Elon Musk - biography. The new Steve Jobs. Elon Musk's rules of life

Father Errol Musk[d]

For outstanding services to science on May 9, 2018, Elon Reeve Musk was awarded membership of the Royal Society of London.

Biography

early years

At the age of ten, Elon received his first Commodore VIC-20 computer as a gift and learned to program on it. At the age of twelve, he sold his first program for $500, a Space Invaders-style video game called Blastar, in which the player fired at the ranks of aliens with a laser gun.

Musk invested in the shares of a pharmaceutical company, which he followed through the newspapers. With the proceeds from the sale of shares of several thousand dollars, despite the protests of his parents, he leaves for Canada. Before entering university, he lived with relatives in Kingston, Ontario. Over time, he moved to Stanford, but did not finish his studies.

Personal life

His first wife, Justine Musk, studied with him at the same university in Canada. They got married in 2000, and five sons appeared in the family.

In September 2008, Elon and Justin announced they were ending their relationship as Musk began dating British actress Talulah Riley. They got married in 2010. Musk and Riley divorced in 2012, but remarried in 2013. In March 2016, they filed for divorce, which took place in October of the same year.

In 2017, he dated actress Amber Heard.

In 2018, at the Met Gala, Musk appeared in public with Canadian singer Grimes, which led to rumors that Musk had an affair with the singer.

Elon Musk has admitted that he is having trouble sleeping and is using Ambien (zolpidem) sleeping pills. According to The New York Times, some members of the Tesla board of directors expressed their concern about this.

Hobbies

Related videos

Politics

In December 2016, he became a member of the Presidential forum on strategy and policy under President Donald Trump, a group of 16 American entrepreneurs tasked with advising the 45th President of the United States on issues related to economic growth, job creation and productivity, but withdrew from further involvement in 2017 in a forum to protest Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement.

Career

In 1996/1997, Musk and his brother founded the company Zip2, which specialized in software for news companies. In 1999, Zip2 was acquired by Compaq for $308 million. Musk received 7% of the sale ($22 million).

X.com and PayPal

In March 1999, Musk co-founded X.com. In 2000, X.com merged with Confinity, a subsidiary of which was called PayPal. Both systems (X.com and PayPal) were engaged in providing personal electronic money transfers through Email, and the purpose of the transaction was to merge both payment systems, but in fact this did not happen. Musk strongly advocated the X.com brand instead of PayPal, which caused internal divisions that ended in Musk's resignation by decision of the Board of Directors. However, Elon's strategic decision to merge the two companies, along with the active promotion of the electronic payment system on Internet auctions (primarily eBay), led in 2001 to rapid growth an enterprise that was finally renamed PayPal. Such impressive success allowed the company to go public on the stock exchange in February 2002 (and at the same time become the first of the dot-com companies to go public after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks). In October 2002, PayPal was bought by eBay for US$1.5 billion. At the time of the sale, Musk owned 11.7% of the company's shares, which allowed him to gain $ 180 million.

SpaceX

Musk in 2013 in Dublin

In May 2002, Musk founded his third company, SpaceX. It is a private developer of a series of launch vehicles and a commercial operator of space systems.

Elon Musk set a goal - to reduce the cost of space flights by 10 times. To do this, he founded SpaceX, investing in it $ 100 million earned from the sale of his previous companies.

In January 2016, at an investment forum in Hong Kong, Musk announced that his company hopes to fly to Mars in 2020-2025.

In September 2017, Elon Musk posted a video on his Instagram talking about a new idea for using SpaceX rockets. It consists in using rockets and spaceships to fly anywhere on the Earth instead of airplanes.

Tesla

Open AI

San Francisco-based non-profit artificial intelligence research company. The company's goal is to develop open, friendly AI. One of the founders is Elon Musk.

On February 20, 2018, Elon Musk resigned from the board of directors of OpenAI due to a possible conflict of interest.

Neuralink

The Boring Company

An infrastructure and tunneling construction company founded by Elon Musk in 2016.

Philanthropy

Elon became chairman of the board of the Musk Foundation charitable foundation. In January 2015, the foundation donated $10 million to research into the control of artificial intelligence.

In July 2018, the entrepreneur offered to help rescue children from the flooded Tham Luang Cave. Four engineers from Tesla, SpaceX and The Boring Company were sent to help rescuers. A mini-submarine designed specifically for this operation was delivered to Thailand, but Thai rescuers refused to use it. Speleologist Vern Unsworth, who played one of the key roles in the rescue operation, criticized Musk's proposal - according to him, a rigid-framed submarine "could not even swim the first 50 meters from the beginning of the cave."

Criticism and scandalous incidents

Rescue operation at Thamluangnangnon Cave

A great public outcry was caused by Elon Musk's attempt to take part in the rescue operation carried out in the Thamluangnangnon cave and the events that followed. The American businessman said that he was discussing options for rescuing people with cavers. On July 10, 2018, after 8 children were rescued, he brought to the rescue site a mini-submarine he created, using elements of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, which was supposed to help children unprepared for diving. However, the rescuers considered that it was not advisable to use it. Speleologist Vern Unsworth, who played a key role in the rescue operation, criticized the proposal, calling it a publicity stunt. According to him, this plan had no chance of success: a rigid-framed submarine would not even pass the first 50 meters, along the way, he spoke rudely to Musk. In response, Elon posted a tweet in which he called the British diver a pedophile. Pretty quickly, Musk erased this tweet, but he had already managed to cause a wave of negative reaction and numerous articles in various media, the situation caused a short-term drop in the value of Tesla shares. A few days later, Elon apologized to Unsworth.

Joe Rogan Podcast

In September 2018, Musk attended the American comedian Joe Rogan Show. During the conversation, the entrepreneur smoked a mixture of marijuana and tobacco, after asking Rogan if it was legal. Elon said that he rarely smokes marijuana, explaining that the drug has no effect on him.

Securities Act Violation Allegations

In the fall of 2018, a number of Tesla traders and shareholders sued Musk and accused the head of the company of violating securities laws. The US Federal Securities Commission (SEC) has been investigating this administrative case. The lawsuit alleges that Musk deliberately gave out false information on his Twitter account in order to influence the price of Tesla shares. In his personal account, the head of the company announced the decision to make Tesla a private company and that he had already found finance to buy back shares. In the messages, he also indicated that he plans to buy back securities at a rate of $420 per share, that is, above their market value.

Due to criticism from social media users and shareholders, Musk decided to keep Tesla a public company. In September 2018, the US Department of Justice, in parallel with the administrative case, opened a criminal case against Tesla. Under the SEC lawsuit, Musk faces a ban from holding leadership positions in public companies.

In response to the accusations, Elon Musk stated the following:

On September 29, 2018, Musk and the SEC settled the charges out of court. According to the agreement, Musk will remain the head of Tesla, but will not be able to serve as chairman of the board of directors for three years. In addition, he must pay a $20 million fine. The same penalty was imposed on Tesla.

Awards

Movie

In 2010, Musk appeared in the movie Iron Man 2 as himself (according to the plot, Elon is a friend of Tony Stark). In 2013, he also played himself in an episode of Machete Kills. Musk is visible among the audience who came to the presentation of artificial intelligence in the sci-fi film Supremacy (2014, at around 00:07:39-41), and his name is in the credits.

In the 9th episode of the 9th season of the series "The Big Bang Theory" plays a cameo.

Also at the end of Childhood Sheldon, Season 1, Episode 6, Musk is sitting at his desk reading a summary of Young Sheldon.

see also

Notes

Comments

Sources

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Elon Musk

Elon Reeve Musk Born June 28, 1971 in Pretoria (South Africa). Canadian-American engineer, entrepreneur, inventor, investor, billionaire. Founder of SpaceX CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tesla Motors.

Mother - Mae Musk, was a model, has two higher educations, worked as a nutritionist for 45 years. At 21, she became a finalist in the Miss South Africa beauty pageant. At 69 years old.

Parents divorced and the boy stayed with his father, who had his own business. At school, Elon was subjected to violence by peers, after one of the beatings he had to restore a broken nose.

At the age of ten, Elon received his first Commodore VIC-20 computer as a gift and learned to program on it. At the age of twelve, he sold his first program for $500, a Space Invaders-style video game called Blast Star, in which the player fired a laser cannon at ranks of aliens.

Musk invested in the shares of a pharmaceutical company, which he followed through the newspapers. With the proceeds from the sale of shares of several thousand dollars, despite the protests of his parents, he leaves for Canada.

Before entering university, he lived with relatives in Kingston, Ontario. Over time, he moved to Stanford, but did not finish his studies.

In 1996-1997, Musk and his brother founded the company Zip2, which specialized in software for news companies.

Zip2 was acquired by Compaq in 1999 for $308 million. Musk received 7% of the $22 million sale.

In March 1999, Musk co-founded x.com. In 2000, X.com merged with Confinity, a subsidiary of which was called PayPal. Both systems (X.com and PayPal) were engaged in providing personal electronic money transfers via e-mail, and the purpose of the transaction was to merge both payment systems, but in fact this did not happen.

Musk strongly advocated the X.com brand instead of PayPal, which caused internal divisions that ended in Musk's resignation by decision of the Board of Directors. However, Elon's strategic decision to merge the two companies, along with the active promotion of the electronic payment system on Internet auctions (primarily eBay), led to the rapid growth of the business in 2001, which was finally renamed PayPal.

Such impressive results allowed the company to issue shares on the stock exchange in February 2002 (and at the same time become the first of the dot-com companies that entered the stock exchange after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks).

In October 2002, PayPal was bought by eBay for US$1.5 billion. At the time of the sale, Musk owned 11.7% of the company's shares, which allowed him to gain $165 million.

In June 2002, Musk founded his third company - SpaceX. It is a private developer of a series of launch vehicles and a commercial operator of space systems.

In December 2008, NASA signed a $1.6 billion contract with the company for 12 launches of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and the Dragon spacecraft to the ISS, as a replacement for the Space Shuttle after the termination of their launch program in 2011.

According to Elon himself, he was greatly influenced by the cycle of scientific and fantasy novels"Foundation" and views on the exploration of outer space as the development and preservation of human existence. Musk argued that the coverage of life on several planets could serve as a defense against the threat of extinction of mankind.

"An asteroid or a supervolcano can destroy us, and in addition we are exposed to risks that dinosaurs never dreamed of: an artificially created virus, the accidental appearance of a microscopic black hole as a result of a physics experiment, catastrophic global warming, or some other destructive technology not yet known today could stop our existence. It took millions of years for human development, but over the past sixty years, atomic weapons have created the potential for self-destruction. Sooner or later, our life will have to go beyond this blue-green ball - or we will die out " Musk says.

Elon Musk set himself the goal of reducing the cost of space flights by 10 times. To do this, he founded SpaceX, investing in it $ 100 million earned from the sale of his previous companies.

Elon Musk's Mars flight plan:

In January 2016, at an investment forum in Hong Kong, Musk announced that his company hopes to fly to Mars in 2020-2025, about 9 years from now.

Speaking at the congress of the International Astronautical Federation, he announced the need for the development of "interplanetary civilization" and announced plans to send a million people to Mars. The broadcast of Musk's speech took place on the official website of the company. SpaceX has released a video of its planned Interplanetary Transport System (ITS) that simulates a manned flight to Mars.

"To fly to Mars space system must comply with four basic principles. It must be suitable for reuse, it must be able to be refueled in orbit, the fuel to return to Earth must be available on the surface of Mars, and this fuel must be optimal for use," Musk explained.

According to the founder of SpaceX, initially the company's employees considered the possibility of using a hydrogen-oxygen engine, but they came to the conclusion that an engine running on methane and oxygen would be the most suitable for a Martian expedition.

During the speech, Musk emphasized the need for the development of "interplanetary civilization".

"We can live on Earth and not move anywhere, or we can become an interplanetary civilization. The main goal is to create a settlement, a city on Mars. It is then that we can become an interplanetary species," he explained.

The choice in favor of Mars as the planet to be explored was due to the unsuitable conditions on Venus and the proximity to the sun of Mercury, Musk noted. At the same time, he did not rule out that in the future humanity will be able to go to the satellites of Jupiter.

“If we go to the Moon, then we will not become an interplanetary civilization, because the Moon is a satellite. Previously, Mars was the same as the Earth is now. Mars receives enough sunlight, it has a fairly rarefied atmosphere. We can grow plants on its surface ", - said the head of SpaceX.

Musk focused the attention of the audience on the fact that 7 billion people live on Earth, and not a single one on Mars. "This needs to be changed," he added.

The head of SpaceX added that now the cost of a flight to Mars is $ 10 billion, and this pricing policy needs to be changed. According to him, the flight should be no more than 200 thousand dollars, that is, be comparable in cost to a house in the United States.

Presenting a model of a ship designed for flights to Mars, Musk said that each ship can be used 12-15 times, one ship will be able to accommodate about 100 people along with their luggage. For 10 thousand flights, the company plans to deliver 1 million people to Mars.

“From the moment of the first flight, it will take us from 40 to 100 years to build an independent civilization on Mars,” Musk shared his plans. According to him, by 2035 it will be possible to fly to Mars in 80 days. Until now, not a single spacecraft has flown to this planet in less than five months.

Elon Musk is chairman of the board of the Musk Foundation, through which he makes his donations.

In January 2015, he donated $10 million to research into the control of artificial intelligence.

In 2008, Esquire magazine named Musk one of the 75 most influential people XXI century.

In June 2011, he was awarded the $500,000 Heinlein Prize for Space Commercialization.

In February of the same year, Forbes magazine included Musk in the list of the 20 most influential CEOs under the age of forty.

In November 2013, Fortune Magazine named him Businessman of the Year, and The Wall Street Journal named Musk CEO of the Year.

Elon Musk Height: 188 centimeters.

Elon Musk's personal life:

First wife - Justine Musk. They went to university together in Canada. We got married in 2000. The couple had five sons.

In September 2008, Elon and Justin announced their divorce.

Musk married British actress Talulah Riley in 2010. Elon Musk filed for divorce in 2016.

Musk owned a Czechoslovak-made Aero L-39 Albatros.

He later bought a Dassault Falcon 900 jet.

After selling Zip2 in 1999, Musk bought a McLaren F1 supercar, but crashed it in next year when Peter Thiel rode with him.

In October 2013, Musk bought the Wet Nellie submarine from the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me at auction for $997,000.

Wet Nellie Elon Musk

According to the director of the film "Iron Man" (2008) Jon Favreau, Elon Musk served as the prototype for Tony Stark, whom he played.

In 2010, Musk appeared in Iron Man 2 as himself. In the story, Elon is a friend of Tony Stark.

In 2013, he also played himself in an episode of Machete Kills. Musk is seen among the audience attending the presentation of artificial intelligence in the sci-fi film Supremacy (2014), but his name is not in the credits.

Elon Musk made a cameo in The Simpsons Season 26, Episode 12, released on January 25, 2015.

In the 9th episode of the 9th season of The Big Bang Theory, he has a cameo.

Elon (the erroneous version of Elon is also used) Reeve Musk is a Canadian-American entrepreneur, innovator, engineer-inventor, business magnate who invests in grandiose innovative projects.

The founder and head of SpaceX and Tesla Motors, co-founder of SolarCity and PayPal, this techno-mession, as he is often called in the press, was personally involved in the development of new technologies in alternative energy, the design of environmentally friendly electric vehicles and economical solar power plants.

He was involved in the creation of artificial intelligence of the superhuman level OpenAI, a conceptual high-speed (doubled faster than an airplane) of the Hyperloop transport system, designing spacecraft designed to bring it to life main goal- creation of a human colony on Mars.

The recognized genius of our time is characterized by such personal qualities, as perseverance, well-developed critical thinking, accurate analysis of events and one's own actions, high diligence and efficiency. It is authentically known that Musk dedicates to work up to a hundred hours a week.

Forbes ranked Musk 21st on the list of the most influential people in the world, and he turned out to be one of the youngest people in this ranking, losing in this parameter only to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, North Korean leader Kim Jong Eun and Uber inventor Travis Kalanick.

As of January 2018, Elon Musk's fortune was estimated at $20.9 billion, which makes him the 53rd richest person in the world.

Childhood and family

Elon Musk was born on June 28, 1971 in Pretoria, one of the three capitals of South Africa. He was the eldest of three children of South African-born English engineer Errol Musk and British-Canadian model and dietitian May Musk.

Elon has a younger brother, Kimbel, born in 1972, and a sister, Tosca, born in 1974. Kimbel, although not as successful as his older brother, still made a millionth fortune in the restaurant business, and Maya became a film producer.

After their parents divorced in 1980, Elon and his brother and sister stayed with their father in a suburb of Pretoria. He rarely saw his mother. Errol had several houses, a farm with thoroughbreds and a yacht.

The family traveled a lot: the trip could start in Europe, then they flew to Hong Kong, visiting the States along the way. Since Elon's father had a pilot's license, sometimes he rented a plane when he flew somewhere for work, and took his children with him. So in childhood, Elon visited the emerald mine - the head of the family helped to equip the face. Already in adulthood, Elon also received a pilot's license, but he simply does not have time for this hobby.

Elon learned to read early and spent most of his free time reading books. At the age of 3, he dumbfounded his father with the question: “Where does the world begin and where does the world end?”. The boy grew up as an introvert, avoided peers and did not get along very well with people. At the private boys' school he attended, he often had to endure bullying from his classmates. Once he was beaten until he lost consciousness and was hospitalized.

At the age of 9, Elon received his first computer, a Commodore VIC-20, as a gift. He independently studied the programming languages ​​popular in those years and became interested in creating programs. At the age of 12, he himself wrote the Blastar shooter video game in BASIC, which he sold for $500 to PC & Office Technologies, which published the code in one of the issues.

A game designed by 12 year old Elon Musk

Education

In 1988, Musk graduated from high school, entered the University of Pretoria, but due to political instability in South Africa, he moved to Canada just before his 18th birthday. Since his mother is a native of Canada, Elon also obtained the citizenship of this country. Here began the strangest period of his life: Elon entered the bachelor's degree at the Queen's University of Kingston (Ontario), while changing many jobs in different parts of Canada, and he had something to tell about each of them.

At first he picked fruit and carried baskets of grain on a farm with his relatives in Waldeck, then he got a job as a lumberjack in Vancouver. For cutting logs with a chainsaw, he was paid mere pennies. After resigning, he joined the labor exchange and asked to find work with a better salary, and he was given a job ... as a boiler room cleaner at a sawmill. For $18 an hour (which was actually good money in 1989), he crawled across the floor in a heat-resistant but toxic suit, shoveling trash at extremely high temperatures.

At this time, his younger brother also moved to Canada. Having united, Elon and Kimbel decided to acquire useful acquaintances. By hook or by crook, they found the phones of successful entrepreneurs and called them up, inviting them to dine. One of those who agreed was the head of the Bank of Nova Scotia, Peter Nicholson. Impressed by the persistence of young people, he met them personally and decided to take Elon, as the more gifted of the Musk brothers, under his wing. Elon worked in his bank for a whole summer, receiving, however, less than in the boiler room - $ 14 per hour.

In 1992, Musk transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, located in the US state of Philadelphia. He studied in parallel at the Faculty of Arts and Science and at the Wharton Business School at the university. Having stayed at the university for a year longer than ordinary students, in May 1997 he received two bachelor's degrees at once: in physics and economics.

While attending the University of Pennsylvania, Musk became friends with future TheFunded founder Adeo Ressi. The buddies rented a ten-bedroom house and turned it into an underground night club which was very popular with students. While everyone got drunk, Musk stayed sober to keep order. But in one night he could earn so much money to cover the monthly rent of this giant mansion. The rest he spent on college fees.

In 1995, 24-year-old Elon moved to California, where he became a graduate student at the legendary Stanford University to earn his Ph.D. in physics. But after only 2 days, he changed his mind and decided to continue working on his developments. He had many ambitious ideas from the fields of IT, renewable energy and space exploration.

First business projects

In 1995, in partnership with his brother Kimbel and business coach Greg Cowrie, Elon founded his first company, a Zip2 Yellow Pages site that specialized in developing maps and catalogs for online publications. Starting capital, $ 28 thousand, was offered to him by his father, but Elon refused to take them. Musk worked from early morning until late at night and lived in a rented office to save on rent and invest all the money in the company.

His perseverance and perseverance paid off handsomely. The Internet was booming then, and in 1999 the brothers sold their startup for $307 million in cash (and $34 million in securities) to AltaVista, a search engine later acquired by Compaq. Elon, who at that time owned only 7% of the company, earned $ 22 million from the sale.

Musk invested 12 million of this amount in the X.com online bank, believing that electronic payment systems are the future. In 2001 X teamed up with competitive company Confinity. The new venture was named PayPal. As the majority shareholder (and taking advantage of the conflict in the Board of Directors after the merger), Elon Musk took the place of the main executive director PayPal.

In 2002, against Musk's advice, the Board of Directors approved the sale of PayPal to shopping giant eBay for $1.5 billion. After taxes, Musk received $180 million. Now he had enough funds to pursue his plans for solar energy and space.

Creation of SpaceX

Back in 2001, Musk developed a project to create an experimental greenhouse on Mars, which would lay the foundation for a closed and independent ecosystem on regolith, which in the future would help with the colonization of the Red Planet. He hoped to restore public interest in the space industry, which had seriously declined after the collapse of the USSR and the end of the space race between the two superpowers.

In October 2001, together with Adeo Ressi and space equipment engineer Jim Cantrell, Musk traveled to Moscow. The purpose of the trip was to buy restored Dnepr intercontinental ballistic missiles, which he needed for experiments with the delivery of cargo into space. They met with aircraft designer Semyon Lavochkin and the leadership of Kosmotrans, the company that developed these Dneprs. However, the purchase fell through - they refused to sell missiles to Ilon, considering him insufficiently experienced in this matter. The second attempt also failed - six months later, Musk again tried to buy rockets, and he was allowed to buy one for $ 8 million.

The history of SpaceX and the Falcon-1 rocket

The price seemed unreasonable to Elon. He refused, and during the flight home, an idea came to the inventor's head: he could found a company that would provide him with the same missiles, or even better. According to calculations, it turned out that the cost of one rocket in production would be only 3% of the price requested by Kosmotrans. In addition, he intended to cut the cost of each launch by 70% by using reusable media.

In May 2002, the opening of Space Exploration Technologies (“Technologies for space research”) or SpaceX for short. Musk invested $100 million in the enterprise, then attracted a number of large investments from the US Department of Defense agency DARPA, SpaceDev, Celestis, ATSB and others. The first two models of launch vehicles are the Falcon-1 light launch vehicle and the Falcon-9 medium-weight launch vehicle (Sokol-1 and Sokol-9). The name is a reference to the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo's ship from " star wars". The first one aircraft, developed by Musk's company, was called Dragon.

In 2006, NASA signed a $1.6 billion contract with SpaceX to send 12 shipments to the ISS. In September 2008, for the first time in history, a launch vehicle, the development and creation of which was financed from private sources, successfully delivered a cargo into Earth's orbit. It was a Falcon 1. Elon put almost everything at stake - if the launch had gone badly, the company would most likely have ceased to exist. On June 4, 2010, the Falcon-9 was successfully launched. On May 25, 2012, Dragon, launched into space by a Falcon-9 rocket, docked with the ISS for the first time. In the same year, Musk received its first commercial order: the launch of an Intelsat satellite using the Falcon Heavy rocket, which was still under development at the time.

On December 22, 2015, a Falcon 9 made its first vertical landing at the Cape Canaveral spaceport. Prior to this, the rocket fell twice into Atlantic Ocean, but the third attempt was successful and opened a new milestone in the history of space exploration - the secondary use of the carrier meant enormous savings.

First successful Falcon 9 landing (behind the scenes)

In February 2018, SpaceX made another breakthrough: the Falcon Heavy rocket, designed to transport multi-ton cargo (in the case of delivering cargo to Earth orbit, the carrier could withstand more than 60 tons), launched a Tesla Roadster car into space with an installed camera that captures everything that happens outside cabins.

Flacon Heavy Launch Significance for Humanity

The launch was successful, but during landing, the central of the three boosters could not slow down and crashed into the ocean. The two side boosters landed at exactly the right spot.

Other Elon Musk projects

In July 2003, Musk invested in Tesla Motors, a company newly founded by inventors Martin Eberhard and Mark Trapenning and positioned as a pioneer in mass-produced electric cars.

Musk personally took part in the development of the Tesla Roadster electric sports car based on the English Lotus Elise. At the initiative of the inventor, the weight of the model was significantly minimized, the battery compartment was improved, and new design elements were introduced into the design of the headlights. For this work, Elon received the Global Green-2006 environmental award and found investors who invested $ 100 million in Tesla.

Despite the difficulties in developing the business and the miscalculations that forced Elon to fire some of the employees, the company avoided bankruptcy thanks to a 50 million investment by the German auto corporation Daimler, as well as the provision of Tesla preferential loan by the US Department of Energy.

Tesla's success has spurred the "electric segment" of the automotive market: every self-respecting car company has begun developing its own electric car, or at least a hybrid. In 2010, Tesla became the first American car company in more than 50 years to go public (after Ford had done so in 1956).

The financial success of the enterprise was facilitated by the release of the premium sedan S. The billionaire provoked public interest in the development by participating in a debate with a New York Times correspondent. He stated that in 20 years more than 50% of cars coming off the assembly line will be equipped with an electric motor. As a result, 10.5 thousand Tesla S were sold in the first half of 2013 alone.

When Henry Ford created cheap and reliable cars, people said, "No thanks. What's wrong with horses?" Ford risked everything and it worked.

The successful entrepreneur is also developing charging stations for electric vehicles, which are being developed under the auspices of the SolarCity project, which was founded by his cousins.

The company specializes in the installation of solar power stations for both production and home use. This includes platforms for recharging Tesla cars, and home stations for converting solar energy. By the beginning of 2018, the capitalization of SolarCity was estimated at $3 billion.

Elon Musk conference

In August 2013, Musk unveiled a plan to create a grandiose transport network, the Hyperloop (“Hyperloop”). The project represented a completely new type of transport that would be 2 times faster than an airplane, powered by solar energy and not tied to a specific schedule, but set off at short intervals, like subway trains.

Hyperloop was a closed elevated highway of two pipes parallel to each other, with giant solar panels along the route. It was promised that the route would connect San Francisco and Los Angeles: the distance between the cities is 560 km. Musk promised that his invention would cover this route by 35 minutes, and estimated the cost of the project at $6 billion.

How Hyperloop Works

However, Musk was not going to implement the Hyperloop himself (although subsequently SpaceX and Tesla jointly created a capsule that demonstrated a speed of 355 km / h). Eventually further developments involved Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, which operates with volunteer engineers and crowdfunding, as well as Virgin Hyperloop One. The latter, in December 2017, tested a model of a vacuum capsule, which accelerated to 387 km/h.

The millionaire inventor has repeatedly called on the public to control research in the field of artificial intelligence and neural networks. He is convinced that AI is a threat to humanity, as sooner or later machines will gain too much power over people.

The role of a pet for machines is the future of mankind.

However, in 2016, Elon founded the neurotech company Neuralink. It was planned that its employees would be engaged in the treatment of brain diseases (in the short term) using neural interfaces and "improving people" by creating a connection between the brain and the computer. Musk promised to create by 2027 the so-called "neural lace" - microimplants that improve cognitive abilities.

Elon Musk in the movies

Like many famous billionaires (remember at least the appearance of Donald Trump in the movie "Home Alone"), Elon Musk sometimes flashes in popular TV projects. Even in those where they make fun of him.

So, the founder of SpaceX appeared in the animated series "The Simpsons" (the series "The Mask that Fell to Earth") and " South Park(series "Handicar"), as well as in the thrash action movie "Machete Kills" with Danny Trejo.

He also played a cameo in the second part of "Iron Man" with Robert Downey Jr. (in fact, Ilona is often called the prototype of the main character of the film, the inventor Tony Stark). He also appeared as himself in The Big Bang Theory and his backstory Childhood Sheldon. In one of the episodes of the latter, the story of the creation of the “reusable” Falcon carrier is amusingly played up.

Elon Musk in The Big Bang Theory

The businessman, who seeks to usher in an era of affordable space tourism, owned a Czech-made Aero L-39 jet trainer. He then purchased a Dassault Falcon 900 model, which was used in 2005 during the filming of No Smoking Here. The millionaire acted not only as a producer of this film, but also played in it the episodic role of a pilot opening the door to the captain, performed by the famous Robert Duvall. Musk also owned the auto-submarine Wet Nellie (based on the Lotus Esprit from the movie The Spy Who Loved Me about British 007 James Bond). Elon Musk's second wife - Talulah Riley

“Amber constantly lied to Ilona. She said that she spent the night at home, although she actually came off at the club. When she went to shoot in Australia, she acted like she didn't have a boyfriend. But while shopping, she did not hesitate to use Elon's credit card, ”said a source close to the billionaire to Metro.

In May 2018, Musk appeared in public with his new darling, 30-year-old singer Grimes (real name Claire Boucher). They attended the annual The Met Gala together in New York. The couple met on the Internet: Musk wanted to tweet the phrase "Basilisk Rococo", combining the name of the virtual reality thought experiment "Basilisk Roco" and the architectural style of rococo, but it turned out that Grimes had already used it in one of her videos. They began to chat, then users noticed Musk's strange comments on Grimes' twitter (about the fact that comets are actually made of cocaine).

The entrepreneur became the founder of a charitable foundation named after him. He donates part of his fortune to the aftermath of natural disasters (a hurricane in Alabama, a tsunami in the Japanese city of Soma).

Elon Musk now

The main goal of Elon Musk remains the creation of a human colony on Mars. In a 2011 interview, he stated that the first settlers would travel to the Red Planet within the next two decades. By 2040, Musk predicts, 80,000 people will live on Mars.

Work continues on the BFR - Big Falcon Rocket - launch vehicle and spacecraft with a payload of 150 tons. The BFR is expected to replace previous Falcon generations and become the main vehicle for transporting cargo and people to Mars.

How did the career of a billionaire, owner of Tesla, SpaceX and SolarCity start and develop?

1971. Born in Pretoria, South Africa. His mother is a Canadian nutritionist and his father is a South African engineer.

1980. Musk's parents are divorcing, and he remains to live with his father in South Africa.

1983. 12-year-old Elon is learning to code on his own. Sells his first Blastar PC game for $500.

From 12 to 15 years old, he experiences an "existential crisis". Reads Nietzsche, Schopenhauer and other gloomy philosophers. It does not help. Later, he is introduced to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, which has a significant impact on him.

"The book taught me that the hardest thing — is to ask the right questions. Once you've done that, everything else is very easy. I came to the conclusion that we should strive to expand the limits of human consciousness in order to learn how to ask the right questions. When I was in college, I constantly thought about what will most affect the fate of mankind in the future."

1988. 17-year-old Musk receives Canadian citizenship and moves to Kingston (Ontario) to live a life separate from his parents.

"I experimented on how to survive on less than $ 1 a day and not get scurvy. For example, I ate spaghetti sauce with green pepper - for vitamins. I found out that if you do not buy a hot dog ready-made, but collect it yourself, it costs 25-30 cents a piece.

1991. Received bachelor's degrees in economics and bachelor's degrees in physics from the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia).

1995. Drops out of Stanford University (and loses the opportunity to earn a Ph.D.).

He co-founds Zip2 with his brother, which creates online content publishing software for various news organizations. Signs contracts with New York Times and Chicago Tribune.

Musk did not rent an apartment, but slept in the office. He took a shower at the local unit charitable organization YMCA.

"My brother and I had one computer for two. During the day, the site worked on it, and at night I wrote code. Every day, including weekends."

1998. Sells Zip2 for $400 million in cash.

"I worked from morning to night. I lived in the same warehouse where I rented an office, and I went to the locker rooms of the local stadium to take a shower. But I saved on renting an apartment and kept the company afloat in the first two most difficult years. Work for 80-100 hours per week. This will increase your chances of success."

1999. With the proceeds from the sale of Zip2, he buys a McLaren F1 car (to cut it through Silicon Valley) and establishes the online banking company X.com.

2000. Combines X.com with Confinity, a payment software and cryptography company.

Marries for the first time. His lover's name is Justine.

2001. Poll results public opinion finds out that people associate the name X.com with porn. Musk renames X.com to PayPal.

2002. After PayPal's initial public offering, eBay buys the company for $1.5 billion.

Musk becomes an American citizen.

Founds SpaceX, a space rocket company. To understand the basics of rocket science, he reads the book "Structures, or Why Things Don't Fall" by the pioneer of biomechanics and materials science J. E. Gordon.

"I collected model rockets as a child, but I never thought that I would work in this field. I am convinced that there is a huge gap between the fascinating fate of humanity, which conquers space, explores the stars and planets, and the fate of humanity, which imprisoned itself on Earth and heading towards certain death.

2004. Elon Musk invests $7 million in electric car company Tesla Motors and becomes its chairman.

“Tesla’s strategy is three phases,” Musk explains. “First, we launch the first model in a limited edition, an expensive car. Then, a mid-range model with a medium batch. And finally, a third model, a car at an affordable price, in a large batch.”

2005. Signs a contract with automaker Lotus to design Tesla's first car.

2006. Presents the Tesla Roadster, a $100,000 "stage one" electric car. Tesla Roadster is capable of accelerating to 100 km/h in less than 4 seconds. The maximum speed is forcibly limited to 200 km/h. The battery charge is enough for 300-400 km. Fully charging the batteries takes 3.5 hours.

Serial production of the Tesla Roadster will begin in 2008.

Founds SolarCity, which specializes in the supply of energy services. In particular, the company develops, finances and installs solar energy systems. It also builds charging stations for electric cars. One of the main partners of SolarCity is Google.

“Honestly, I am sure that solar energy will win a clear victory over other sources of energy, including natural gas. It has to happen. Otherwise we are doomed."

Conducts a failed launch of the Falcon 1 launch vehicle. Such failures will befall the Falcon 1 5 more times.

2008. Tesla and SpaceX are on the verge of bankruptcy.

“We were very close to collapse, but we managed to overcome the black streak in 2008. The goal of SpaceX is to develop space technology. In particular, try to answer the pressing question facing humanity: “How to make space travel possible?”. In other words, how to create a rocket suitable for frequent, repeated operation?

Esquire magazine lists Elon Musk as one of the most influential people of the 21st century.

He divorces Justine after 8 years of marriage. They have five sons, twins and triplets.

2010. SpaceX is conducting a demonstration launch of the Falcon 9 expendable launch vehicle, which puts the Dragon private cargo spacecraft into orbit as part of the International Space Station resupply program.

Starring in the blockbuster "Iron Man 2" as Tony Stark's friend. Film director Jon Favreau says that Elon Musk is the prototype of Iron Man.

Marries British actress Talulah Riley ("Pride and Prejudice", "Inception").

2011. Receives the Heinlein Prize "for achievements in the commercialization of space".

Forbes lists Musk as one of the most influential CEOs under 40.

2012. SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft docks with International space station. For the first time in history, a commercial rocket company is partnering with the ISS.

Launches the Tesla Model S, a five-door "stage two" liftback. In 2015, Musk will lower its cost to $70,000 and allow for an additional fee to install an autopilot, smart air suspension or upgrade speed.

2013. As a result of sales, Tesla becomes the third most popular business class car in California, behind only the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and the BMW 7 Series. In addition, the electric car is sold very successfully in Norway.

Motor Trend Magazine named the Tesla Model S "Car of the Year 2012".

In response to US government plans to build a high-speed rail that will connect Los Angeles and San Francisco in 2029, Musk presents the Hyperloop project (a vacuum train that travels faster than the speed of sound) and releases a 57-page document outlining the plans to the public. its creation so that others can continue to develop the concept.

As a result of this research, hyperloop one (not owned by Musk) will unveil the first experimental 800-meter track for special magnetic levitation capsule trains in May 2016 in Las Vegas. Hyperloop One promises to deliver "from Helsinki to Stockholm in 30 minutes" (a distance of almost 500 km). It is expected that the speed of transport of the future will be at least 1,223 km/h, and even higher over time.

2014. The SC Dragon launch vehicle delivers 2,200 kg of payload to the ISS and returns a 1,600 kg payload to Earth, which includes the results of scientific experiments.

Files for divorce from Talulah Riley.

Founds an experimental Ad Astra school with only 20 students: his own children and the children of SpaceX employees. There is no division into classes at school, but they teach there, according to Elon Musk, "how to solve the problems themselves, and not learn the tools for solving problems."

2015. Tesla introduces the Powerwall home battery, which offers independence from the electrical grid. It weighs 100 kg, is wall-mounted and stores 10 kWh of electricity.

“Energy supply used to be a monopoly, people had no choice. Now, for the first time, you can say that monopolists have competitors. Before the power lines belonged to electric companies, and now electricity is on the roof of your house. I think this empowers homeowners and businesses. I I'm sure that solar energy will make up a decent part of the energy in the US. I think it will happen in less than 20 years. I even made a bet."

SpaceX successfully tests ejection system passenger ship Dragon V2 Capsule. On board was a dummy equipped with 270 sensors, microphones and video cameras - they transmitted data on the loads that future flight participants would have to experience.

Dragon V2 Сapsule from 2017 will deliver astronauts to the ISS.

In the fall, Tesla launches its first crossover, the Model X, which has been delayed for two years. ATModel X seats seven people, and thanks to special rear doors that open up and are called "falcon wings", passengers can easily open the doors even with a minimum distance between cars. The Model X is priced at $132,000.

2016.

April.

Musk presents the Tesla 3 budget model, the approximate cost of which is $ 35,000. Everything turned out as he planned in 2006: build a sports car and use the money from its sale to make an affordable car. At the presentation, he thanks Model S and Model X buyers for providing the company with the money to develop the Tesla 3.

The new car accelerates to hundreds of kilometers in 6 seconds, but its variations can be faster. Tesla 3 can travel up to 346 km on a single charge, it also has an autopilot function. Sales will start in 2017.

May.

SpaceX successfully launches Falcon rocket 9, delivering supplies and an inflatable module to the ISS. But most importantly, after numerous failed attempts in the past, she managed to return the first stage of the ship without damage, landing it on an offshore platform.

The success of the Falcon 9 indicates that the rocket can be used more than once. Musk says that Falcon 9 with the same stage can be launched 10-20 times, and this will significantly reduce cash costs and thus make space flight more affordable.

Tesla Motors has updated the coverage map of electric stations around the world, according to which two new points will appear in Ukraine in 2016.

“Even if a zombie apocalypse happens,” says Elon Musk, “you can still travel thanks to gas stations and the Tesla Supercharging system.”

June.

Elon Musk announces plans to merge Tesla Motors and SolarCity. In the first, he is the CEO, and in the second, he is the head of the board of directors. Shareholders of the solar company will receive $2.8 billion worth of Tesla shares, he said, and Tesla customers will get the opportunity to buy an electric car, a home battery and solar panels in one place.

Theorizes that we are all living in a simulation. "The strongest argument" he calls the rapid development computer games, starting with the simplest Pong and up to modern developments of virtual and augmented reality.

"We are on the way to making games indistinguishable from reality and at the same time be able to run on any console, computer, any device. And while there are billions of such devices, it seems logical to assume: the chances that we ourselves are in objective reality one in a billion."

According to Musk, all civilizations must sooner or later come to the creation of a virtual world, otherwise they are threatened with extinction.

Elon Musk is called a legend of the 20th century. He literally gushes with ideas, which he then successfully implements. PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX, Solar Citi, Hiperloop are his startups. His name is as popular as the name - icons of IT people.

It is not surprising that he served as the prototype for the protagonist of Iron Man - a genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist. In the second part of the film, Elon Musk appears in a cameo role, where he plays himself - a friend of Tony Stark. In 2015, Musk took part in the voice acting of The Simpsons: he also voiced himself - Elon Musk, who came to Springfield to modernize the nuclear power plant.

The brilliant ideas of Elon Musk, brought to life, bring him a considerable income. In 2015, his net worth, according to Forbes, reached $12.3 billion.

“If I was told to do nothing but rest, I would go crazy.” - Elon Musk.

Once he believed that he would have had enough money to pay for housing and food. In his youth, when he just arrived in order to start an independent life, he took on various jobs and tried to survive on $ 1 a day without getting scurvy.

Now he treats the issue of money differently. “It turned out that money has great importance especially if you have huge goals for yourself,” he says and most He invests the proceeds from the sale of his companies in new startups.

"I read books"

Elon Musk answered the question of where his endless ideas come from. Since childhood, he loves and, of course, prefers science fiction. Favorites include The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series of fantasy novels by Douglas Adams. And the most beloved writers are A. Asimov and J. Tolkien.

Among the books he says have changed him are Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Einstein. His Life and the Universe "and" "" by Walter Isaacson, the "Foundation" cycle by Isaac Asimov, "Constructions, or Why Things Don't Break" by J. Gordon, "From Zero to One. How to Create a Startup That Changes the Future” by Peter Thiel, “Merchants of Doubt” by N. Orestes and E. Conway, “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” by R. Hanlein, “Humanity's Last Invention” by James Barratt.

The history of the company began with the fact that M. Eberhard decided to create an economical and environmentally friendly car that would not need refueling. Moreover, the requirements for cars that pollute the air have been tightened. No manufacturer could offer an alternative to gasoline-powered cars.

Eberhard managed to interest people in the project who had money for its development. One of them was Elon Musk, who was also interested in "green" technologies. In addition to him, the project was invested by the founders and.

Nobody believed in the company, and for some time it was considered unprofitable. Indeed, the company had a hard time when, due to miscalculations of the management, the selling price exceeded the one laid down in the project. Some offices were closed and their employees laid off. Musk himself had to part with his favorite sports car.

Not only the company is going through a difficult period. He also came into Musk's personal life: he is divorcing his wife and mother of his children, Justine. (True, in order to marry British actress Talulah Riley in 2010. After 2 years they will divorce in order to remarry in 2013. In early 2015, the couple will file for divorce again, and Musk will have to pay Riley $ 16 million "support". But the divorce will not take place, reconciliation will come ... until March 2016. How the situation will develop further is unknown. It seems that the film "The Marriage Habit" is about them.)

But back to our electric cars. Thanks to the measures taken by Elon Musk, since 2013 the company has become profitable and left its competitors Chevrole and far behind. The company released the first electric car - Tesla Roadster in 2016. It produced it until 2012 and produced 2 and a half thousand of these models.

The Tesla Model S, which the company introduced in 2009, has won numerous awards and received wide recognition. And the US Department of Transportation named the electric car among the safest vehicles. Its serial production began in 2012.

Tesla sales grew from year to year, and new investors appeared who believed in the company. Motorists also liked the new, improved Tesla Model X, presented in 2012. In March 2016, the Tesla Model 3 was announced. Its cost is about 35 thousand dollars.

In addition to automobiles, the company is building a plant that will produce batteries for refueling electric cars, and stations are opening throughout the United States where it will be possible to charge or replace the battery for free.

The name of Elon Musk became widely known thanks to this startup.

solar city

Another project in which Elon Musk is involved is the energy company Solar City, which was founded in 2006 by his cousins. It is engaged in the production of solar panels and has become a world leader in this field. In addition, its employees actively promote their product in various areas of life. Gas stations for Tesla electric cars are their job.

Musk is the main investor in the company, he has invested $ 10 million in this startup. He also chaired its board of directors.

Fantastic Hyperloop

Elon Musk is the main investor in another startup - Hyperloop, which is called the transport of the future or the California loop. With it, people will be able to cover long distances in a short time. It is planned that the distance of 550 km between and passengers will overcome in half an hour. The ticket price will be approximately $30.

The essence of the invention lies in the fact that transport capsules with passengers will move along a low-pressure pipe installed on a flyover. The capacity of one capsule is 28 people.

Musk announced the creation of the project in 2012, saying that the new mode of transport “will be faster than an airplane, be powered by solar energy and will not get into accidents.” It is also interesting that a person will not depend on the schedule - the capsules will run regularly, so you can go on a trip at any time convenient for the passenger.

Many reacted with distrust to this project, declaring it fantastic. But after all, all Musk’s startups at first seemed out of the realm of fantasy. He himself presented this project in 2013, detailing all the technical details on 57 pages.

Tesla, SpaceX and SolarCity will participate in the work - this will reduce the cost of their cost, because why reinvent the wheel if there are already proven technical solutions.

Internet - for everyone

Another project Musk is working on is building a global satellite Internet system. Its goal is to make the Internet accessible to the most remote corners of the planet. 700 satellites weighing 113 kg each, which will be launched into orbit like a network, will envelop the Earth and provide free access to global network to everyone, no matter where in the world they are.

Ad Astra - To the Stars

It is worth noting that Elon Musk's childhood was far from cloudless, and he had every chance of becoming a notorious loser. The reason for this is a difficult relationship with peers, who for some reason chose him as a “whipping boy”. Once he was beaten so that he ended up in the hospital for a week. School years when he was chased by gangs of teenagers to beat him up, he remembers with a shudder. At home, everything was no less terrible until the parents parted. He was "saved" by books that carried him away from real world into the world of fantasy.

Now Elon Musk recalls that his period of growing up was very difficult. This is probably one of the reasons why he sent his five sons from his first marriage to a school that he created himself. It's a small school—including Musk's children—at the time of inception it had only 14 students. It is called Ad Astra, and it uses a fundamentally new approach to learning: there is no division into classes, the personal interests of each child are taken into account, preference is given to practical exercise. Elon says the kids love it and during the holidays they can't wait for classes to start. While the school is open as experimental.

“I don’t have to work in terms of standard life,” says Elon Musk, “but I work. I work every day, seven days a week, and I have for several years.”