GeneralLast Updated on 5 days by General
Pretoria born Elon Reeve Musk, famously known just as Elon Musk is the founder, chairman, CEO, and chief technology officer of SpaceX; he’s also an angel investor, CEO, product architect, and former chairman of Tesla, Inc. Additionally, he holds positions as the owner, chairman, and CTO of X Corp., founder of the Boring Company, co-founder of Neuralink and OpenAI, and president of the Musk Foundation. As of October 2023, Elon Musk is recognized as the wealthiest individual globally, with an estimated net worth of US$207 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and $231 billion as reported by Forbes. This wealth is primarily derived from his ownership interests in Tesla and SpaceX.
Born in Pretoria, South Africa on June 28, 1971 to a Canadian mother and South African father, Elon Musk is 52 years old as of 2023. He showed an early aptitude for computers and entrepreneurship, and at the age of 12 he sold his first software program. In 1995, Musk moved to Canada to attend Queen’s University, where he studied economics and physics. He then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and applied physics. After college, Musk moved to California to attend Stanford University, but he dropped out after two days to pursue a business career.
In 1995, Musk co-founded Zip2, a web software company that was acquired by Compaq in 1999 for $307 million. Musk then founded X.com, an online financial services company that merged with Confinity in 2000 to form PayPal. In 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion. During the same year, Elon Musk also founded SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company. SpaceX’s goal is to reduce the cost of space travel and make it possible for humans to colonize Mars. In 2008, SpaceX achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first private company to successfully launch a liquid-fueled rocket into orbit.
In 2004, Musk joined Tesla Motors, Inc. (now Tesla, Inc.) as chairman and product architect. Tesla is an electric vehicle and clean energy company that designs, manufactures, and sells electric cars, battery energy storage products, and solar energy products. Musk became CEO of Tesla in 2008.
Musk is a controversial figure, but he is also one of the most innovative and ambitious entrepreneurs of our time. He is passionate about his companies and his mission to change the world.
Elon Musk’s Most notable achievements
- Founded SpaceX, the first private company to launch a liquid-fueled rocket into orbit
- Led Tesla Motors to become the world’s leading electric vehicle manufacturer
- Developed the Falcon 9 rocket, which is the most reliable rocket in operation
- Developed the Dragon spacecraft, which is the only spacecraft capable of returning cargo and astronauts from the International Space Station
- Founded Neuralink, a company that is developing brain-computer interfaces
- Founded OpenAI, a non-profit research company that is developing safe and beneficial artificial intelligence
Musk is a visionary leader who is helping to shape the future of transportation, space exploration, and artificial intelligence