Elon Musk, (born June 28, 1971, Pretoria, South Africa), South African-born American entrepreneur who cofounded the electronic-payment firm PayPal and formed SpaceX, maker of launch vehicles and spacecraft. He was also one of the first significant investors in, as well as chairman and chief executive officer of, the electric car manufacturer Tesla.
Musk was born to a South African father and a Canadian mother. He displayed an early talent for computers and entrepreneurship. At age 12 he created a video game and sold it to a computer magazine. In 1988, after obtaining a Canadian passport, Musk left South Africa because he was unwilling to support apartheid through compulsory military service and because he sought the greater economic opportunities available in the United States.
Musk attended Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and in 1992 he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where he received bachelors degrees in physics and economics in 1995. He enrolled in graduate school in physics at Stanford University in California, but he left after only two days because he felt that the Internet had much more potential to change society than work in physics. That year he founded Zip2, a company that provided maps and business directories to online newspapers. In 1999 Zip2 was bought by the computer manufacturer Compaq for $307 million, and Musk then founded an online financial services company, X.com, which later became PayPal, which specialized in transferring money online. The online auction eBay bought PayPal in 2002 for $1.5 billion.
Musk was long convinced that for life to survive, humanity has to become a multiplanet species. However, he was dissatisfied with the great expense of rocket launchers. In 2002 he founded Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) to make more affordable rockets. Its first two rockets were the Falcon 1 (first launched in 2006) and the larger Falcon 9 (first launched in 2010), which were designed to cost much less than competing rockets. A third rocket, the Falcon Heavy (first launched in 2018), was designed to carry 117,000 pounds (53,000 kg) to orbit, nearly twice as much as its largest competitor, the Boeing Companys Delta IV Heavy, for one-third the cost. SpaceX also developed the Dragon spacecraft, which carries supplies to the International Space Station and is designed to carry as many as seven astronauts. Musk sought to reduce the expense of spaceflight by developing a fully reusable rocket that could lift off and return to the pad it launched from. Beginning in 2012, SpaceXs Grasshopper rocket made several short flights to test such technology. In addition to being CEO of SpaceX, Musk was also chief designer in building the Falcon rockets, Dragon, and Grasshopper.
Musk had long been interested in the possibilities of electric cars, and in 2004 he became one of the major funders of Tesla Motors (later renamed Tesla), an electric car company founded by entrepreneurs Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. In 2006 Tesla introduced its first car, the Roadster, which could travel 245 miles (394 km) on a single charge. Unlike most previous electric vehicles, which Musk thought were stodgy and uninteresting, it was a sports car that could go from 0 to 60 miles (97 km) per hour in less than four seconds. In 2012 Tesla introduced the Model S sedan, which was acclaimed by automotive critics for its performance and design. The company won further praise for its Model X luxury SUV, which went on the market in 2015.
Dissatisfied with the projected cost ($68 billion) of a high-speed rail system in California, Musk in 2013 proposed an alternate faster system, the Hyperloop, a pneumatic tube in which a pod carrying 28 passengers would travel the 350 miles (560 km) between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 35 minutes at a top speed of 760 miles (1,220 km) per hour, nearly the speed of sound. Musk claimed that the Hyperloop would cost only $6 billion and that, with the pods departing every two minutes on average, the system could accommodate the six million people who travel that route every year. However, he stated that, between running SpaceX and Tesla, he could not devote time to the Hyperloops development.
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Elon Musk | Biography & Facts | Britannica.com
- Elon Musk Details Excruciating Personal Toll of Tesla ... - August 20th, 2018 [August 20th, 2018]
- Elon Musk headbutted a car at a Tesla factory: report ... - September 6th, 2018 [September 6th, 2018]
- Elon Musks Ultimatum to Tesla: Fight the S.E.C., or I ... - October 8th, 2018 [October 8th, 2018]
- Future Mars Colonists Could Fly Rockets They 3D Printed Right on the Red Planet - October 29th, 2018 [October 29th, 2018]
- Elon Musk: First Boring Company Tunnel Will Open December 10 - October 29th, 2018 [October 29th, 2018]
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk: The 2018 60 Minutes Interview - CBS News - December 11th, 2018 [December 11th, 2018]
- Elon Musk: Tesla interested in buying idled GM plant ... - December 11th, 2018 [December 11th, 2018]
- Elon Musk: "I have no respect for the SEC" - December 11th, 2018 [December 11th, 2018]
- Elon Musk: Inventors Plans for Outer Space, Cars, Finding ... - December 11th, 2018 [December 11th, 2018]
- Elon Musk says Tesla would consider buying idled GM plants - December 11th, 2018 [December 11th, 2018]
- Elon Musk kicks off Gigafactory in Shanghai, may dodge Trump ... - January 12th, 2019 [January 12th, 2019]
- Elon Musk says SpaceX has assembled shiny Starship test ... - January 12th, 2019 [January 12th, 2019]
- Elon Musk released a photo SpaceX's test hopper rocket ... - January 12th, 2019 [January 12th, 2019]
- Elon Musk shows off SpaceXs massive Starship test rocket ... - January 13th, 2019 [January 13th, 2019]
- CNET Says Tesla CEO Elon Musk Was Disruptor Of The Year - January 21st, 2019 [January 21st, 2019]
- Elon Musk blasts SEC, says no one oversees his tweets - CNN - January 21st, 2019 [January 21st, 2019]
- Elon Musks Billion-Dollar Crusade to Stop the A.I ... - February 5th, 2019 [February 5th, 2019]
- Elon Musk: Tesla vehicles able to drive themselves by end of ... - February 5th, 2019 [February 5th, 2019]
- Elon Musk gears up for Model Y crossover as Tesla makes ... - February 5th, 2019 [February 5th, 2019]
- Elon Musk: Starship could make migrating from Earth to Mars ... - February 18th, 2019 [February 18th, 2019]
- Tesla's biggest problem is not Elon Musk's Twitter - Business ... - March 3rd, 2019 [March 3rd, 2019]
- Elon Musk changes Twitter name to 'Elon Tusk' amid SEC ... - March 3rd, 2019 [March 3rd, 2019]
- Johnny Depp Claims Amber Heard Cheated on Him With Elon Musk ... - March 3rd, 2019 [March 3rd, 2019]
- SEC options to rein in Elon Musk include leaning on Tesla and ... - March 5th, 2019 [March 5th, 2019]
- Elon Musk Doesnt Need to Be Tesla CEO, Top Shareholder ... - March 6th, 2019 [March 6th, 2019]
- Hive: Elon Musk News, In-Depth Articles, Photos & Videos ... - June 5th, 2019 [June 5th, 2019]
- Before Elon Musk reaches Mars, SpaceX may need to survive ... - June 5th, 2019 [June 5th, 2019]
- WeWork's CEO drama has one industry insider calling it an 'Elon Musk situation' - Business Insider - October 1st, 2019 [October 1st, 2019]
- Elon Musk Just Unveiled Wild Starship Plans For "The Moon, Mars, And Beyond" - ScienceAlert - October 1st, 2019 [October 1st, 2019]
- 50 US corporations have CEO-worker pay gaps of more than 1,000 to 1 - Fast Company - October 1st, 2019 [October 1st, 2019]
- Watch Elon Musk unveil his latest plan for conquering Mars - Business Insider - October 1st, 2019 [October 1st, 2019]
- Elon Musk should send people to Mars on a keto diet to save money, according to a doctor who studies ketosis - INSIDER - October 30th, 2019 [October 30th, 2019]
- Elon Musk's hearing over Thai cave diver 'pedo guy' slur to begin amid 'con man' investigation - ABC News - October 30th, 2019 [October 30th, 2019]
- Tesla is unveiling a 3rd version of its solar roof this week, Elon Musk says - Business Insider - October 30th, 2019 [October 30th, 2019]
- Peter Thiel says Elon Musk is a 'negative role model' because he's too hard to emulate - CNBC - October 30th, 2019 [October 30th, 2019]
- To many, the strategy adopted by Elon Musk and Tesla seems chaotic but its actually brilliant - Scroll.in - November 23rd, 2019 [November 23rd, 2019]
- Elon Musk Just Tweeted a Response to Ford's New Electric Mustang Announcement, and It's Most Excellent - Inc. - November 23rd, 2019 [November 23rd, 2019]
- Elon Musk Says They're Working On Plugging The 4,400-Mile Supercharger Gap Between Europe And Asia - Jalopnik - November 23rd, 2019 [November 23rd, 2019]
- It Took Elon Musk Exactly 5 Words to Reveal What He Looks for in Every New Hire (and It's Not a College Degree) - Inc. - November 23rd, 2019 [November 23rd, 2019]
- Elon Musk says the Tesla 2020 Roadster 'maybe won't need a key at all' - Business Insider - November 23rd, 2019 [November 23rd, 2019]
- Elon Musk Ordered to Stand Trial in Cave Explorers Defamation Case - The New York Times - November 23rd, 2019 [November 23rd, 2019]
- Elon Musk Just Retweeted A Ford Announcement And It Was A Classy (And Hugely Strategic) Move - Forbes - November 23rd, 2019 [November 23rd, 2019]
- Watch Elon Musk lose it after Tesla Cybertruck Armor Glass ... - November 23rd, 2019 [November 23rd, 2019]
- Did Elon Musk approve this? U.S. company sending cannabis and coffee to space aboard a SpaceX mission - The GrowthOp - December 13th, 2019 [December 13th, 2019]
- Tesla has announced major overhaul of sales and delivery teams - Business Insider - December 13th, 2019 [December 13th, 2019]
- Elon Musk revives his plan to power the United States entirely on solar - Inverse - December 13th, 2019 [December 13th, 2019]
- Elon Musk Reveals Best Place To Get 'Great Deals' For Fixing, Upgrading Cars - International Business Times - December 13th, 2019 [December 13th, 2019]
- Folks Are Going Wild Over Elon Musk Sitting Next to Ikumi Nakamura at The Game Awards - Comicbook.com - December 13th, 2019 [December 13th, 2019]
- Vergecast: Tesla Cybertruck first ride, Elon Musks bad tweets trial, and the departure of Googles founders - The Verge - December 13th, 2019 [December 13th, 2019]
- Elon Musk says Twitter is nonsense. Why does he use it to break Tesla news? - Los Angeles Times - December 13th, 2019 [December 13th, 2019]
- Was Elon Musk Really in 'Rick and Morty'? - Showbiz Cheat Sheet - December 18th, 2019 [December 18th, 2019]
- Elon Musk appeared at The Game Awards to support girlfriend Grimes - Business Insider - December 18th, 2019 [December 18th, 2019]
- Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler Tie the Knot - Is Elon Musk Getting Worried Yet? - TheStreet - December 18th, 2019 [December 18th, 2019]
- Elon Musk Works For Tesla For Free But Thanks To A Highly Unusual Compensation Plan He Could Earn $100 Billion - Celebrity Net Worth - December 18th, 2019 [December 18th, 2019]
- Elon Musk Is Talking About Powering All of America with Solar - Futurism - December 18th, 2019 [December 18th, 2019]
- Why Elon Musk's SpaceX Is Launching Cannabis and Coffee to Space in 2020 - Inc. - December 18th, 2019 [December 18th, 2019]
- This decade in Elon Musk: SpaceX, Tesla, The Boring Company, and more - The Verge - December 18th, 2019 [December 18th, 2019]
- Jason Castriota is taking on the 300 mph record -- and Elon Musk - Los Angeles Times - December 30th, 2019 [December 30th, 2019]
- Can you guess what Elon Musk's favorite movie and Netflix series were in 2019? - USA TODAY - December 30th, 2019 [December 30th, 2019]
- How Elon Musk Evolved from Nothing to the Most Successful - Interesting Engineering - December 30th, 2019 [December 30th, 2019]
- Be wary of Elon Musk despoiling the vault of heaven - The Guardian - December 30th, 2019 [December 30th, 2019]
- Elon Musk Dismisses Induced Demand, A Phenomenon First Witnessed In 1866 - Forbes - December 30th, 2019 [December 30th, 2019]
- Elon Musk aims for 2020 completion of underground Las Vegas project - Las Vegas Review-Journal - December 30th, 2019 [December 30th, 2019]
- Elon Musk's Tesla journey started as an investor - The Times - January 19th, 2020 [January 19th, 2020]
- All aboard the Starship! Elon Musk aims to send 10 lakh people to Mars by 2050 - Hindustan Times - January 19th, 2020 [January 19th, 2020]
- The pop princess and the billionaire: how Grimes and Elon Musk became the worlds strangest power couple - Telegraph.co.uk - January 19th, 2020 [January 19th, 2020]
- Elon Musk Says His Favorite Movie of 2019 Was "Parasite" And The Concept of Irony is Officially Dead - Bleeding Cool News - January 19th, 2020 [January 19th, 2020]
- Did The Book Primal Branding Inspire Elon Musk With Tesla? - InsideEVs - January 19th, 2020 [January 19th, 2020]
- Elon Musk's Tunnel Company Seeks to Expand Its Reach in Las Vegas - Engineering News-Record - January 19th, 2020 [January 19th, 2020]
- Elon Musk keeps getting owned by the PA Treasury's Twitter account - Mashable - January 19th, 2020 [January 19th, 2020]
- Elon Musk is nearly halfway done with his Las Vegas loop - The Hill - January 19th, 2020 [January 19th, 2020]
- Elon Musk has had the viral song from 'The Witcher' stuck in his head for at least a week - Business Insider - January 19th, 2020 [January 19th, 2020]
- Elon Musk keeps traveling to Texas to work on SpaceX's new Starship rocket. A local thinks the CEO now uses a historic home as a crash pad take a... - January 19th, 2020 [January 19th, 2020]
- Jack Dorsey asked Elon Musk how he would run Twitterhere's what Musk said - CNBC - January 19th, 2020 [January 19th, 2020]
- Elon Musk is still thinking big with SpaceX's Starship Mars-colonizing rocket. Really big. - Space.com - January 19th, 2020 [January 19th, 2020]
- Jay Leno And Elon Musk Spotted Driving And Filming Tesla Cybertruck - Grand Tour Nation - January 29th, 2020 [January 29th, 2020]
- Shes Taking on Elon Musk on Solar. And Winning. - The New York Times - January 29th, 2020 [January 29th, 2020]
- Japanese billionaire Maezawa pulls out of dating show that promised the moon - Eyewitness News - January 30th, 2020 [January 30th, 2020]
- Does Tesla make solar glass roof tile in its Buffalo, New York factory? Or in China? - pv magazine USA - January 30th, 2020 [January 30th, 2020]
- Tesla's Elon Musk Must Fail To Win: It's A Critical Part Of The Process - InsideEVs - January 30th, 2020 [January 30th, 2020]