Elon Musk is not a new player in the technology industry. Many people even dub this “eccentric” and futuristic entrepreneur as Tony Stark in the real world, even though he doesn’t compete like a superhero (Iron Man). Musk is known as one of the founders of PayPal. He also initiated commercial space flights through SpaceX, the rocket and spacecraft maker he founded in 2002. So, it is not surprising that he dared to set ambitious targets for Tesla Motors, which is also his own company.
Elon Musk was born and raised in his father’s country of origin, South Africa. The man who was born on June 28, 1971 is the oldest child of 3 siblings. His father is an engineer and owner of a construction company, while his mother is a dietitian from Canada. Since childhood, Musk likes to read books. He can finish 2 books in one day. In addition to science fiction comics, he also took a great interest in things related to space. Musk’s love of technology began when his father presented him with a computer. At that time, Musk’s age was only 10 years. With that computer, Musk learned to make his own computer program. At the age of 12, Musk already sold his own software. The first software he sold was a space-themed game. The game titled “Blastar” was selling for 500 US dollars.
When he was 17 years old, Musk moved to Canada. He left Canada in 1992, to study business at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics, and continued his studies in physics. Since the beginning, Musk has set 3 fields that he wants to focus on. According to him, the three fields are important for the future of humanity, namely the internet, space, and clean energy. Zip2 and PayPal In 1995, Musk moved to California and enrolled to take a graduate program in energy physics at Stanford University. However, his lecture at Stanford only lasted 2 days. Musk left the campus to pioneer a startup (internet pilot company) with his younger brother, Kimbal Musk.
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The startup is called Zip2, providing software for the online content publishing industry. Shortly after its establishment, Zip2 managed to get investment from several major media companies, such as The New York Times, Hearst Corporation, and Knight Ridder. In 1999, Zip2 was acquired by AltaVista which was then purchased by Compaq. With the acquisition value of more than 300 million US dollars, Musk’s brothers were included in the group of young millionaires in America. Back in 1998, Musk and several of his colleagues founded X.com, an online financial service provider company. A year later, X.com acquired Confinity, a company that provides a money transfer system between mobile devices that was popular at the time, the Palm Pilot. After the acquisition, the name X.com was changed to PayPal. In 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for 1.5 billion dollars in shares. Before being acquired by eBay, Musk was the largest shareholder in PayPal, which amounted to 11.7 percent. This acquisition automatically adds value to Musk’s wealth.
Musk’s success through Zip2 and PayPal is proof of the strength of his vision in the internet. SpaceX Until adulthood, Musk did not forget his obsession with space. He wants to realize his vision to bring humans into space. In 2002, Musk used part of his wealth to establish Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), a company that developed rockets and spacecraft for space missions. Until now, he has served as CEO (chief executive officer) and CTO (chief technology officer) at the company. In 2008, SpaceX won a contract worth 1.6 billion US dollars from NASA. One important project in the collaboration was the development of the first liquid rocket technology, Falcon 1, which was launched into Earth orbit in 2009. In 2012, SpaceX also made a breakthrough by launching Falcon 9 rockets and the first commercial cargo aircraft, “SpaceX Dragon “, To the International Space Station (ISS) in Earth orbit.
He also expressed his concern for the environment by becoming a major investor in SolarCity, a clean energy provider that aims to combat global warming. In 2012, Musk announced collaboration between Tesla Motors and SolarCity. Musk’s achievements is enough to make him deserve to be called “Tony Stark” in the real world, and the participation of Tesla Motors in the autopilot technology car competition will certainly shift the trend while putting pressure on the automotive industry to move forward.
