If there ’s such a thing as a real - lifeBatmanor Iron Man , it could beElon Musk . And if there ’s a flesh - and - bloodline Lex Luthor , well , that might be Musk , too . This uber - levelheaded 49 - year - old South African is n’t just one of the richest people on Earth , he ’s a forward - thinking fantast made for the millenary [ source : Forbes ] .
Musk has always been a man in a hurry . He taught himself computing equipment programming as a kid and at the age of 17 , he moved all the direction to Canada for university before heading south to Pennsylvania to get his political economy degree . After that he decided to prosecute a Ph.D. in applied purgative [ germ : Mkhitaryan ] .
But grad school was n’t really Musk ’s matter . So or else , he founded his first technical school troupe , which made him a millionaire by age 28 . Then he started another party — and another — amassing millions and thenbillionsof dollars in riches along the way . Robert Downey Jr. has said he based his " Iron Man " movie part Tony Stark on Musk [ source : Hern ] .
But money arguably is n’t Musk ’s basal motivation . He says he need to evolve the human backwash . He envisions a future with high - efficiency mass transportation , electric cars and super - efficient sustainable zip production . He also blasts his engineering concepts in good order into outer infinite , and in the end , perhaps one day even to Mars . And he ’s on his direction to making some of those dreams a reality .
In April 2021,NASA chose SpaceX’sOrion spacecraft to take next the American astronauts to the lunar month . The SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew Dragon also sent astronauts to space from the U.S. Nov. 15 , 2020 — the first time since the close of the shuttle era . And the Starship SN15 image rocket , which SpaceX is develop to launch the great unwashed and shipment to the moon , had a successful high - altitudetest flight and landingMay 5 , 2021 , which was historical to say the least .
But while his rocketing professional life history seems otherworldly , Musk ’s tempestuous personal life makes him seem less than superhuman . His rocky relationship and catastrophe are as convoluted and messy . Not to cite his predilection for saying controversial affair in person and on Twitter . Make no mistake , this conceiver of Hyperloops and reusable rockets is anything but typical . Here are 10 fascinating facts about this deathly expression of Iron Man .
10: A Boy Raised by Books
Born in South Africa , Musk is the offspring of Maye , a Canadian dietitian and model , and Errol , a South African technologist . His parents , however , seldom did much parenting , alternatively leave basic small fry - lift to a housekeeper . The world himself says that book — gobs and stacks of them — were his constant fellow traveller as a minor [ origin : Strauss ] .
After his parents divorced in 1980 , his chum and sister select to remain with his mother , while Musk stayed with his Church Father . Later , he realized that his daddy was a " frightening human being , " one with a reputation for cruelty . Errol Musk had blast three intruders dead in self - defense — and was bear of manslaughter . He also fathered a tike with his own step - daughter . In cattiness of his personal shortcomings , Elon ’s begetter was also a good engineer , one who passed along many cardinal lessons on electricity , construction and skill to his young boy [ sources : Chung , Crilly ] .
At the historic period of 12 , Musk programmed his own computer game , called Blastar , which he betray to a figurer powder magazine for a few hundred dollars . That set the tone for much of his future professional life [ source : Mack ] .
Until his teens , the boy ’s low size of it and self-examining nature made him a object for bullying ; once he was beaten so badly he was interpret unconscious . The bullying only stop when he learned to crusade back . It ’s no wonder , then , that he fled South Africa ( in part to circumvent required military divine service in a country split by apartheid ) for university in Canada at 17 . And that ’s when he began to blossom in incredible ways [ beginning : Strauss ] .
9: College Dropout to Millionaire
Musk earned degrees in economics and aperient from the University of Pennsylvania , which he paid for by turning his rented 10 bedroom frat house into a nightclub on weekends . In 1995 , he traveled to Stanford University in California to chase a Ph.D. in appliedphysics , but after just two Day , he dropped out of his class to become an enterpriser instead .
That same twelvemonth , he and his brother Kimbal created Global Link Information internet , which provided on-line city guides to newsprint like the Chicago Tribune and The New York Times . These guide function like cyberspace versions of the yellow pages . Although his Church Father claims the money to come out this company issue forth from him , Musk says that it actually was from a group of angel investor [ source : Strauss ] .
At first , life was anything but glamorous , as the brothers essentially live in their place in rules of order to keep their expenses as low as possible . Reminiscing on those days , Musk told USC graduates in a 2014 commencement speech , " We showered at the YMCA and we were so heavily - up that we only had one computer . The website was up during the day and I was rag it at Nox , seven twenty-four hour period a hebdomad , all the time " [ source : Huddleston ] .
Global Link was afterward renamed Zip2 and became a big achiever . In 1999 , Compaq Computers see so much electric potential that it bribe the company for $ 300 million . Musk ’s share of the sales agreement add up to $ 20 million , passel of semen money for his next , big idea [ source : Hern ] .
8: Charter Member of The ‘PayPal Mafia’
A millionaire at just 28 , Musk used money from the sales event of Zip2 to found X.com , one of the humankind ’s first on-line banks , in 1999 . The service enable a salmagundi of financial tool , admit defrayal without a credit card .
Because X.com was comprehend by some as an adult - theme website , Musk changed the name of this company toPayPal.comafter it merged with rival Confinity . The raw company repeat down on offer money transfer inspection and repair via email and the web , and the business grow .
But during a divergence over the proficient aspects of PayPal ( he wanted to move the service to Windows from Linux ) , Musk was forced out of his stance as CEO . He did remain on the board , however , so when eBay bought PayPal in 2002 ( over his objections ) for a walloping $ 1.5 billion in stock , he landed a gravy of about $ 160 million after taxes [ source : Kane ] .
Interestingly , many of the hoi polloi who worked at PayPal in its former days went on to found other giants of the cyberspace economic system , includingYelp , LinkedInand YouTube — so much so , that the group is often referred to as the " PayPal Mafia " [ source : Parrish ] .
7: Wants to Put a Colony on Mars
With PayPal out of the picture , Musk was free to follow a ( literally ) noble-minded destination : infinite . And he had the money to do that . defeated that NASA had no plans for a manned military mission to Mars , he dreamed up a projection called Mars Oasis , which would produce a nursery on the Red Planet . As part of that otherworldly concept , he co - founded SpaceX in 2002 , a fellowship meant to make space travel more virtual [ source : Bierend ] .
SpaceX was deport in part after Musk did the mathematics and realized that space missions would be much more low-cost if someone could develop a dependable and reusable rocket system . So , that ’s exactly what he put out to do . In 2020 alone , SpaceX flew a record26 missionary station , 22 of those using renovate rockets . And it booked its first paying rider to the moon in September 2018 .
Musk intends to establish a self - sustaining colony on Mars one twenty-four hours , but it look go to the moonshine will be first . SpaceX landed a $ 2.89 billion contract with NASA to put the first astronauts on the moon in the 21st C , beating out rival companyBlue Origin .
6: Revolutionized the Auto Industry
Musk believe that homo must make the switch from a trust onfossil fuelsto renewable free energy or else we ’ll expel our energy supply , and as he puts it , " dunk into the dark ages " [ source : Leary ] . Like many scientist , he warns about the dangers of rise carbon copy dioxide levels due to the burning of fossil fuel and subsequent spherical warming .
And he put his money where his sassing is . He co - foundedTeslain 2003 , for the most part to guffaws from car executives all over the world . Musk ’s dream was to build affordable cars that were emissions - liberal .
The Tesla Roadster ( 2008 ) was the first electronic vehicle to use lithium - ion barrage fire cell and to have a range greater than 200 geographical mile ( 320 kilometre ) per bang . This spurred large car maker to hail out with EVs of their own , like the Chevy Volt . In 2015 , Tesla set up the first semiautonomous car , a move many of the with child car manufacturer have emulate . Since then , Musk has said that Tesla models will have technology to be fully driverless [ source : Hawkins , Alvarez ] . Tesla can also mechanically update package in its cars without drivers having to make a trip to a dealership , something legacy automakers might get harder to do since they have a franchise system [ source : Hawkins ] .
He fork over on affordability , too . Some models , like the Model 3 , now start at around $ 40,000 [ source : Felton ] . The company plow its first profitable one-quarter in 2013 , although the next one would n’t happen until 2016 [ source : Urbi ] .
However , Tesla has also run into problems with Musk , mostly regarding his tweeting . In 2018 , a tweet by Musk suggest he was pack the company private led to a $ 20 million fine by Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) regulators and eventually led to himstepping down as chairman . The most recentSEC filingshowed his title as " Technoking of Tesla . "
5: Has a Son Named X Æ A-XII
Musk met his first married woman , Justine , when they were both enrolled at Queen ’s University in Ontario . As PayPal ’s achiever procreate , they espouse in 2000 . Tragically , their first son , Nevada , died fromSudden Infant Death Syndrome(SIDS ) when he was just 10 weeks old .
The two eventually had children with the assistance ofin vitro fertilization , which often produces multiple births . In the Musks ' case , it befall not once , but twice — first they had twins in 2004 , and then deuce-ace in 2006 , all boys .
Later that year , Musk started another high-pitched - profile family relationship , this time with actress Amber Heard . That flaming died in late 2017 ; the next year Musk start go steady pop star Grimes . As of this writing , Musk and Grimes arestill togetherraising their baby son , X Æ A - XII . ( Yes , that ’s his name . Musk saysit is pronounced " X Ash A Twelve . " )
4: Only Person to Start Four Billion-dollar Companies
What part of your body would you be willing to lop off just to number up with just a single million - dollar idea ? Elon Musk is so business - savvy that he ’s make or co - founded not one , not two , not three , but four companies that are deserving more than $ 1 billion each : PayPal , Tesla , SpaceX and SolarCity .
SpaceX is value at more than$74 billion , and some economic expert say Tesla ’s evaluation could soar up to$1 trillionas demand for the EVs skyrocket in China . Tesla acquired SolarCityin 2016 for $ 2.6 billion in Malcolm stock . It was in the beginning started by Musk ’s cousins and he clothe $ 10 million in it in 2006 . SolarCity design and sell solar venire for residential and commercial design . Both Tesla and Solar City share the goal of making sustainable energy more virtual and efficient [ source : Carr ] .
Musk sleep together that openhearted causes fall with the soil of extreme riches . He gave $ 15 million to the Global Learning programme , which is meant to help unprivileged children around the world boost basic skills in reading and math [ source : Zaidi ] .
In the wake of the dreadful 2017 Hurricane Maria , he sent huge battery system that can be powered with solar panel to make for electrical energy back to Puerto Rico . He also donated hundreds of grand of dollar mark of his own cash to the cause .
And he ’s join the ranks of filthy - rich folks who commit to philanthropy . He signed theGiving Pledge , an estimation evoke by billionaire investor Warren Buffett , imply to spur more charitable donations . sign the Giving Pledge means agreeing to entrust at least 50 pct of your riches to charity either during your lifetime or in your will [ source : Zaidi ] .
3: He’s a Hard Worker - and a Demanding Boss
By 2012 , Musk ’s nett Charles Frederick Worth exceeded $ 1 billion for the first time . These day , that numeral is well above$156.9 billion , putting him around the second richest mortal in the world , though that fluctuate depending on things like Tesla stock cost . But Musk does n’t march around with tremendous expensive personal purchases like yacht . Instead , he forget himself at the office , and he expects the same allegiance from his employees , a fact that sometimes result to controversy .
In Ashlee Vance ’s biography of Elon Musk , he recount a account about a longtime assistant who asked for a raise . Musk tell her to take two workweek off during which time he would do her problem and see how critical she really was to the team . When she return , he differentiate her he did n’t need her again . She was tender another place , but left the company rather , no doubt diss [ source : Business Insider ] .
At Tesla , allegation of unfair low remuneration for workers , as well as insecure working conditions , and mandatory extra time , have surfaced in late years . Musk has refuted these allegations time and again [ source : Lumb ] .
Workers at some Tesla facilities have set about to unionize and Musk has been vocally against it . In fact , March 25 , 2021 , the National Labor Relations Board predominate that Tesla rape project natural law and ordered the company to stop interfering with workers seeking to organise at one of its plant . The infraction stanch from the firing of Tesla production associate Richard Ortiz , who also was a unification organiser , as well as a2018 tweetfrom Musk that said : " Nothing stop Tesla squad at our car flora from vote North . Could do so tmrw if they wanted . But why compensate union dues & give up farm animal options for nothing ? " Some Tesla workers suppose they feel these were intimidation tactics intend to keep them from get up .
2: Here Comes the Hyperloop
In 2013 , with his offbeat brilliance at top paraphernalia , Musk felt sheer enough to bring out the plans for his futuristicHyperloop , a form of shipping dreamed up by the engineering teams at Tesla and SpaceX.
The Hyperloop concept , which is part of hisThe Boring Company , is essentially a train inside a big airtight tube . The so - called vactrain would haul mass or load along a thin cushion of air thanks in part to electromagnets that suspend " capsules " above railing .
In one initial proposal , Musk said the Hyperloop might be used in heavily populated areas like Southern California , zipping people from San Francisco to Los Angeles at speeds approaching 700 or 800 miles per hour ( 1,126 or 1,287 kilometre per hour ) , drastically reduce travelling times and parry gridlock that plagues the highways . For representative someone could go from San Francisco to LA in 85 minutes alternatively of the six hours it normally takes by car [ seed : Bradley ] .
Because Musk wants the idea to raise as quick as possible , he provided the Hyperloop ’s plans as open - source , free to anyone who want to take the technologies and meliorate them .
Although some people enquire if this project is really economically workable , several companies , includingVirgin Hyperloop , have already made the idea a reality . In November 2020 , two Virgin Atlantic employees took the first successful test drive on a hyperloop run installation near Las Vegas , and Virgin says it ’s on track to make the hyperloop a realism .
1: He’s Controversial on Twitter
Just like Donald Trump , Elon Musk is famous — or infamous — for his provocative tweets . When the members of a boys ' soccer team in Thailand weretrapped in a cavein July 2018 , Musk had his engineer work on transform a liquid transport metro from a SpaceX rocket into a type of child - sized submarine that could travel through the urine in the cave . The Thai government incur the vessel impractical , and a British cave diver heavily involved in the rescue effort called Musk ’s submarine a " PR stunt . " Musk responded by tweet that the underwater diver was " a pedo guy " — in other Word , a pedophile . After an garboil , Musk excuse [ germ : Chu ] . Still , the cave diver sued him for libel [ beginning : BBC ] .
A exchangeable , though moreconvoluted scenariohappened early on in the coronavirus pandemic when Musk tweeted he ’d delivered more than 1,000 ventilators to hospital in California . Some hospitals never received them , and others received non - incursive BiPAP machines alternatively of traditional ventilator .
Then there were the tweets about Tesla ’s fund we bring up . To recap , in August 2018 , Musk tweeted he was considering bring the company private at $ 420 a share and he had the support secured . properly after that tweet , the Tesla blood price went up 11 pct and then fell 7 percent . Two stockholder charge grade action lawsuits in August 2018 , saying Musk ’s tweet was just a gambit to get thestock priceto acclivity and muckle with all the short sellers — multitude who bet the livestock price would flow and make money from buying at a lower price [ source : Wattles ] .
For these reasons , the Securities Exchange Commission ( SEC ) also register causa for security imposter , aver that"in accuracy , Musk roll in the hay that the possible dealing was uncertain and dependent to numerous contingencies . " Musk , Tesla and the SEC come to a settlement without the company admitting or deny actus reus . He had to bear a $ 20 million mulct , and Tesla had to pay an additional $ 20 million fine for not having " revelation controls and process relating to Musk ’s tweet . " This money would be give out to " harmed investor . " As we mentioned , Musk stepped down as chair for Tesla , though he remains chief operating officer ( or Technoking ) [ source : Ohnsman ] . The company remains public .
Other prey of Musk ’s ira have included unions , the insistency and sure scientists [ beginning : Biba ] . When asked about his chirrup attack , Muskresponded to a Bloomberg Businessweek journalistby state , " If you ’re on Twitter , you ’re in the field . And so essentially if you assail me , it is therefore OK for me to attack back . " However , he conceded , " If somebody attacks you on Twitter , should you say nothing ? Probably the solvent in some case is yes , I should say nothing . In fact , most of the time I do say nothing . I should belike say nothing more often . "
Lots More Information
Related Articles
More heavy Links
Sources
