Elon Musk. Photo incimages.com

As CEO of two of the largest companies in the world, Tesla and SpaceX, and co-founder of OpenAI, Musk seems to feel compelled to be involved in every field he can get his hands on. Once he even declared that he would not be happy until humanity moved from Earth to Mars.

In almost any business he was waiting for success. Now Elon Musk is new, he is being looked up to by ambitious young people who know what they want. Elon Musk is the “Iron Man” of our time (it’s no coincidence that he even appeared in a cameo role in the second film about this character).

But was the path to success easy? Elon Musk has experienced a lot in his lifetime - and today "Rubik" invites you to familiarize yourself with the biography of this unusual person.

Pretoria, South Africa. Photo by Wikimedia Commons

His father, Erron Musk, an engineer by profession, describes his son as follows: “Elon has always been. Therefore, it is not surprising that at parties, when everyone was discussing rugby, Elon would find the library of the owner of the house and leaf through the books.”

Elon as a child A photo
Bloomberg News

Elon's mother, Maye Musk, is Canadian by nationality. She is a professional nutritionist and model and has appeared on Special K cereal boxes and even on the cover of Time magazine.

Maya Musk. Photo Business Insider

In 1979, Herron and Maye divorced. Nine-year-old Elon and his younger brother Kimbal decided to stay with their father.

Elon with his brother Kimbal. Photo by Bloomberg News

In 1983, at the age of 12, Elon sold the basic game Blastar to a computer magazine for $500. Musk once said, "It's an unremarkable game... but better than Flappy Bird (Flappy Bird is a game for mobile devices developed by Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen, in which the player must control the flight of a bird between rows of green pipes without hitting them with the help of touching the screen - ed.) “.

Elon's school years were difficult. According to the book Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Elon was once hospitalized after bullies pushed him down a flight of stairs and beat him until he passed out.

After graduating from high school, Musk moved to Canada with his mother, sister Tosca, and brother Kimbal. He studied for two years at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario,but graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in both physics and economics.

Elon at a meeting with Caltech students in 2012. AP Photo

While attending the University of Pennsylvania, Musk and fellow student Adeo Ressi rented out a 10-bedroom house and turned it into an informal nightclub. It was an early entrepreneurial experience.

The house that Ilon rented. Photo by AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

After graduation, Musk went to Stanford University to complete his Ph.D. He was in California for only two days, deciding to first try his luck in the booming Internet business (the so-called dot-com bubble, which was formed as a result of the rise in the shares of Internet companies, as well as the emergence of a large number of new Internet companies and the reorientation of old companies to the Internet). business at the end of the 20th century.These new business models proved to be ineffective, and funds spent mainly on advertising and large loans led to a wave of bankruptcies - ed.) Elon never finished his studies at Stanford.

Musk and his brother Kimbal used their father's money - about $28,000 in total - to found Zip2, a web startup that provided city guides to newspapers such as the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.

Elon Musk's brother, Kimbal. Photo by Wikimedia Commons

When Zip2 first started its development, Elon practically lived in the office and in the YMCA volunteer organization. His efforts paid off when Compaq bought Zip2 for $341 million in cash and stock, netting Musk $22 million.

Of that money, Elon Musk invested $10 million in his new internet banking company, X.com. In 2000, X.com merged with Confinity, a startup co-founded by Peter Thiel. Thus, a new company called

Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. Photo by PAUL SAKUMA/AP

Musk was named CEO of the new company. But the happiness did not last long: in October, Elon began pressure on the co-founders of PayPal to move servers from Unix to Microsoft Windows. PayPal co-founder and later CTO Max Levchin did not leave this unattended.

Max Levchin. Photo by Getty/Drew Angerer

At the end of 2000, Elon decided to go on vacation for the first time. While Musk's plane was still in the air en route to Australia, the PayPal board fired him and appointed Peter Thiel as the new CEO.

At the same time, the company did not leave Elon Musk completely penniless: he continued to be the largest shareholder of PayPal. When the company struck a $1.5 billion deal with eBay in 2002, Elon received $165 million.

But even before the eBay deal, Musk, always a sci-fi buff, had a grand project in mind: to send mice or plants into space, to Mars. For these purposes, he even planned to buy old rockets from the Russians, but they asked for a fabulous $ 8 million for each rocket, and Musk decided that it was easier to build his own spaceships.

So in early 2002, Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies, better known as SpaceX. Its goal is to reduce the cost of space flights dozens of times.

Elon Musk at SpaceX. Photo by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

SpaceX's first rockets were the Falcon 1 and 9, named after Han Solo's famous Star Wars Millennium Falcon ship (Falcon is English for "falcon" - ed.), and the Dragon spacecraft, named after the song "Puff the Magic Dragon".

Falcon 9 rocket. Photo by Flickr/spacexphotos

In the long run, SpaceX's goal is to colonize Mars.

However, Musk has goals on Earth as well. In 2004, he made his first investment in electric vehicle company Tesla Motors, founded by startup veteran Martin Ebergardd.

Musk has been active in the development of the company and helped develop the all-electric Tesla Roadster, the company's first vehicle, which was released in 2006.

Tesla roadster. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

But this Musk was not enough. In 2006, he came up with the company SolarCity, which is engaged in the production of solar energy. This is how Musk fights global warming. He gave his cousins ​​Peter and Lyndon Reeve working capital to get the company on its feet. Tesla signed a $2.6 billion deal with SolarCity in 2016.

Let's get back to Tesla. Under Eberghardt's leadership, Tesla suffered heavy losses, and Musk staged a coup and ousted Eberghardt.

In 2008, at the height of the financial crisis, Elon Musk saved Tesla from bankruptcy by investing $40 million in the company and giving it another $40 million for financial stability. In the same year, he was appointed CEO of the company.

But 2008 was still extremely difficult for Musk, he calls it his worst year. Tesla continued to suffer losses, SpaceX had problems launching the Falcon 1 rocket. At the beginning of 2009, Elon Musk lived on personal loans.

The same period also saw a divorce from Musk's wife Justine, with whom they had six children.

Justin Musk. Photo cdn.co

But on Christmas Day 2008, a miracle happened: SpaceX signed a $1.5 billion space delivery contract with NASA, and Tesla unexpectedly found the investors it needed so much.

By 2010, things were looking up. Tesla issued its first shares worth $15 million.

Elon Musk's meteoric rise and his amazing career did not go unnoticed in circles where he didn't really aspire. The character of Iron Man, played by Robert Downey Jr., was partially based on Elon Musk. And in the film "Iron Man - 2" Musk even starred in a cameo role.

At the same time, Musk's personal life left much to be desired. In 2008, he began dating actress Talulah Riley, whom he married in 2010. In 2012, they divorced, a year later they got married again, a year later, Elon filed for divorce again, but eventually changed his mind. But Talulah did not change her mind - in March 2016, she finally divorced Elon Musk.

Elon Musk with wife Talulah Riley and children. AP Photo

But with Musk's companies, everything went well. By the end of 2015, SpaceX already had 24 successful launches to the International Space Station, and in 2016 the company had its first successful water landing of the Falcon 9 reusable orbital rocket.

Musk never ceases to gush with ideas. In addition to the colonization of Mars, electric vehicles and the production of solar energy, he conceived a device called . This is the kind of vehicle that will take you from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 30 minutes.

hyperloop. Photo Hyperloop Transportation Technologies

In late 2015, Musk launched OpenAI, a non-profit organization he created to conduct research on the dangers of artificial intelligence to humanity. This question seriously worries him.

And at the same time, he continues to implement the “autopilot” function in Tesla cars, assuring that this is the future.

In late 2016, Musk jokingly announced on Twitter that he was going to build a network of tunnels under the bridge to reduce traffic. Everyone then thought it was a joke. However, the companyThe Boring Company recently completed the first section of the tunnel under Los Angeles.

Is this not enough for you? Musk loves to surprise. Therefore, he created, one of the goals of which is the introduction of computer chips into the brains of people. Elon believes that this is the only way people will be able to cope with the threat from artificial intelligence.

With all this, Musk cannot escape criticism. So, the public was outraged by his participation in the board of directors of technology companies, created for Donald Trump. Ultimately, Musk walked out of that council when US Trump pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement.

Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

But Musk is fine. Tesla recently released a new Model 3 electric car, which Rubik is already talking about. The car was created for mass production and its cost is $ 35,000. Time will tell what will come of it.

Elon Reeve Musk is a Canadian-American billionaire inventor and philanthropist. Born June 28, 1971 in South Africa, later moved to Canada and then to the USA.

This is the perfect embodiment of a seemingly long-lost American dream: having arrived in the US with a few dollars in his pocket, he became a billionaire.

He received a higher education and a bachelor's degree in physics and economics.

He made his fortune by creating and developing many innovative companies (X.com, PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla Motors, etc.). He is engaged in active entrepreneurial and philanthropic activities, maintains a political lobby in the US Congress, reads a lot, starred in feature films (“Iron Man 2”, “Machete Kills”, etc.).

He became the prototype for the character of Tony Stark in the film Iron Man. He is married twice and has five sons from his first marriage. Musk has been named one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century by Esquire magazine.

Editor's Note: Amazing person. While preparing his biography, we were faced with a lot of conflicting opinions: for some he is a genius, for others he is a PR man gobbling up budget money. Does not leave indifferent. A dreamer who embodies bold and for most unrealizable dreams into reality. Amazing person.

Main achievements

Elon Musk is best known as a successful businessman and innovator. Almost all of his projects are highly profitable, brought him substantial income and wide popularity.

His first company was Zip2, which he founded with his brother with his father's money ($20,000). The company was engaged in the development of the Internet for the media industry, signed contracts with popular newspaper publications The New York Times and Chicago Tribune, and after 4 years was sold for a huge amount of about $ 350 million, from which Musk got about 22 million.

Just a month later, Musk co-founded X.COM, an online payments company. A year later, his company merges with Confinity and takes the name PayPal. In 2002, the company will be sold at a price of one and a half billion dollars, and Musk's share amounted to about $170 million.

There is a legend that after the sale of PayPal, Musk came to Russia in order to finance the creation of a private space company based on Russian developments. But not a single official took his idea seriously. Samples in Moscow for several days, he bought several books by Tsialkovsky and decided that it was possible to create a rocket on his own. The principles are known. I don't know if this legend is true, but...

In 2001, Musk entered the space industry, creating the concept of "Oasis on Mars" - a settlement on Mars that should grow food on the "Red Planet" and provide for its own needs. According to him, this was done in order to draw public attention to the study of outer space.

In 2002, he founded Space Exploration Technologies, or Space X, with a $100 million investment. The company was engaged in the development and production of launch vehicles, and for seven years has been developing the Falcon family of launch vehicles, creating the Dragon spacecraft.

In September 2009, the Falcon 1 rocket became the first private launch vehicle to launch a satellite into Earth's orbit. In 2006, Space X awarded a $1.6 billion contract to NASA and also received significant government orders.

In 2011, Musk said that he hoped to send people to colonize Mars in 10-20 years and establish the first colony there.

In 2004, Musk also invested in Tesla Motors, which develops and manufactures electric vehicles. The businessman joined the board of directors, becoming chairman of the board. He took an active part in the development of the company's product - the sports car Roaster, which received wide popularity, and Musk himself was awarded the prestigious "Global Green" award for the development of an environmentally friendly car.

Musk's financial flexibility and tenacity, his subsequent investment in the project, allowed the company to survive the financial crisis of 2008, while replenishing the company's lineup with new successful models (Model S, Model X, etc.). The company's profit is growing day by day, amounting to many tens of millions of dollars a year.

Musk has also invested in SolarCity, a company that makes private power plants for households and organizations, and has also invested in the Hyperloop project, which he envisions could be the basis for the transportation system of the future. Hyperloop will allow passenger capsules to reach speeds of more than a thousand kilometers per hour, over a distance of up to one and a half thousand kilometers.

Elon Musk's Success Secrets

Musk believes that the reason for his success is his critical mind, flight from stereotypes and stereotypes of thinking, endless enthusiasm and energy. “I have always been critical of what my parents told me. Never took their word for it and always asked "why?" Then I tried to understand the meaning and logic of their answer.”

Also, according to the entrepreneur, you need to be completely immersed in the business, without any distractions. Only full dedication, seven days a week without breaks, complete focus on business - it is this perfectionism that is one of the roots of a person's success.

Musk sees the main obstacle to innovation in people's tendency to analogy. Therefore, instead of doing something qualitatively new, people try to improve the old. The businessman calls to throw out all the restrictions and stereotypes, and start building concepts and projects from scratch, from the very beginning. This is the only way to create exceptional and first-class things.

Opinion: The secret to Musk's success is in the US logistics base and in the vast resources that the government provides him with. Miracles don't happen. Innovation is very expensive. We need personnel, not only engineers, but also managers, lawyers, and financiers. Look at attempts in other countries to create innovative products, such as electric cars: where there is no base, this idea fails.

Elon Musk quotes

• I would like to die with the thought that humanity has a bright future
• I think that people today are somehow too carried away with all sorts of Internet, finance and law. This is one of the reasons why we have little innovation.
• Maybe I read too many comics as a kid. They are always trying to save the world. There everything looked like that everyone should try to improve this world, it simply cannot be otherwise.
• The only thing to be done is to promote the general enlightenment of mankind.
• I really love computer games, but if I create the coolest games, how will this affect earthly affairs, the world as a whole?
• I like to bring to life technologies that I believe are important for the future and bring some benefit.
• While we are throwing out rockets and ships, we are not truly exploring space.
• I'm like a samurai - I'd rather die than give up.

Ideas and goals of Elon Musk

Musk sets global goals: he wants to save the human race from voluntary or accidental destruction.

The idea to make humanity an interplanetary species originated with Musk a very long time ago. And first of all, we are talking about the settlement of Mars. At the SpaceX headquarters at the entrance there is an inspiring picture with two states of Mars - current and planned:

And if you pay attention, all of his current projects are subordinated to this goal. To get to Mars, you need to make space flights an order of magnitude cheaper than they cost now - this is successfully implemented by SpaceX. There is no suitable fuel on Mars - so electric cars that will be charged from solar panels will come in handy there (and there are already hundreds of such stations where any owner of a Tesla car can charge his car for free throughout the United States).

And this is not a waste of money - all three companies are profitable, they are commercially successful and are at the forefront of technology.

He is called the Tony Stark of the real world, a worthy heir to Bill Gates and Steve Jobs rolled into one. An entrepreneur who made a fortune on Internet startups has turned into a visionary who thinks about a better future for humanity. With little knowledge of internet banking, rocket science, or electric cars, Elon Musk has repeatedly stormed into a new industry with the confidence that he knows better than anyone what customers want. And it turned out that he really knows!

African childhood

Elon Musk was born on June 28, 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa. His father Errol was a successful engineer from a respected family. Mei's mother was a model in her youth and later a successful nutritionist. Elon was the first child in the family. Brother Kimbal and sister Tosca (future director and producer) were born next. Although Elon's parents had known each other since childhood and Errol had been wooing May for many years, their marriage was not a happy one. When Elon was seven, the couple filed for divorce.

At first, the children stayed with their mother, but then Elon moved to his father. As he himself later recalled, three children were left with his mother, and his father had no one, he looked lonely and sad. Kimbal soon moved in with his father. Subsequently, the brothers more than once doubted their decision: Errol turned out to be strict and demanding, it was difficult to please him. Nevertheless, he gave his sons a good education and instilled a love for the exact sciences.

Elon was different from other children. He was smarter than his peers and did not share their interest in sports and entertainment. The boy often "disconnected" from the outside world, plunging into himself. Classmates bullied him. Musk went through several schools, but never made real friends.

Problems at school and at home led Musk to seek refuge in books from an early age. In his youth, he read the novels of Verne, Asimov, Heinlein and Tolkien. The Academy and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress sparked his interest in space, and Douglas Adams' novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy helped him overcome an identity crisis at the age of fourteen. Since then, Musk has been guided by the principle "The main thing is to ask the right questions."

Computers became Musk's second hobby. As soon as he encountered this miracle of technology, he begged his father for his first computer - the Commodore VIC-20, a model popular in the early eighties with as many as five kilobytes of memory. Musk taught himself how to program, and at the age of twelve he wrote the video game Blastar, which he sold to one of the local magazines for five hundred dollars.

Although Errol bought his son a computer, he himself was skeptical about Elon's hobby, considering computers to be just expensive toys. He wanted Elon to become an engineer, like himself. The lack of support and prospects made Elon think about emigration. He dreamed of America, which seemed to him a country of unlimited possibilities for the smart and resourceful. Taking advantage of the fact that his mother was a native of Canada, Musk received Canadian citizenship and at the age of seventeen went to conquer America.

American Dream: Zip2

At first it was not easy in the new place. The first years, Elon constantly moved, interrupted by rough work, until he settled on a farm with relatives. May and Kimbal soon moved to Canada. Elon entered Queens University in Ontario, where he continued to study programming. According to him, he chose Queens because among his listeners there were most of all girls. The calculation was justified one hundred percent - at the university, Elon met his future wife, Justine.

After graduating, Musk enrolled in a master's program at the University of Pennsylvania in physics and economics. Then he was already interested in space, alternative energy and Internet startups. After Pennsylvania, Musk went to Stanford, California for a Ph.D., but dropped out two days later and opened his first business in Silicon Valley with his brother.

In the mid-nineties, stocks of Internet companies grew by leaps and bounds, and Musk simply could not stand aside. Ilona came up with the idea to create Zip2, a digital analogue of the Yellow Pages, which, as he put it, made it possible to find the nearest pizzeria in any area of ​​San Francisco and find out how to get to it.

At first, the Masks faced a problem: no one wanted to invest in their undertaking. Most companies still had no idea why they needed their own website and why they gave up advertising on the Internet. The father helped the brothers by sending twenty-eight thousand dollars. This was enough to rent a small office, purchase equipment and the necessary licenses. For the first three months, Elon and Kimbal lived in the office: they had nothing to rent a house. From furniture they had only a couple of mattresses.

The brothers divided powers: Elon almost did not leave the office, spending all his time on improving products, while Kimbal was looking for clients. At first, he simply went around the district and offered his services to hairdressers, car dealerships, restaurants and shops. Someone managed to get interested. They started talking about Zip2, the company got investors, and things went uphill.

But the new shareholders doubted the young entrepreneur's ability to manage his own venture and invited a more experienced manager - Rich Sorkin. Sorkin decided to change the focus: now Zip2 mainly supplied software for newspapers, and Musk himself wanted to focus on working with consumers. He tried to remove Sorkin and take his place, but the board of directors did not support Elon.

The meaning of the fight soon disappeared. The large company Compac acquired Zip2 for $307 million, of which Elon personally got $22 million. At twenty-seven, he had become a millionaire. Of course, he bought an apartment and a fancy car, but spent most of the money on a new project.

If you have millions of dollars, it changes your lifestyle - those who say otherwise are blatantly lying. I no longer need to work to survive. But I work every day, even on weekends, and I haven't been on vacation in years.

Elon Musk

X.com and PayPal

Working on Zip2 taught Elon a lesson. He gained self-confidence and turned from a timid programmer into a confident businessman. But most importantly, Musk realized that he should no longer lose control over his projects. After selling Zip2, he was attracted to an industry where there was a lot of money and problems that could be fixed with the help of the Internet. It was about the banking industry, which at that time was cumbersome, clumsy and short-sighted and did not understand the possibilities of the digital age.

Spending his own 12 million, Elon created the first ever online banking service with the pornographic name X.com. The mask was not afraid that many technologies had to be invented from scratch. He was confident that he would revolutionize the banking industry, and his confidence attracted investors to him, and there clients. The ability to transfer money with a couple of mouse clicks without filling out long payment orders attracted two hundred thousand people to the service in just a few months.

Robert Downey Jr. admitted that Tony Stark in his performance was partially written off from Musk, and persuaded Elon to comeo in Iron Man 2.

X.com soon had its first serious competitor in the equally young and ambitious startup Confinity, run by Max Levchin and Peter Thiel. Companies spent a lot of effort and money on the fight until they came to the conclusion that it was easier to join forces. The largest shareholder and manager of the new company was Elon Musk, who never learned how to get along with people. Quarrels began between Elon and Levchin with Til. The reason was the name of the combined company - everyone liked the name PayPal proposed by the founders of Confinity, and only Musk clung to X.com.

As a result of the conflict, Thiel left the company, and Levchin began to threaten that he would follow him. Technical problems also began: the servers could not cope with the influx of clients, “holes” were found in the programs, which threatened with fines from banks. The company has grown dissatisfied with Musk. Taking advantage of the absence of Elon, who finally married Justine and went on a honeymoon trip, the board of directors removed him from his position and appointed Peter Thiel to this place.

Musk interrupted the journey and tried to fight, but soon cooled off, realizing that Levchin and Thiel really knew their stuff. He remained a shareholder of the company and continued to invest in it. When eBay, the largest online auction site, wanted to acquire PayPal, not a single board member had any doubts that they should agree, but Musk advised to be patient and wait. Finally, after a series of rejections, in June 2002, eBay offered $1.5 billion. As the largest shareholder, Musk received 250 million.

The history of X.com has had a double effect on Musk's reputation. On the one hand, he deserved the fame of a genius who created a unique product from scratch. On the other hand, he again failed to get along with partners and made a number of mistakes in managing the company. Some say that if Elon remained at the helm for a few more months, the company would collapse. Others argue that he didn't have enough time - while many of Musk's ideas seem absurd at first glance, time proves him right.

SpaceX and Tesla Motors

After leaving PayPal, Musk resumed his honeymoon. On the trip, he caught a dangerous form of malaria and almost died. It took six months to fully recover, during which time Elon lost twenty kilograms.

Shortly before the PayPal sale, Elon and Justine had their first child. But the happiness of the parents was short-lived - the child died from the so-called sudden infant death syndrome. Musk dealt with his grief in his typical manner - he threw himself into work. Later, colleagues recalled that work difficulties sometimes caused tears in Elon, but he endured this loss in silence. Musk did not like to put his personal life on display.

Finally convinced of the dangers of rest, Musk returned to work. As his influence at PayPal dwindled, Elon reminisced about his childhood passion for space. Musk felt that the world had lost faith in a better future and wanted to inspire humanity to new achievements. At first, Musk's plans were very naive - he was going to buy an old Russian ballistic missile and use it to send a ship to Mars. The project was bent - Musk did not agree on the price with the sellers. That's when he came up with the idea of ​​making small, fuel-efficient rockets that could capture the market for commercial transportation to orbit due to the low cost of launch.

In those days, Musk knew nothing about rocket science. He imagined the scale of work poorly, so he set himself overly optimistic deadlines that were unrealistic to meet. Musk was often accused of lying by critics, but Musk sincerely believed in his words and worked tirelessly to translate what he said into reality. He expected the same attitude from his employees, so people who were not ready to plow for twelve to sixteen hours a day did not stay long at Musk's.

In June 2002, he founded the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX). At first, Musk only wanted to make engines, and buy other parts from third-party suppliers. But he quickly became convinced that acceptable quality can only be achieved by himself.

In parallel, Musk became interested in electric vehicles. Two acquaintances prompted him to do this - first, Elon met the talented engineer Jeffrey Strobel, who was working on an economical battery for an electric car, and then crossed paths with Martin Eberhard and Mark Tarpenning, the founders of Tesla Motors, whose goal was to create a new generation electric car. Musk fell in love with the idea and invested seven million in Tesla, becoming the largest shareholder. At the same time, the operational management of the company remained in the hands of Eberhard and Tarpenning.

The first two Tesla Roadster prototypes were greeted with enthusiasm, and orders began to pour in. But the attempt to move from piece production to mass production almost led to collapse.

Musk financed both enterprises out of his own pocket and therefore was on the verge of bankruptcy. Musk's funds were dwindling, and work on the first SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket was four years behind schedule. The first three Falcon 1 launches ended in failure. Launch streaks are not uncommon in the space industry, but SpaceX didn't have that luxury. The engineers corrected all the shortcomings and the fourth launch was successful, but there was no money left for the fifth.

NASA has a stupid principle that mistakes are unacceptable. In my company, failure is possible. If something doesn't fall apart, then you're not inventing well enough.

Elon Musk

Tesla founder Martin Eberhard (Nicki Dugan / Flickr)

At Tesla, things were even worse. Contractors constantly disrupted the supply of parts, costs grew, and the public began to lose patience. The cost of one car, according to optimistic forecasts, was 170-200 thousand dollars, and Tesla planned to sell the Roadster for 85 thousand. Musk became disillusioned with Eberhard's leadership and removed him. Martin took the dismissal hard and launched a media campaign against Musk. Their relationship remained strained, but Eberhard later admitted that without Musk, Tesla would have gone bankrupt early on.

Hard times have come in Elon's life. No one seriously believed in the success of his endeavors, and the constant failures of SpaceX and Tesla did not strengthen his reputation. Rumors about the financial problems of the companies leaked to the press.

Personal life also went downhill. For Elon, the family has always been in second place after work. Although Elon and Justine had known each other for many years and raised five children, she always felt that she was something of an accessory to her husband. Their marriage came to a standstill, and Elon filed for divorce. Musk treated the divorce process as a business project and achieved the most convenient result for himself. The press wondered why the multimillionaire was arguing with the mother of his five children about the amount of compensation. But Elon could not afford the extra expenses.

In December 2008, Musk ran out of money. If Elon had not found the necessary funds by January, Tesla could have been declared bankrupt, and SpaceX employees would have nothing to pay salaries for. Musk figured that he would have to sacrifice one of the companies in order to save the other, but could not make a choice.

Breakthrough

Musk found the money at the very last moment. He invested the rest of his funds in Tesla and convinced investors to believe in it one more time. And with SpaceX, he just got lucky. Musk has long tried to convince NASA that his company can become a contractor for the transport of goods into orbit. And on December 23, 2008, the space agency signed a one and a half billion contract with SpaceX for twelve flights to the ISS.

And here Musk's undertakings began to work at full capacity, and from a person who promised for many years, promised and again promised, he turned into a person who began to do. Now SpaceX holds several records at once, and Musk does not intend to stop there.

Tesla is also doing well. The Tesla Roadster sold well, but the real hit was the Model S, released in 2012. Tesla Motors positions it as an “iPhone on wheels.” Even distribution is based on the Apple model - Tesla sells cars via the Internet and special points of sale located in large shopping centers. Owners of the Model S have virtually no service charge. Programs are automatically updated via the Internet, and at any of the Tesla electric stations, owners can charge their cars for free. Or, if they are in a hurry, they can change the battery, but for money. In addition to cars, Tesla produces batteries for electric vehicles of other companies, and the sale of batteries generates even more income.

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

Elon Musk

Musk's other undertaking is also succeeding - SolarCity, created by Elon and his cousins. SolarCity is one of the largest providers of solar energy in America, with an asset value of $7 billion last year.

However, Musk's life cannot be called carefree. He says he has three goals: to provide humanity with environmentally friendly transportation and energy sources, and to help build colonies on other worlds. Elon wants to die on Mars. And if the first two tasks are close to completion, then the third one still has to go and go.

Musk considers the main task of SpaceX is the conquest of other planets in the solar system. He plans to start from Mars. The Dragon V2 spacecraft, which SpaceX is currently developing for NASA, should ideally be the basis for flights to the Red Planet, but Musk's ambitions extend much further. Recently, the tycoon reminded that in order to create a colony on Mars, the planet needs to be terraformed. For these purposes, Musk proposes to use ... thermonuclear weapons. According to his calculations, the explosion of two thermonuclear bombs in the atmosphere near the poles of Mars will start a reaction to warm up the planet and eventually turn it into a more favorable place for people.

I would like to die on Mars. Only, of course, not with an unsuccessful landing.

Elon Musk

And in 2009, Musk lashed out at the high-speed rail project that would connect San Francisco and Los Angeles. He stated that it would be the most expensive road in the world. As an alternative, Musk proposed the Hyperloop high-speed vacuum train project powered by solar panels. Hyperloop is a huge elevated pipeline, through which passenger and cargo capsules move at a speed of over a thousand kilometers per hour.

According to Musk's calculations, the Hyperloop will cost several times cheaper, the capsules will move at short intervals, and the road between cities will take only half an hour. However, Musk himself does not intend to engage in construction and plans to make the drawings of the project publicly available. Today, there are several teams at once ready to bring Elon's vision to life.

What is he?

Despite all his successes, Musk is often criticized. The press has calculated that SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity have received a total of $5 billion in government orders, subsidies, and tax credits since the founding. Musk is blamed for the fact that without the help of Uncle Sam, he would not have achieved anything.

However, even with the help of the state, he achieved what no one else could. And he would hardly have been able to do this if it were not for the firmness of character. Friends say that Musk is strict and sometimes cruel with employees and partners. He doesn't care about other people's feelings at all. However, SpaceX and Tesla employees are loyal to their boss and say that although he is an incorrigible asshole in communication, he knows what he wants and knows how to infect others with optimism. Elon does not tolerate excuses, excuses and delays, but when difficulties arise, he is the first to volunteer to help.

The working week of the mask exceeds one hundred hours. He actually lives at work and constantly flies between company offices on a private jet to save time. He strives to be aware of all the problems of his subordinates, and it is normal for him to answer an email from employees within half an hour, even if it comes late at night.

* * *

Elon Musk's ideas seem crazy, but over and over again he turns out to be right, it's just that society does not keep up with the course of his thoughts. In another world, Elon Musk would be perfect for the role of the villain in the next Bond series, but his passion for science, space and science fiction makes it difficult to see him as an unscrupulous businessman. He remains a visionary, preoccupied with a better future for all of humanity, living in an era when the brightest minds are thinking about how to cram as many photos of cats into a post on a social network.

I like to participate in projects that change the world. The internet did it, and space is likely to change the world more than anything else. If humanity can go beyond the Earth, it is obvious that there lies its future.

Elon Musk

In our cynical and prudent age, there are few such ideological dreamers left. Therefore, I want to keep my fists for Elon Musk and believe that he will succeed.

If the article is not enough for you...

In early 2015, a book by American journalist Ashley Vance, Elon Musk, appeared on the shelves of bookstores. Tesla, SpaceX and the Road to the Future. While working on the book, Vance interviewed Musk's family and friends, former and current employees of Tesla, SpaceX, PayPal, and Zip2.

Musk himself at first did not want to help Vance with the work, but then agreed - on the condition that he could offer his own versions of the events described. Vance refused, but Musk abruptly accepted the reporter's terms and met with him regularly throughout the book. Vance himself believes that the Mask convinced the journalist's determination and his confidence in how to work.

There are many funny moments in the book - for example, Musk said that his family was afraid that representatives of the Russian space industry would hire assassins to eliminate a competitor.

Elon Musk with a joint- a meme with an inventor and a businessman who smokes a joint with marijuana during an interview. Pictures, videos and gifs with this moment are used, mostly they joke on the network that it is under the influence of drugs that Musk comes up with his inventions.

Origin

Elon Musk was interviewed by comedian Joe Rogan for his Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Broadcast on YouTube took place on September 6, 2018. At the end of the interview (2:09), the host lit a joint and offered it to Musk. "It's legal, right?" Elon asked. Rogan answered in the affirmative and explained that the joint was a mixture of marijuana and tobacco. The podcast was recorded in California, marijuana was legalized in this state on January 1, 2018.

Footage of Elon Musk smoking a joint on the air instantly spread through the media. On September 7, a two-panel template for memes with Mask and a joint was posted on Reddit. Public “VKontakte” also began to massively publish memes where Musk smokes a joint.

Meaning

Elon Musk with a joint has become a meme due to the fact that in the public mind, smart guy and ideal. It came as a surprise to many that such a person could use the drug with ease, even in a place where it was legal. One of the main themes of jokes about the Mask and the joint was the idea that it is under the influence of marijuana that he comes up with his ideas: he sends

This person causes admiration, respect and envy. His success is natural: talent, charisma and business sense are complemented by hard work, the ability to correctly prioritize. Key milestones: computer company Zip2, PayPal, TeslaMotors, SolarCity, SpaceX.

The story of Elon Musk is interesting because, by the fact of birth, he was not a contender for becoming a famous billionaire. He was born in South Africa, in the family of an engineer and nutritionist. Despite the fact that the boy was smart and developed from childhood (he went to school a year earlier than his peers), even the parents recognized the fact that their son's contacts with peers did not go well. Later, he himself will say: "I was a little nerd child, smart enough ... so in school time I just read a lot of books and tried not to get in the way of people."

The guy compensated for the lack of friends by constantly reading everything that came into his hands: from comic books about Spider-Man to encyclopedias. At the age of 17, after graduating from high school in Pretoria, the future billionaire makes the bold decision to start an independent life in the United States.

In 1989, he boarded a plane to Canada, realizing that his parents would not be able to help financially, and he would have to rely on himself. For a whole year, Elon lived hard: he worked wherever he could, earning a living. The situation is changing admission to the University of Queens in Ontario. A talented student drew attention to himself, and in 1992 the dream of getting to the USA came true thanks to a scholarship to study in Pennsylvania. At the University of Pennsylvania, Elon becomes a bachelor of business in a year, devotes the second year to studying physics and also receives a bachelor's degree.

The Story of Serial Businessman Elon Musk

The term is relatively recent, used to refer to entrepreneurs who apply their talent to start various, sometimes unrelated, projects.

Elon's first project- computer game Blastar, the creation of which brought 500 in 12 years. Initially, Elon and his brother were going to rent the development in the game room. They have done almost everything for this:

• found a place to rent;
• agreed with the provider of vending machines, which could supply the equipment.

However, it was not possible to get the approval of the city: the parents did not know about the idea of ​​​​the sons, and the young entrepreneurs were not 18 years old.

Second start-up more fortunate. Elon is dropping out of graduate school at Stanford University after only two days in order to start Zip2, an internet company! He explains the solution this way: “I realized that nothing was happening at Stanford, so I called the teachers, said that I wanted to start my own company and agreed that if nothing worked out, there would be an opportunity to go back.”

As part of the activities of Zip2:

• a platform was developed that allowed newspapers to provide commercial services to clients;
• there is a transition of many printed publications, including authoritative ones, into the digital era;
• the first city directory on-line is created.

The degree of success of the idea is easily measured in numbers: Zip2 was sold to Compaq for $307 million and 34 million in securities. Musk joined the Silicon Valley millionaires when he was only 28 years old, receiving $ 22 million.

This transaction went down in history as the largest financial transaction carried out for cash.

The third part of Elon Musk's business story- PayPal electronic payment system. Initially, the startup was called X.com, after merging with a competitive company Confinity on a parity basis, it gets the name PayPal. Musk's contribution to the development of the company is invaluable:

• development of a fundamentally new business model;
• competent, talented advertising, close to viral;
• bringing the payment system to the first positions.

All this has changed the principle of shopping: today we can no longer imagine how it is possible to carry out them without the help of the Internet. Previously, it took a week to make a purchase with a card, PayPal makes a payment in a few seconds. The value of the idea is evidenced by the purchase of the company by a competitor - Ebay - for $ 1.5 billion. Musk sold his stake in the company for $ 180 million.

The fourth project of the billionaire- TeslaMotors - can rightfully be considered one of the most ingenious. Starting with the fact that Musk invested all his savings in the project and ending with the fact that he personally participated in the development, proving that he is not only a businessman, but also an inventor. Everything went great at first:

• the release of the debut model of the Roadster sports car, in the development and design of which Musk personally took part (the development of the battery module was often carried out in his garage, the design of the headlights, as well as the material of the body, are the merits of the billionaire inventor);
• receiving the GlobalGreen award for contribution to environmentally friendly production;
• changing the image of the electric car: uncomfortable, small cars after the work on them by the Musk team turned into prestigious high-speed sports cars;
• attracting new investors, such as Larry Page, Sergey Brin, etc.

The situation escalated in 2007, when there was talk of opening a conveyor line. It turned out that the miscalculations of management led to the fact that the cost of an electric car would be twice as high as that included in the estimate - 92 thousand dollars. Technical shortcomings were also identified (the transmission concept proposed by CEO Eberhard turned out to be erroneous and requires serious improvements).

There were several weeks with zero bank accounts. I had a choice: take all the capital left from the PayPal sale and invest it in Tesla, or Tesla would die. (Quoted from the 2014 film Billionaire Elon Musk, How I Became the Real Iron Man.)

The entrepreneur takes matters into his own hands, saving the company from bankruptcy:

• fires Eberhard and top managers who make big mistakes;
• invests in Tesla all the money that he had at that time - $ 20 million;
• ruthlessly reduces the number of employees of the company, leaving only those who are needed;
• negotiates with suppliers, bargaining for every cent;
• attracts investors in traditional and non-traditional ways (fortunately, there are many of them, you just need to competently look for options);
• seeks any means, even sells his beloved car McLaren F1.

Soon the whole world was talking about a fundamentally new means of transportation, environmentally friendly, stylish and almost perfect. More details about the sources of investment are in Table 1. In 2016, it became known that in America there was a fatal accident involving an innovative Tesla sedan. This reduced the value of the shares by 3%, but everyone is sure that the development of the company cannot be stopped.

The company's profits until 2015 inclusive had a negative trend, that is, the company operated at a loss. According to the billionaire, profitability will increase significantly when sales reach a million cars a year in 2020. So far, the increase in losses is associated with a decrease in prices in key regions for the company: Europe, China, and the USA. Model S and Model M electric vehicles are currently available for sale.

The logical continuation was the opening of gas stations for electric vehicles from TeslaSupercharger. We are talking about the fact that they will be available worldwide, which will make electric vehicles more affordable.

Fifth project: SpaceX.

In the long term, I would really like to go to Mars. This is the primary goal of SpaceX. (Quoted from the 2014 film Billionaire Elon Musk, How I Became the Real Iron Man.)

The most ambitious project that is supported in the US at the state level. The company was founded in 2002, its goal is the possibility of traveling to other planets with the help of modern high-tech rockets. Departure point - Mars.

Achievements in this area are already colossal:

• cost reduction by 10 times;
• creation from scratch of a rocket and three types of liquid engines;
• a change in the concept of space flights, from now on the goal is the colonization of space, and not episodic flights there.

Today, Musk's "crazy" idea is not only universally recognized, but also supported at the state level. NASA has signed a contract with SpaceX for 12 missions to deliver cargo to the ISS.

How did Musk manage to reduce the cost of flights? When a theodolite was needed to level the surface of the rocket, Musk didn't order one from government agencies, he bought it on eBay and saved $25,000.

The delivery of a man to Mars is planned to be carried out in 2026.

"Personal style" Elon Musk and success story

Elon Musk never had a choice to do or not to do. The question was: what to do next? (Quoted from the 2014 film Billionaire Elon Musk, How I Became the Real Iron Man.)

Elon Musk is not a business savvy person. He is a dreamer working to make his projects, even the most fantastic ones, become a reality. However, in difficult situations, he acts like a tough businessman who does not look back at individuals. An incomplete list of situations where the actions of an entrepreneur, which seemed to the rest of madness, led to amazing success:

• investing money not just in innovative, but in revolutionary projects;
• the ability to see one step ahead where other prospects did not see;
• the desire not just to make money, but to change the world.

To make the idea of ​​an electric car attractive, Musk changed people's mindset. From now on, driving on electric vehicles is easy, convenient and prestigious! A whole network of gas stations serving this type of machine was also built.

Besides the fact that this man is an inventor and a successful businessman, he also became the prototype of the famous comic book and movie character - Iron Man. By the way, he starred in Iron Man 2 as a friend of the protagonist. They talk and talk about his phenomenon!

The story of Elon Musk is impressive and instructive. It gives hope to those who dream of success and are ready to work for it day and night.