Elon Musk is a well-known entrepreneur who has created several businesses such as Tesla Motors, PayPal, and SpaceX. Musk grew up in Pretoria, South Africa with his mother, Maye, who’s a dietitian and Canadian-born model; his father, Errol, an electromechanical engineer; along with two younger siblings. Becoming acquainted with programming on the Commodore VIC-20, an inexpensive computer, Musk was able to sell the BASIC code for a game called ‘PC and Office Technology’. Then growing his technologic skills, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Physics. Pursuing his PhD, Musk founded ‘X.com’ which later became PayPal.
Musk didn’t necessarily have a good childhood growing up. When he was 10 his parents divorced, moving around South Africa with his near abusive father. Attending Waterkloof House Preparatory School, he was often bullied by school gangs. “They got my best friend to lure me out of hiding so they could beat me up and that hurt,” Musk said in an interview. After Musk sold the BASIC code for the game called ‘PC and Office Technology’, he fled to Canada to avoid the South African military conscription. That became compulsory for all white men over the age of 16 to enlist.
Obtaining Canadian citizenship through his mother allowed Musk to migrate to Ontario. Whilst in Ontario he attended Queen’s University in Kingston. Spending two years in the university Musk then decided to transfer to a university in America. He enrolled to the University of Pennsylvania tackling two majors and splitting a 10-bedroom fraternity house with a friend. His intellectual mind allowed him to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Physics, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. At the age of 24, Musk moved to California to pursue his PhD in Applied Physics at Stanford University.
With the newly booming Silicon Valley, Musk started his venture into business. He was confident with his entrepreneurial plans and dropped out of Stanford just two days into his PhD program. Elon often looked up to Thomas Edison for his lasting impact on the world being able to present his products as a savvy businessman. I believe with that motivation and intelligence, Musk was able to see large opportunities in technology. Thus, making him believe in becoming an entrepreneur.
