Monthly Archives: February 2022

Mr. Sweeney made a counteroffer to Mr. Musk, according to the screenshots of the exchange, saying that he would abandon the account if Mr. Musk upped the ante to $50,000. He said that he would also accept a Tesla Model 3, an electric car that costs more than $38,000, adding that he was joking.

In the exchange, Mr. Sweeney was asked how he had been able to track Mr. Musk. He explained that he had obtained the planes transponder data. When told that paying to have the Twitter account shut down didnt seem right, Mr. Sweeney made another proposal: How about an internship?

The exchange, which carried on for more than a month, went silent after Jan. 23.

Mr. Sweeney downplayed the privacy and security concerns associated with his tracking account for Mr. Musk, which has more than 305,000 followers.

Its a private jet so he goes right from the jet to the car, he said, adding that he has long been fascinated by tracking planes. I dont think its that big of a concern. Some people are just interested in seeing where he goes.

Mr. Sweeney said that he obtained the data for his aircraft-tracking accounts from the ADS-B Exchange, which describes itself on its website as the worlds largest source of unfiltered flight data.

Dan Streufert, the founder of ADSBexchange.com L.L.C., said in an email on Wednesday that anyone with basic electronics could obtain the signals from aircraft that broadcast their locations. The information is also available by listening to air traffic controllers, he added.

However, it is important to note our website tracks aircraft, not individuals, Mr. Streufert said. We cannot say who is or is not on the plane. Mr. Musks companies own and operate many aircraft this is only one of them. Mr. Musk may find Mr. Sweeneys activities annoying, similar to paparazzi, however, this information is already public from a myriad of sources.

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A Teenager Tracked Elon Musks Jet on Twitter. Then Came the Direct Message. - The New York Times

Elon Musk gave an update on his expected timeline for Tesla achieving Full Self-Driving capability, and he now says that he would be shocked if Tesla does not achieve Full Self-Driving safer than human this year.

We have heard that before.

Since back in 2018, Musk has been predicting that Tesla will solve full self-driving next year. The company made an early bet on hardware for self-driving, and it has since been promising that it can deliver the technology to millions of vehicles already on the road through software updates.

The CEO has updated the language around his predictions a few times.

For example, he previously talked about Tesla delivering a feature complete version of full self-driving, which means that Tesla vehicles would have the capacity to attempt to drive by themselves on both local roads and highways with driver supervision at all times, but the capacity wouldnt be good. In short, it can drive through intersections, but it often needs assistance from the driver with the goal that it gets better over time.

Tesla delivered that through its FSD Beta program in 2020, but it was a lot more limited than many people hoped and quite far from Musks original promise of Tesla having a million robotaxis on the road.

The automaker has made great progress since the release of FSD Beta, which is now being used by almost 60,000 Tesla owners in the US.

But despite this progress, its hard for many to imagine when it can lead to an actual (for real this time) full self-driving system or even if it can even happen at this point without Tesla needing a new approach with different hardware.

During Teslas Q4 2021 earnings call last week, the CEO updated his timeline for Tesla delivering full self-driving safer than human by saying that he would be shocked if it doesnt happen this year:

I would be shocked if we do not achieve Full Self-Driving safer than human this year. I would be shocked.

Now he didnt elaborate by what metric it would be considered safer than human or if that will be enough for Tesla to take responsibility for the system away from the driver, which is really the only thing that matters to consider a system self-driving.

Despite the lack of detail, the CEO was so confident that he added on Twitter this weekend that Tesla also plans on licensing its self-driving software to other automakers.

He believes that every other company developing self-driving technology is about five years behind Tesla.

Its hard to take these predictions seriously anymore, but based on Musks own standard, we should be.

When admitting to having missed a few self-driving timeline predictions, the CEO once said that you can at least track whether or not progress is being made by the fact that the predicted timelines are getting shorter and not longer.

Its not next year anymore, but this year.

Now give us access to the data that shows some progress. The anecdotal data from beta testers is nice, but we need something more concrete.

During the call last week, Musk even mentioned that beta testers would see improvements if they were to plot their beta interventions per mile.

Why doesnt Tesla collect and release this data for the whole beta fleet? That would be the best way to track progress.

Its time for Tesla to do that if it wants any credibility about delivering on its goal for full self-driving.

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Elon Musk: I would be shocked if Tesla does not achieve Full Self-Driving that is safer than human drivers this year (and 5 years ahead of everyone) -...

He's right, but he shouldn't say it.Let Them Have Toilet Paper

In the worlds best example of two wrongs dont make a right, Elon Musk says he took his kids to Walmart to watch the plebeians of the world panic-buy toilet paper.

Musk made a quip about customers springing to buy paper products during Teslas Q4 earnings call this week, in which he compared the the global chip shortage to the toilet paper shortages that hit during the early pandemic and still plague certain areas.

You know, there was a toilet paper shortage during COVID, and like, obviously, it wasnt really certainly a tremendous enhanced need for ass wiping, Musk said, according to a transcript of the call. Peoplegot every paper you could possibly wipe your ass with. I was like, Is this like a real thing or not? I actually took my kids to the H-E-B and Walmart in Texas. Indeed, it was.

Musk went on to mock people for stocking up on toilet paper, saying that if the end of the world was truly coming, it wasnt exactly the kind of thing that would help anyone survive.

Toilet paper is the least of your problems, Musk quipped.

Was Musk being being totally insensitive to all of us non-rich people who have to worry about the real consequences of a real pandemic?

Yes.

Is it pretty pointless to stock up on toilet paper?

Also yes.

But as mentioned, two wrongs dont make a right. Its true that according to WebMD, TP demand grew to $1.45 billion in sales in the 4-week period ending in March of 2020, up 112 percent from the year before. Its also true that if everyone bought just what they needed, there would be enough to go around and stores wouldnt have to limit how many packages a customer could buy.

Additionally, panic-buying only exacerbates supply chain shortages, and all that toilet paper is made from wood pulp, a resource we should trying to use less of, not more.

Grudgingly, yes, Musk is right but that doesnt mean he needs to sound so smug.

More on Musk monologues: Elon Musk Goes on Paranoid Rant About Vaccines

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Elon Musk Says He Took His Children to Watch the Common Folk Hoard Supplies in Panic - Futurism

Elon Musk wants to make humans a multiplanetary species. Colonization of Mars has been the main goal of the entrepreneurs multi-billion dollar company SpaceX since its founding two decades ago.

The billionaire has in the past argued that we need a Plan B if Earth finds itself irreversibly damaged through climate change, overpopulation, a third world war or an eventual mass extinction event.

While the jurys still out on what will ultimately render our planet uninhabitable, in January Musk tweeted a new concern: population collapse.

Contrary to what you might think, there may be some truth to his worry the world's population could decrease after the second half of the century, according toa 2020 studypublished in The Lancet by researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).

That means there might not be enough people for Musk's Mars colonization plan which the SpaceX CEO acknowledged himself in the same tweet: "If there aren't enough people for Earth, then there definitely won't be enough for Mars.

Predictions by the IHME suggest that by 2064 the global population will reach its peak at 9.73 billion, followed by a decrease of almost a billion by the end of the century. These findings show a very different picture from previous projections by the United Nations, which estimate a steady increase to around 11 billion by 2100. Musk called the UN numbers "utter nonsense in the same Twitter post.

Women play a crucial role in these estimates. The population decline is attributed mainly to decreasing birth rates women are having fewer kids. The researchers pointed out that changes in the birth rate are mostly explained by an ongoing trend of better and easier access to education and contraceptives.

But why does this happen? Evidence from Denmark could shed light on the causes. According to a 2018study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, women's earnings droppeddrastically after childbirth while men's stayed the same.

Some countries have tried to tackle these challenges with incentive programs like paid maternity leave, employment protection, child care and economic aid. A good example given by the authors is Sweden, which increased its birth rates from 1.5 in the late 1990s to 1.9 in 2019.

The researchers were also concerned that the lower birth rates tight relation to womens increased attainment of education and contraceptives could pose a real threat to their freedom and rights. Instead of implementing programs to lessen the financial blow many women experience when they become mothers, some countries might, on the contrary, prohibit or restrict access to reproductive health services to prevent population declines. They mentioned past examples like Romania in the 60s and the Soviet Union, which used restrictions and bans to try to increase fertility rates.

Although Musk might not like a less populated world, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, IHME researchers said. They noted it could provide relief to the environment because fewer people use fewer resources and generate fewer carbon emissions. But the authors are clear that although a decline in the population could benefit the planet, it is not a solution against climate change.

Some countries like Japan, Spain and Ukraine could face a halving or more of their population by 2100. China is predicted to fall from its current 1.4 billion people to roughly 700 million, despite the 2015 end to the one-child policy.

But not all countries would see a decline in their population. The models showed that sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East were the only regions expected to have a higher population in 2100 than in 2017.

On average, high-income Western Europe countries would reach a population peak before 2040, much earlier than the predicted 2064 global peak. In the case of Germany, the population would peak at 85 million by 2035 and thendecrease to about 60 million by 2100.

The predictions also point to a decreasing working population in some countries. This would have significant economic consequences, researchers said like lower GDP growth rates. Combined with a growing number of people entering retirement age, a smaller workforce poses hard fiscal challenges to public health and pension programs. In this regard, immigration could help, wrote the authors. World population growth to diminish, spurring geopolitical power shift.

The study mentions that countries that are able to manage to keep their working population through migration, like Canada, Australia and the USA, could prosper.

Estimates like these are, of course, limited to researchers current understanding of population indicators. They may not be able to tell the future, but they can shed some light on it.

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Elon Musk's dreams of Mars colonization could be hindered by depopulation - Deutsche Welle

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

The names Elon Musk, Gary Vaynerchuk, Richard Bransonand Jeff Bezos are much more well-known than the companies they have created. All of them work hard on their personal branding using a whole set of powerful PR techniques. Memes, content pyramid, storytelling and other instruments they usemight also help youstep your game up behind the scenes.

Personal branding for entrepreneurs is crucialto grow business, drive sales, attract investors and hire talents. According to aBRANDfog survey, the most important element of PR and communications strategy for business owners is social-media activity 80% of respondents agreed with that. Moreover, 82% of employees trust a company moreif its executives have a strong reputation online.

Customers dont pay just for a product anymore;they invest in people. Thats why its time to work on your personal-branding strategy.

There are plenty of memes about Tesla and SpaceX on the internet, and they are not separatefrom the image of Elon Musk. Every seeminglyrandom action of his is part of an elaboratestrategy. This strategy has proven extremely successful, as Musk was namedTime's2021"Person of the Year."Here's how Musk has made it happen.

Filming

We have seen Elon Musk in many cult films and TV shows;for example, he was in Iron Manin 2010 and The Big BangTheory, in which the entrepreneur played himself.Because of this, those who follow the news of the electric vehicle or space-technology market aren't the only ones who know about him.

The businessman frequently says in his interviews that he really loves cinema, so his image appearances don't come across as overly forced. Musk even launched a mini-series about his company SpaceX in yet another moveto establish his personal brand and companywith audiences who might not otherwise encounter him.

Speaking up openly

If you Google "Elon Musk says," you'll encounter a litany of the entrepreneur's grand plans and musings: from promises to send a rocket to Marsanddetonate an atomic bomb on the planetto make it habitable for people to predictionsabout the absorption of the Earth by the Sun and the extinction of mankind.Musk's willingess to delve into big ideas generates intrigue and strengthens his personal brand.

Related: 10 Things Entrepreneurs Never Want to Talk About, But Should

Creating a relatable image

Musk hosts "Ask Me Anything"sessions on Reddit andresponds to messages from followers on Twitter. In 2014, he even reposted an ad that was made for Tesla by several college students. People like to feel connected to their heros, so cultivating that sense of camaraderie can go a long way towards boosting the public's perception of you and your business.

American entrepreneur, founder of VaynerMedia and VaynerX, Gary Vaynerchuk generates an enormous amount of content.He has his own blog, YouTube channel, podcast, Twitter, Instagram andFacebook. Because of this activity, Vaynerchuk has built a powerful personal brand that is followed by millions of people. His strategy is based on a few techniques.

Different formats of profitable content

In his blog, the businessman writes about a content pyramid, which involves dividing alarge topic among different formats. He publishes long Q&A videos, short texts, stories, pictures andmemes. On each network, content is released in a unique format, which keeps people coming back for more.

Related: What to Post on Each Social Media Platform: The Complete Guide to Optimizing Your Social Content

Sincerity

Vaynerchukgives concrete examples and reveals his own process. For instance, he advises his followers to get rid of curated social images (for business, for family, for friends) and bewho you are on the internet, as it is impossible to play several roles in different spheres of life at once. Naturally, this sincerity draws people in and bolsters his credibility.

Willingess to engage

Despite the number of people who consume Vaynerchuk's content, any subscriber has the opportunity to communicate with him directly by writing him a message, and Vaynerchuk actively replies to his followers on Twitter every day. This willingess to engage, combined with the entrepreneur's sincere approach, no doubt strenghthens his fan base.

Today, Branson's corporation Virgin Group includes about 400 different companies in the field of sound recording, cellular communications andair transportation. Despite the scale of his businesses,Branson is an open person who is interesting to follow and can be trusted. Here are some of his secrets.

Representing courage and risk

Branson's attitude towards business and risk deserves special attention. He says If you can run one business well, you can run any business well."This ability to take risks and accept the likelihood of failure is indeed exciting. Therefore, the audience likes to follow him and get inspired.

Giving a memorable performance

Even when some of Branson's business ideas dont work as well, he still turns it into a vibrant PR campaign. At the launch of the Virgin Brides bridal salon, the entrepreneur dressed in a bridal dress, which attracted the attention of the audience. That business has not survived, but the image of Branson in that dress is still remembered by many as is Branson's willingess to have fun and connect with people.

Representing openness and simplicity

Branson cares about both Virgin Group employees and customers. The best team members are invited to dinner or on a trip with him. This establishes him as a leader people can look up to and as someone people want tomodel their own behaviors after, which further contributes to the integrity of his brand.

Related: What Richard Branson and Warren Buffett Reveal About Personal Branding

Once the richest man in the world according to Forbes, the founder of Amazon Jeff Bezos speaks about innovation, entrepreneurship, recommends books, launches space projectsand talks about saving the planet. This is what distinguishes his strategy from others.

Drawing attention to environmental and social agendas

Bezos often articulates the need to tackle climate change. He has created the Bezos Earth Fund to that end.He has also visited India and promised to help with the creation of additional jobs. These tactics generally result in positive press and more engagement with his company.

Focusing on the quality of service

Delivering top-notch service is one of Bezos's primary aims.At one conference in 2019, a woman told him she hadn't been able to get a refund on Amazon. She handed the parcel to the entrepreneur, and he accepted itand apologized for the inconvenience. It's likely this display fostered a favorable attitude within the audience.

Related: How to Use Storytelling to Sell Your Brand and Vision

Look for new approaches, act sincerelyand don't forget to tell your audience about it these are the main recommendations for those who are thinking about developing a personal brand. Individuality and honesty captivate people, souse the above tools to help your business stand out among the competition.

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These Strategies Used by Ultra-Wealthy Entrepreneurs Like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos Will Help Your Business Stand Out - Entrepreneur

Warren Buffett would have seized Elon Musk's crown as the world's richest person this month, if the famed investor hadn't given half of his fortune to charity.

The Berkshire Hathaway CEO has a net worth of $113 billion, or just over half of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's $220 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. If Buffett hadn't donated shares worth $111 billion over the past 16 years, he would be wealthier than Musk today.

Buffett owned nearly 475,000 Berkshire "A" shares in 2006, when he pledged to give 99% of his fortune to good causes. He has almost halved his holdings to about 239,000 shares since then, slashing the value of his Berkshire stake to $112 billion.

The investor's net worth has jumped by over $4 billion this year, as mounting fears of inflation and interest-rate hikes have fueled a 3% rise in Berkshire shares. In contrast, Musk's fortune has plunged by $50 billion this month, reflecting a painful sell-off of technology stocks that cut Tesla's share price by 29%.

Forbes estimates that Musk has given less than 1% of his wealth to charity, so his philanthropy hasn't materially eroded his net worth. However, Buffett's giving may have boosted Berkshire's stock price, meaning the investor's fortune might be smaller today without his largesse in recent years.

The Berkshire chief is the only one of the world's 10 wealthiest people whose net worth has grown this year. His centibillionaire peers have seen nearly $150 billion wiped off their combined fortunes in a matter of weeks.

Buffett's philanthropy has put a big dent in his wealth, costing him the title of the world's richest man. Yet his decades of careful investing continue to pay off, as investors are once again flocking to Berkshire for safety, and his collection of stocks and businesses are generating plenty of money for him to give away.

Read more:Warren Buffett is ready to deploy $80 billion if the market crashes this year. 7 experts say the investor should trim his Apple stake, acquire luxury brands, or buy some blue-chip stocks in the meantime.

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Warren Buffett would be richer than Elon Musk but gifted 50% of wealth - Markets Insider