, a native of South Africa, worked as an engineer. Relationships in the family did not work out, so the parents soon separated. The boy remained to live with his father, which became impossible best choice. The man was distinguished by his temper and tough temper.

Elon did well in school and was an introverted boy. For these or some other reasons, his classmates disliked him. The child was constantly bullied, even to the point of systematic beatings.

However, at home, Elon was a completely different person. At the age of 10, his big dream came true - the boy received a Personal Computer. Unlike most of his peers, who used machines solely for entertainment, he became interested in programming. Having mastered it on his own, Elon decided that the knowledge gained should pay dividends. As a result, the boy created a video game that was a success and sold like hotcakes. And this despite the serious cost of $500.

The earning plan did not end there. In fact, he has just started. With the proceeds, the boy purchased shares in a pharmaceutical company.

He selected it by analyzing information from newspapers. And I was right. Soon he had enough money in his hands to make his dream come true.

Studies

Elon always dreamed of going to the USA. It was this country that he considered the ideal place for all those who have a sharp mind and the desire to apply it. However, he could not simply come to a foreign country. At the same time, the real prospect of soon wearing military uniform. Therefore, he decided to take advantage of his mother’s citizenship and the fact that she had relatives left in Canada.

Despite the protests of his parents, the young man packed his things and went to another continent. In Canada, he entered the University of Kingston. Thanks to his excellent studies, Elon received a scholarship from the University of Pennsylvania and soon crossed the cherished border.

Among university subjects, he preferred physics and business. It goes without saying that he succeeded in his chosen areas. Now it was possible to decide on the future. After analyzing the situation, the young man realized that there were three things that interested him.

In those years, the development of the Internet was just beginning. In him Elon saw an inexhaustible source of opportunity. He was also attracted to alternative energy sources and space.

In 1995, the young man went to Stanford. He intended to continue his education, but soon abandoned this idea.

Career

Instead of studying, Elon teamed up with his brother and created the company Zip2. It was aimed at developing software for news companies. Four years later, the brothers sold it, and as a result, Musk became $22 million richer.

Elon’s next brainchild was the online payment service PayPal, which was acquired by eBay, personally paying Musk 1.5 billion.

He now had enough money to devote time and effort to his own projects. Since Musk had already mastered the Internet, he turned his attention to space and alternative energy sources.

Space

Elon has always been obsessed with the idea of ​​colonizing Mars. He was interested in the project of placing greenhouses there, in which plants could be grown automatically. Since the cost of implementing this plan did not fit into any framework, the businessman decided to start small. From your own rocket.

In 2002, he created the SpaceX company, and already in 2006 the Falcon9 rocket made its first flight. Then the Dragon spaceship was born, making flights to the World War II. space station.

Energy

Elon Musk has not forgotten about alternative energy sources. He invested a large sum of money in SolarSity, a solar panel installation company.

TeslaMotors develops and produces electric vehicles.

Personal life

Elon Musk's personal life became of interest to journalists after his first divorce. Despite the fact that the couple separated peacefully, the press was attracted by the fact that the family had five young sons. Elon met his first wife in Canada when he was a simple student.

The billionaire's second wife was the young actress Talulah Riley. Their relationship did not last long and ended in divorce.

Criticism and scandalous incidents

Rescue operation at Thamluang Nangnon Cave

Elon Musk's attempt to take part in the rescue operation carried out in the Thamluang Nangnon cave and the events that followed caused a great public outcry. The American entrepreneur said that he and cavers are discussing options for saving people. On July 10, 2018, after 8 children were rescued, he brought to the rescue site a mini-submarine he created, using elements of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, which was supposed to help children unprepared for diving. However, rescuers considered that it was inappropriate to use it.

Caver Vern Unsworth, who played a key role in the rescue operation, criticized the proposal as a publicity stunt. According to him, this plan had no chance of success: a submarine with a rigid frame would not have passed even the first 50 meters; along the way, he spoke rudely to Musk. In response, Elon published a tweet in which he called the British diver a pedophile. Quite quickly, Musk deleted this tweet, but it had already caused a wave of negative reaction and numerous articles in various media; the situation caused a short-term drop in the value of Tesla shares. A few days later, Elon apologized to Unsworth.

Joe Rogan Podcast

In September 2018, Musk attended the show of American comedian Joe Rogan. During the conversation, the entrepreneur smoked a mixture of marijuana and tobacco, after asking Rogan if it was legal. Elon said that he rarely smokes marijuana, explaining that the drug does not affect him.

Allegations of violating securities laws

In the fall of 2018, a number of Tesla traders and shareholders sued Musk and accused the head of the company of violating securities laws. The investigation into this administrative case was undertaken by the US Federal Securities Commission (SEC). The lawsuit alleged that Musk intentionally posted false information on his Twitter account to influence Tesla's stock price. In his personal account, the head of the company announced the decision to make Tesla a private company and that he had already found finances to buy back shares. In the messages, he also indicated that he plans to buy back securities at the rate of $420 per share, that is, higher than their market value.

Due to criticism from users social network and shareholders, Musk decided to keep Tesla a public company. In September 2018, the US Department of Justice, in parallel with the administrative case, opened a criminal case against Tesla. According to the SEC's lawsuit, Musk faces a ban on holding leadership positions in public companies.

In response to the accusations, Elon Musk stated the following:

I am deeply disappointed by the SEC's baseless allegations. I have always acted in the best interests of investors, and honesty is the most important value in my life. The facts will prove that I never endangered anyone.

On September 29, 2018, Musk and the SEC settled these charges out of court. According to the agreement, Musk will remain the head of Tesla, but will not be able to serve as chairman of the board of directors for three years. In addition, he must pay a fine of $20 million. The same fine was imposed on Tesla.

Philanthropy

Elon became chairman of the board of the Musk Foundation. In January 2015, the foundation donated $10 million to the Future of Humanity Institute for research into the control of artificial intelligence.

In July 2018, an entrepreneur offered his assistance in an operation to rescue children from the flooded Tham Luang cave. Four engineers from Tesla, SpaceX and The Boring Company were sent to help the rescuers. A mini-submarine developed specifically for this operation was delivered to Thailand, but Thai rescuers refused to use it. Speleologist Vern Unsworth, who played one of the key roles in the rescue operation, criticized Musk's proposal - according to him, a submarine with a rigid frame "could not sail even the first 50 meters from the beginning of the cave."

Policy

In December 2016, he became a member of the Presidential Forum on Strategy and Policy under US President Donald Trump, a group of 16 American entrepreneurs whose task is to advise the 45th US President on issues related to economic growth and job creation and increased productivity, but in 2017 refused further participation in the forum in protest against Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from Paris Agreement.

Movie

According to Jon Favreau, director of the film Iron Man (2008), Elon Musk served as the inspiration for the film version of Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr.

In 2010, Musk appeared in the film Iron Man 2 as himself (in the story, Elon is Tony Stark's friend). In 2013, he also played himself in an episode of the film Machete Kills. Musk is seen among the audience attending the presentation of artificial intelligence in the sci-fi film Supremacy (2014, at the 00:07:39-41 mark), and his name appears in the credits.

Elon Musk voiced a cameo in season 26, episode 12 of the animated series The Simpsons, released on January 25, 2015.

He makes a cameo appearance in episode 9 of season 9 of The Big Bang Theory.

In 2017, he starred in the comedy “Why Him?” as himself.

Also at the end of episode 6 of season 1 of the series “Sheldon’s Childhood,” Musk sits at the table and reads young Sheldon’s notes.

Condition assessment

In 2015, unofficial data appeared on the Internet, according to which Elon Musk’s fortune was $13.1 billion.

The following year, official information appeared, provided by Forbes. According to information from the American financial and economic magazine, Musk owns an amount equal to $10.7 billion.

Elon Musk now

Elon Musk's main goal remains the creation of a human colony on Mars. In a 2011 interview, he stated that the first settlers would travel to the Red Planet within the next two decades. By 2040, Musk predicts, 80 thousand people will live on Mars.

Work continues on the BFR - Big Falcon Rocket - a launch vehicle and spacecraft with a payload of 150 tons. The BFR is expected to replace previous generations of Falcon and become the primary instrument for transporting cargo and people to Mars.

Elon Musk is called a legendary man of the 20th century. He literally gushes with ideas, which he then successfully implements. PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX, Solar Citi, Hiperloop are his startups. His name is no less popular than the name of an IT icon.

It is not surprising that he served as the prototype for the main character of Iron Man - a genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist. In the second part of the film, Elon Musk appears in a cameo role, where he plays himself, Tony Stark's friend. In 2015, Musk took part in the voice acting of “The Simpsons”: he also voiced himself, Elon Musk, who came to Springfield to modernize the nuclear power plant.

Elon Musk's brilliant ideas, brought to life, bring him considerable income. In 2015, his net worth, according to Forbes, reached $12.3 billion.

“If they told me to do nothing but rest, I would go crazy,” Elon Musk.

Once he believed that the money he needed to pay for housing and food would be enough for him. In his youth, when he first arrived in Moscow to start an independent life, he took up various jobs and tried to survive on $1 a day without contracting scurvy.

Now he approaches the issue of money differently. “It turned out that money has great importance, especially if you set huge goals for yourself,” he says, and invests most of the proceeds from the sale of his companies in new startups.

"I read books"

Elon Musk answered the question where his endless ideas come from. Since childhood, he loves and, of course, prefers science fiction. Among my favorites is Douglas Adams' series of science fiction novels, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. And my favorite writers are A. Asimov and J. Tolkien.

Books that he says have changed him include Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and Einstein. His Life and the Universe" and "" by Walter Isaacson, the "Foundation" cycle by Isaac Asimov, "Constructions, or Why Things Don't Break" by J. Gordon, "From Zero to One. How to create a startup that will change the future" by Peter Thiel, "Merchants of Doubt" by N. Orestes and E. Conway, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" by R. Hanlein, "Humanity's Last Invention" by James Barratt.

The history of the company began with M. Eberhard planning to create an economical and environmentally friendly car that would not require refueling. Moreover, the requirements for cars that pollute the air have been tightened. No manufacturer could offer an alternative to gasoline-powered cars.

Eberhard managed to interest people in the project who had money for its development. One of them was Elon Musk, who was also interested in “green” technologies. In addition to him, the project was invested by the founders and.

Nobody believed in the company, and for some time it was considered unprofitable. And indeed, the company had to endure hard times when, due to management miscalculations, the selling price exceeded that included in the project. Some offices were closed and their employees were fired. Musk himself had to part with his favorite sports car.

Difficult period It’s not just the company that’s worried. It has also come to a head in Musk’s personal life: he is divorcing his wife and mother of his children, Justine. (True, in order to marry British actress Talulah Riley in 2010. After 2 years they will divorce in order to marry again in 2013. At the beginning of 2015, the couple will file for divorce again, and Musk will have to pay Riley 16 million dollars of "support". But the divorce will not take place, reconciliation will come ... until March 2016. How the situation will develop further is unknown. It seems that the film "The Habit of Marriage" is about them.)

But let's return to our electric cars. Thanks to the measures taken by Elon Musk, the company has become profitable since 2013 and left its competitors, Chevrolet, far behind. The company released its first electric car, the Tesla Roadster, in 2016. It produced it until 2012 and produced 2,500 of these models.

The Tesla Model S, which the company introduced in 2009, has won numerous awards and received widespread recognition. And the US Department of Transportation named the electric car among the safest cars. Its serial production began in 2012.

Tesla sales grew year after year, and new investors appeared who believed in the company. Car enthusiasts also liked the new, improved Tesla Model X, presented in 2012. In March 2016, the Tesla Model 3 was announced. Its cost is approximately 35 thousand dollars.

In addition to cars, the company is building a plant that will produce batteries for refueling electric cars, and stations are opening throughout the United States where it will be possible to charge or replace the battery for free.

The name Elon Musk became widely known thanks to this startup.

Solar City

Another project in which Elon Musk is involved is the energy company Solar City, which was founded in 2006 by his cousins. It produces solar panels and has become a world leader in this field. In addition, its employees actively promote their product in different areas of life. Gas stations for Tesla electric cars are their job.

Musk is the main investor of the company; he invested $10 million in this startup. He also headed its board of directors.

Fantastic Hyperloop

Elon Musk is the main investor of another startup - Hyperloop, which is called the transport of the future or the Californian loop. With its help, people will be able to a short time travel long distances. It is planned that passengers will cover the distance of 550 km between and in half an hour. The ticket price will be approximately $30.

The essence of the invention is that transport capsules with passengers will move along a low-pressure pipe installed on an overpass. The capacity of one capsule is 28 people.

Musk announced the creation of the project in 2012, stating that the new kind transport “will be faster than an airplane, powered by solar energy and will not get into accidents.” It is also interesting that the person will not depend on the schedule - the capsules will run regularly, so they can go on a trip at any time convenient for the passenger.

Many were distrustful of this project, declaring it fantastic. But all of Musk’s startups at first seemed like science fiction. He himself presented this project in 2013, detailing all the technical details on 57 pages.

The companies Tesla, SpaceX and SolarCity will participate in the work - this will reduce their cost, because why reinvent the wheel when there are already proven technical solutions.

Internet is for everyone

Another project that Musk is working on is the creation of a global satellite Internet system. Its goal is to make the Internet accessible to the most remote corners of the planet. 700 satellites weighing 113 kg each, which will be launched into orbit like a network, will envelop the Earth and provide free access to the global network to everyone, no matter where they are on Earth.

Ad Astra - To the stars

It is worth noting that Elon Musk’s childhood was far from cloudless, and he had every chance of becoming a notorious loser. The reason for this is difficult relationships with peers who for some reason chose him as a “whipping boy.” One day he was beaten so badly that he ended up in the hospital for a week. He remembers his school days, when gangs of teenagers were chasing him to beat him up, with a shudder. At home, everything was no less terrible until the parents separated. He was “saved” by books that took him away from the real world into the world of fantasy.

Now Elon Musk recalls that his period of growing up was very difficult. This is probably one of the reasons why he sent his five sons from his first marriage to the school that he created himself. This is a small school - including Musk's children; at the time of its creation there were only 14 people. It's called Ad Astra, and it uses fundamentally new approach to learning: there is no division into classes, the personal interests of each child are taken into account, preference is given to practical training. Elon says the children enjoy going there and during the holidays they can’t wait for classes to start. For now, the school is open as an experimental one.

“I don’t have to work in terms of a standard life,” says Elon Musk, “but I work. I work every day, seven days a week, and have for several years.”

Elon Reeve Musk is a Canadian-American billionaire, inventor and philanthropist. Born on June 28, 1971 in South Africa, he later moved to Canada and then to the USA.

This is the perfect embodiment of the seemingly long-lost American dream: arriving in the United States with a few dollars in his pocket, he became a billionaire.

Received higher education and a bachelor's degree in physics and economics.

He made his fortune by creating and developing many innovative companies (X.com, PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla Motors, etc.). He is engaged in active business and philanthropic activities, maintains a political lobby in the US Congress, reads a lot, acts in feature films (“Iron Man 2”, “Machete Kills”, etc.).

He became the prototype for the character Tony Stark in the film Iron Man. Married twice, has five sons from his first marriage. Esquire magazine included Musk in its list of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century.

From the editor: an amazing person. While preparing his biography, we encountered many conflicting opinions: for some, he is a genius, for others, a PR man who devours budget money. Doesn't leave you indifferent. A dreamer who makes bold and, for most, impossible dreams come true. Amazing man.

Main achievements

Elon Musk is best known as successful businessman and innovator. Almost all of his projects are highly profitable and have brought him significant income and wide popularity.

His first company was Zip2, which he founded with his brother with money from his father ($20 thousand). The company was developing the Internet for the media industry, entered into contracts with the popular newspapers The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune, and after 4 years it was sold for a huge amount of about 350 million dollars, from which Musk received about 22 million.

Literally a month later, Musk became a co-founder of the online payment company X.COM. A year later, his company merges with Confinity and takes the name PayPal. In 2002, the company will be sold at a price of one and a half billion dollars, and Musk's share was about 170 million dollars.

There is a legend that after the sale of PayPal, Musk came to Russia in order to finance the creation of a private space company based on Russian developments. But not a single official considered his idea serious. Tests in Moscow for several days, he bought several books by Tsialkovsky and decided that he could create a rocket on his own. The principles are known. I don’t know if this legend is true, but...

In 2001, Musk entered the space industry with the concept of an “Oasis on Mars,” a settlement on Mars that would grow food on the “Red Planet” and provide for its own needs. According to him, this was done in order to attract public attention to the study of outer space.

In 2002, he founded the company Space Exploration Technologies or Space X, investing one hundred million dollars in it. The company was engaged in the development and production of rocket launch vehicles, and for seven years developed the Falcon family of rocket launch vehicles, creating the Dragon spacecraft.

In September 2009, the Falcon 1 rocket became the first private launch vehicle to launch a satellite into Earth orbit. In 2006, Space X signed a $1.6 billion contract with NASA and also received significant government orders.

In 2011, Musk said he hoped to send people to colonize Mars in 10-20 years and create the first colony there.

In 2004, Musk also invested in Tesla Motors, which develops and produces electric vehicles. The businessman joined the board of directors, becoming chairman of the board. He took an active part in the development of the company’s product, the Roaster sports car, which gained wide popularity, and Musk himself was awarded the prestigious “Global Green” green award for the development of an environmentally friendly car.

Musk's financial flexibility and perseverance, and his subsequent investments in the project, allowed the company to survive the financial crisis of 2008, while expanding the company's lineup with new successful models (Model S, Model X, etc.). The company's profits are growing day by day, amounting to many tens of millions of dollars a year.

Musk also invested in the SolarCity company (the production of private power plants for households and organizations), and also invested in the Hyperloop project, which, according to his plan, could become the basis for the transport system of the future. Hyperloop will allow passenger capsules to reach speeds of more than a thousand kilometers per hour, over a distance of up to one and a half thousand kilometers.

Secrets of Elon Musk's success

Musk believes that the reason for his success is his critical mind, escape from stereotypes and stereotypes of thinking, endless enthusiasm and energy. “I have always been critical of what my parents told me. Never took them at their word and always asked “why?” Then I tried to understand the meaning and logic of their answer."

Also, according to the entrepreneur, you need to be completely immersed in the business, without any distractions. Only complete dedication, seven days a week without breaks, complete concentration on the task - it is this kind of perfectionism that is one of the roots of personal success.

The main obstacle in innovation activity Musk sees people's penchant for analogies as a problem. Therefore, instead of doing something qualitatively new, people try to improve the old. The businessman calls for throwing away all restrictions and stereotypes, and starting to build concepts and projects from scratch, from the very basics. This is the only way to create exceptional and first-class things.

Opinion: The secret of Musk’s success lies in the material and technical base of the United States and in the enormous resources that the government provides him. There are no miracles. Innovation is very expensive. We need personnel, not only engineers, but also managers, lawyers, and financiers. Look at attempts in other countries to create innovative products, for example electric cars: where there is no base, this idea fails.

Quotes from Elon Musk

• I would like to die with the thought that humanity has a bright future
• I think that people today are somehow too carried away with all the Internet, finance and law. This is one of the reasons why we have little innovation.
• Maybe I read too many comics as a kid. They're always trying to save the world. Everything there looked like everyone should try to improve this world; it simply couldn’t be any other way.
• The only thing that should be done is to contribute to the general enlightenment of mankind.
• I really love computer games, but if I create the coolest games, how will that affect earthly affairs, the world as a whole?
• I like to bring to life technologies that I believe are important for the future and bring some benefit.
• While we are throwing away rockets and ships, we are not truly mastering space.
• I'm like a samurai - I'd rather die than give up.

Elon Musk's ideas and goals

Musk sets global goals: he wants to save the human race from voluntary or accidental destruction.

The idea of ​​making humanity an interplanetary species originated with Musk a long time ago. And first of all, we are talking about the settlement of Mars. At the entrance to the SpaceX headquarters, there is an inspiring picture with two states of Mars - current and planned:

And if you pay attention, all of his current projects are subordinated to this goal. To get to Mars, you need to make space flights an order of magnitude cheaper than they cost now - this is being successfully implemented by SpaceX. There is no suitable fuel on Mars, so electric cars that will be charged from solar panels will be useful there (and there are already hundreds of such stations where any owner of a Tesla car can charge their car for free throughout the United States).

And this isn't a waste of money - all three companies are profitable, commercially successful and at the cutting edge of technology.

This person evokes admiration, respect and envy. His success is natural: talent, charisma and business sense are complemented by efficiency and the ability to correctly set priorities. Key milestones: computer company Zip2, PayPal, TeslaMotors, SolarCity, SpaceX.

The story of Elon Musk is interesting because, by birth, he was not a candidate to become a famous billionaire. He was born in South Africa, in the family of an engineer and nutritionist. Despite the fact that the boy was smart and developed since childhood (he went to school a year earlier than his peers), even his parents admitted the fact that his son’s contacts with his peers did not go well. He himself would later say: “I was a little nerdy kid, quite smart... so during school I just read a lot of books and tried not to get in people’s way.”

The guy compensated for his lack of friends by constantly reading everything he could get his hands on: from Spider-Man comics to encyclopedias. At the age of 17, after graduating from school in Pretoria, the future billionaire makes the bold decision to start an independent life in the USA.

In 1989, he boarded a plane to Canada, realizing that his parents would not be able to help financially, and he would have to rely on himself. For a whole year, Elon lived a difficult life: he worked wherever he could, earning a living. Entering Queens University in Ontario changes the situation. The talented student attracted attention, and in 1992, his dream of coming to the United States came true, thanks to receiving a scholarship to study in Pennsylvania. At the University of Pennsylvania, Elon received a bachelor's degree in business in a year, devoted the second year to studying physics and also received a bachelor's degree.

The story of serial businessman Elon Musk

The term appeared relatively recently and is used to refer to entrepreneurs who apply their talent to launch various, sometimes unrelated, projects.

Elon's first project- computer game Blastar, the creation of which brought 500 in 12 years. Initially, Elon and his brother were going to rent the development in the gaming room. They did almost everything for this:

• found a room to rent;
• We agreed with a machine provider who could supply the equipment.

However, it was not possible to obtain city approval: the parents did not know about their sons’ idea, and the young entrepreneurs were under 18 years old.

Second start-up more successful. To open the Internet company Zip2, Elon leaves graduate school at Stanford University after spending only two days there! The decision is explained as follows: “I realized that nothing was happening at Stanford, so I called the teachers, said that I wanted to start my own company and agreed that if things didn’t work out, there would be an opportunity to return back.”

As part of Zip2's activities:

• a platform was developed that allowed newspapers to provide commercial services to clients;
• Many printed publications, including authoritative ones, are being transferred to the digital era;
• The first online city directory is created.

The degree of success of the idea is easily assessed by numbers: Zip2 was sold to Compaq for $307 million and $34 million in securities. Musk joined the Silicon Valley millionaires when he was only 28 years old, receiving $22 million.

This transaction went down in history as the largest financial transaction conducted in cash.

The third part of Elon Musk's business story- system electronic payments PayPal. Initially, the startup was called X.com, after merging with the competitive company Confinity on a parity basis, it received the name PayPal. Musk's contribution to the development of the company is invaluable:

• development of a fundamentally new business model;
• competent, talented advertising, close to viral;
• bringing the payment system to the first positions.

All this has changed the principle of shopping: today we can no longer imagine how we can do it without the help of the Internet. Previously, it took a week to make a purchase using a card; PayPal processes the payment in a few seconds. The value of the idea is evidenced by the purchase of the company by a competitor - Ebay - for $1.5 billion. Musk sold his stake in the company for $180 million.

The billionaire's fourth project- TeslaMotors can rightfully be considered one of the most brilliant. Starting with the fact that Musk invested all his savings into the project and ending with the fact that he personally participated in the development, proving that he is not only a businessman, but also an inventor. At first everything went great:

• the release of the debut model of the Roadster sports car, in the development and design of which Musk personally took part (the development of the battery module was often carried out in his garage, the design of the headlights, as well as the body material, were the merits of the billionaire inventor);
• receiving the GlobalGreen award for contribution to environmentally friendly production;
• changing the image of an electric car: inconvenient, small cars, after Musk’s team worked on them, turned into prestigious high-speed sports cars;
• attracting new investors, such as Larry Page, Sergey Brin, etc.

The situation worsened in 2007, when there was talk of opening an assembly line. It turned out that management miscalculations led to the fact that the cost of the electric car would be twice as high as what was included in the estimate - $92 thousand. Technical shortcomings were also identified (the transmission concept proposed by General Director Eberhard turned out to be erroneous and required serious improvements).

There were several weeks with zero bank accounts. I had a choice: take all the capital left over from the PayPal sale and invest it in Tesla, or Tesla will die. (Quote from the 2014 film “Billionaire Elon Musk: How I Became a Real Iron Man”).

An entrepreneur takes matters into his own hands, saving the company from bankruptcy:

• fires Eberhard and senior managers who made major mistakes;
• invests in Tesla all the money he had at that time - $20 million;
• ruthlessly reduces the number of company employees, leaving only those who are necessary;
• negotiates with suppliers, bargaining for every cent;
• attracts investors in traditional and non-traditional ways (fortunately, there are many of these, you just need to wisely look for options);
• is looking for any means possible, even selling his favorite McLaren F1 car.

Soon the whole world was talking about a fundamentally new means of transportation, environmentally friendly, stylish and almost perfect. More details about the sources of investment can be found in Table 1. In 2016, it became known that there was a fatal accident in America involving the innovative Tesla sedan. This reduced the share price by 3%, but everyone is sure that the company’s development cannot be stopped.

The company's profits up to and including 2015 had negative dynamics, that is, the company operated at a loss. According to the billionaire, profitability will increase significantly when sales reach a million cars a year in 2020. So far, the increase in losses is associated with lower prices in key regions for the company: Europe, China, and the USA. On this moment Model S and Model M electric cars are available for sale.

A logical continuation was the opening of gas stations for electric vehicles from Tesla Supercharger. The idea is that they will be available worldwide, making electric cars more affordable.

Fifth project: SpaceX.

Long term, I'd really like to go to Mars. This is SpaceX's primary goal. (Quote from the 2014 film “Billionaire Elon Musk: How I Became a Real Iron Man”).

The most ambitious project supported in the United States at the government level. The company was founded in 2002, its goal is the ability to travel to other planets using modern high-tech rockets. Departure point - Mars.

The achievements in this area are already colossal:

• cost reduction by 10 times;
• creation from scratch of a rocket and three types of liquid engines;
• a change in the concept of space flights, from now on the goal is the colonization of space, and not occasional flights there.

Today, Musk’s “crazy” idea is not only generally accepted, but is also supported at the state level. NASA has awarded SpaceX a contract for 12 missions to deliver cargo to the ISS.

How did Musk manage to reduce the cost of flights? When a theodolite was needed to level the surface of a rocket, Musk did not order it from government agencies; he bought it on eBay, saving $25,000.

Human delivery to Mars is planned for 2026.

“Personal style” of Elon Musk and success story

Elon Musk never had a choice whether to do or not to do. The question was: what to do next? (Quote from the 2014 film “Billionaire Elon Musk: How I Became a Real Iron Man”).

Elon Musk is not a man with business acumen. He is a dreamer who works to ensure that his projects, even the most fantastic ones, become reality. However, in difficult situations he acts like a tough businessman who does not look at personalities. An incomplete list of situations when the actions of an entrepreneur, which seemed crazy to others, led to stunning success:

• investing money not just in innovative, but in revolutionary projects;
• the ability to see one step ahead where others did not see prospects;
• the desire not just to make money, but to change the world.

To make the idea of ​​an electric car attractive, Musk changed people's worldviews. From now on, driving electric cars is easy, convenient and prestigious! A whole network of gas stations serving this type of car was also built.

In addition to the fact that this man is an inventor and a successful businessman, he also became the prototype for the famous comic book and movie character - Iron Man. By the way, he starred in Iron Man 2 as a friend of the main character. People talk and talk about his phenomenon!

Elon Musk's story is impressive and instructive. It gives hope to those who dream of success and are ready to work for it day and night.

Greetings! Elon Musk's success story is reminiscent of a Hollywood movie script. He participated in the promotion of the popular PayPal payment system, proposed the first electric car for the mass consumer, Tesla, founded the private space company SpaceX and seriously believes that humanity will soon colonize Mars.

The list of achievements of an amazing person can be continued endlessly. He is called the new Steve Jobs and the modern Leonardo da Vinci. It was he who became the prototype of the main character of the film “Iron Man”. In 2016, Forbes magazine estimated his fortune at $10.7 billion.

Meet! Today's hero of the post is Elon Musk: biography, achievements, secrets of success and... revelations.

Elon Reeve Musk ( full name billionaire) is an example of a fantastic rise to the top almost from scratch. The future billionaire and “icon of new technologies” was born in the Republic of South Africa.

Her Canadian mother worked as a nutritionist, her British father of South African origin worked as an engineer. At school, Elon Musk was an outcast “nerd.”

One day he was even taken to the hospital after teenagers pushed him down the stairs and beat him until he lost consciousness.

Instead of noisy parties, Elon studied computer programming. At age 12, he sold his own code for a video game called Blastar for $500.

After graduating from school in South Africa, 17-year-old Elon decided to emigrate to the United States. It was difficult to do this directly. Therefore, in 1984, Musk moved to his mother’s relatives in Canada, where for almost a year he barely made ends meet, grasping at any job. But in the end, Elon acquires Canadian citizenship.

A few years later, as he wanted, he moved to the United States, winning a scholarship to study at the University of Pennsylvania. There, Elon Musk received higher education: in physics and in business (bachelor's degree).

In his youth, his idols were Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison.

After completing his studies at the university, Elon Musk chose three areas of interest to him. Moreover, he decided not to waste his time on trifles. Musk focused on the Internet (then just emerging), space and alternative energy sources.

Achievements of Elon Musk

Reading the biography of Elon Musk, you understand why he is called a modern Leonardo da Vinci. For a couple of decades, he has been involved in (and achieved impressive results!) completely different and, to put it mildly, large-scale projects.

Software

In 1996, along with his brother Kimbal, Musk founded a software company for news companies. The project was called Zip2. The brothers developed and sold an “online guide” to such major publications as the Chicago Tribune and The New York Times.

Just three years later, the Compaq brand bought the startup for $308 million. And Elon Musk became $22 million richer.
PayPal and X.com

Immediately after the sale of Zip2, Musk became one of the founders of X.com (online financial services). A year later, X.com merged with Confinity (which operated PayPal). Initially, Musk planned to merge PayPal and X.com. But the merger never happened.

X.com was converted into a subdomain of PayPal and then disappeared as a brand entirely. But Musk’s viral company ensured the explosive growth of today’s popular payment system.

In the fall of 2002, PayPal was sold on eBay for $1.5 billion. Of this, Musk received a fortune ($165 million) (he owned 11.7% of the company's shares).

SpaceX

SpaceX became the third company founded by Elon Musk. Space Exploration Technologies was “born” in 2002. Moreover, Musk acted as both general and technical director.

For those not in the know, SpaceX designs and manufactures space launch vehicles. The company's first "babies" were Falcon 1 and Falcon 9, and the first spacecraft was Dragon.

In 2008 (at the height of the crisis, by the way) new company Elon Musk received a large contract worth $1.6 billion from NASA. Falcon 9 and Dragon were supposed to replace the shuttle, which was “written off” in 2011. By the way, the Falcon 1 rocket became the first spacecraft on liquid fuel, which delivered the satellite into Earth orbit. The first to be privately financed.

Elon Musk sets himself a more than ambitious goal: to reduce the cost of space flights by 10 times. A crazy businessman invested $100 million of his personal funds into SpaceX.

He is sure that the zone human influence must necessarily expand to neighboring planets. This will reduce the threat of destruction of humans as a biological species. Elon Musk is seriously studying the possibility of settling people on Mars within the next 10-20 years.

Tesla Motors

Musk and Straubel met by chance in 2003. During the meeting, Musk learned about the concept of an electric sports car. He immediately tried to convince AC Propulsion management to think about an electric commercial vehicle format. But the proposal was met coolly...

Then Musk, together with JB Straubel, Ian Wright, Mark Tarpenning and Martin Eberhard, decided to create the legendary (in the future, of course) Tesla company. Moreover, it was Musk who provided most of the funding for the project at the initial stage.

In 2008, Elon took over the responsibilities of CEO and chief designer.

The first Tesla Roadster sports car sold 2,500 units in 31 countries around the world. In 2014, Elon Musk's company released the Tesla Model S P85D, the fastest electric car in the world. The car accelerates to 100 km/h in just 3.2 seconds. Without recharging, the Tesla Model S P85D can travel 440 km.

In his interviews, Elon Musk often says that in the next 30 years, most cars in the United States will run on electricity.

In 2016, Musk announced a new secret plan. And in March 2017, Tesla won a tender to create a giant energy storage facility. Elon Musk bet that if he doesn't build a battery station in Australia in 100 days, the state will get it for free.

He eventually won his dispute with the governor of South Australia. The Tesla Powerpack's massive lithium-ion battery is charged by renewable energy and delivers electricity to the state's consumers during peak demand hours.

SolarCity

The initial concept for SolarCity (the largest supplier of solar energy systems in the US) again belongs to the omnipresent Elon Musk. Subsequently, the concept was “fine-tuned” by him cousins: Peter and Lyndon Rive.

What made Elon Musk invest personal funds in another crazy project? The motto is “I will never give up.” And the desire to help humanity solve the problem of global warming.

SolarCity develops and produces photovoltaic systems for installation on the roofs of residential buildings.

The installations fully provide the houses they “roof” with electricity. It is clear that for environment– it’s like a “balm for the soul.”

Soon the “eco-friendly” product found its buyer. Photovoltaic installations from SolarCity provide electricity to British Motors, as well as the office and servers of eBay.

What else does the company do besides creating solar panels? For example, it produces “energy-saving” software. The program allows you to use electricity in residential buildings more efficiently. As a result, loads on networks are reduced, and consumers save on electricity bills.

And of course, SolarCity produces a network of charging stations for Tesla Motors electric vehicles.

Hyperloop

“Hyperloop” is another crazy project of Elon Musk. According to his idea, Hyperloop should become the fifth mode of transport after cars, trains, planes and ships.

Elon Musk proposed the idea of ​​high-speed delivery of goods and passengers back in 2012-2013. The idea was positioned as an alternative to the high-speed rail project between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The "hyperloop" was conceived as an overhead pipeline on supports. Reinforced concrete support pylons will be installed at a height of 30, 15 or 6 meters (depending on the terrain).

Single capsules up to 30 meters long with passengers and cargo will move inside the tube at speeds from 480 to 1,200 km/h. According to the developers, capsules should be “sent” at intervals of 30 seconds.

Elon Musk took the principle of operation of a vacuum train as the basis for the project. The developers decided to abandon creating a complete vacuum in the pipe (too expensive and technically difficult). We stopped at the forevacuum (thin air). The capsule will be driven by an electric motor and powered by solar energy.

To implement the project, the company Hyperloop One was created (until 2016 it had a different name). Hyperloop routes are planned to be built between major cities in the US, UK, Canada, Mexico and even India.

The cost of a trip on the Hyperloop super-fast train will be about $1 per 10-12 km.

Will Hyperloop work? Skeptics are sure not. And optimists closely follow the latest photos on Musk’s Instagram, news from the field and... invest in another crazy “iron man” project.

Fraudster and swindler?

Enter the query “Elon Musk is a fraud” into Google and you will be rewarded with hundreds of links to high-profile revelations. The authors of the articles claim that all of Musk’s projects, at best, ended in nothing.

Who is Elon Musk really? According to some, he is just a charismatic swindler with great scope and crazy ambitions.

Take, for example, the creation of PayPal. According to the whistleblowers, payment system- not his invention at all. In fact, in 1999, Elon Musk, a Jew, created online banking X.com with his personal money. A year later, X.com merged with its main competitor, Confinity. Musk immediately began to seriously conflict with the CEOs of Confinity: Peter Thiel and Max Levchin.

Their joint products in the form of payment systems worked through the stump deck. Banks were blackmailed with fines, and the company was threatened with ruin. And only when the board of directors removed Elon Musk from the position of manager, PayPal was able to bring it to fruition.

According to critics, Elon Musk’s only merit is that in negotiations with buyers on eBay, he managed to raise the company’s price to $1.5 billion.

Things were not so clear with the SpaceX project. At the start, Musk actually invested about $100 million in his brainchild.

But the “soul” and developer of the project was not him at all, but engineer Tom Muller. The Falcon 1 rocket was several years behind schedule. Three launches in a row ended with a loud bang. The project was on the verge of bankruptcy.

And suddenly, out of the blue, SpaceX receives a major contract from NASA. The project immediately takes a crazy leap forward. Someone claims that SpaceX is a curtain behind which US military circles are “hiding”. Under the guise of a private project, they are developing certain technologies.

Everything for which Elon Musk is usually praised is being torn to smithereens on the Internet: his electric cars, plans to colonize Mars, the Hyperloop project and... everything else.

I will not comment on posts in the format “Elon Musk is a deceiver and a swindler.” I’d rather quote a snide post on Twitter: “Forger and fraudster Elon Musk has launched Falcon again. Rogozin’s ultra-modern trampoline is still not ready for use.”

Secrets of success from Elon Musk

Journalists like to quote Elon Musk that he worked 100 hours a week for 15 years. How did he manage not to go crazy while working at the limit of human capabilities?

Combine things

Elon Musk prefers to do several things at once (like Julius Caesar). He believes that many operations work well together. Like cheese and wine.

Are you talking on the phone? At the same time, dust off your desk or make some tea. Looking for the file you need on your computer? Delete unnecessary folders and documents along the way. Books can be read on the go or listened to in audio format while jogging.

By the way, Elon Musk himself checks his email when he communicates with his own children!

Consult the experts

"Eulogies" only confuse. Pay primary attention to criticism from experts! Criticism hurts your self-esteem, but it forces you to constantly develop and become better.

Planning

Elon Musk's day is planned almost minute by minute. He advises replacing the habitual morning viewing of your Facebook feed by drawing up a detailed plan for the day.

Musk's senior assistant writes everything into his diary. Up to “five minutes” of free time. Unfortunately, such a crazy pace does not leave time for personal life and other pleasant things. Elon Musk's latest romance with actress Amber Heard ended due to the constant employment of both.

But no one requires you to work 100 hours a week. Just remember to use time management techniques. Without them, achieving success in the 21st century is impossible.

Ability to take risks

On his path to success, Elon Musk took big risks more than once. For example, when his beloved brainchild Tesla was practically doomed, he invested almost all the remaining money in “rehabilitation”. The profits from the release of the Model-S more than paid for these “crazy” investments.

Five recipes for success from Elon Musk

1. Constantly improve your product or service. First and foremost, invest in research and improvement rather than advertising.
2. Work all the time you need to work. “Time eaters” make only their creators successful and rich.
3. Hire only those employees who absolutely love what they do.
4. Forget about trends.
5. The younger you are, the greater the level of risk you can afford.

How do you feel about Elon Musk?