Elon Musk– engineer, inventor, entrepreneur and investor. Co-founder of PayPal and SpaceX. Chairman of the Board of Directors, CEO and the main ideological inspirer of the world famous company Tesla.

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

According to Forbes magazine, as of 2017, his capital exceeds $21 billion.

Biography of Elon Musk

Elon Reeve Musk was born on June 28, 1971 in Pretoria (capital). His father, Eroll, was an engineer. Her mother, May, worked as a nutritionist and model.

It’s interesting that Elon’s parents grew up in the same yard, so they knew each other well. In addition to Elon, another boy and one girl were born into the Musk family.

Childhood and youth

From an early age, the future inventor was a very withdrawn and taciturn child. By the way, the great physicist was just as uncommunicative in his youth.

Elon spent whole days reading, managing to read two sets of encyclopedias.

An interesting fact is that Musk has a photographic ability that allows him to hold and reproduce in detail the image of an object or phenomenon.

However, the more he learned, the more it irritated his peers. At school, Elon was constantly mocked and beaten repeatedly, and once even had his nose broken.

When Musk was 8 years old, his parents divorced, leaving the children to live with their father. The head of the family was a very tough and demanding person.

He often took both sons with him to work, who had to work in construction. Thanks to this, they learned many useful skills.

When Elon reached the age of ten, his father gave him a computer. Soon he managed to master the programming language and even create his own video game. He will subsequently sell it for $500.

Interestingly, Musk did not spend his earnings on any entertainment or acquisitions typical of his age.

Instead, he began investing the proceeds in a pharmaceutical company, noticing its promising growth.

Soon, Elon Musk was able to earn a substantial amount from the sale of shares. As a result, he and his brother decide to leave for Russia, despite his father’s ban.

Education

After settling with his relatives, Elon enters Queen's University in Kingston. He then continues his studies at the University of Pennsylvania. His student years turned out to be much more fun than his school years.

Musk made many friends with whom he often organized parties. For such a lifestyle, he was almost expelled from the educational institution. However, he still managed to graduate and become a bachelor in physics and economics.

Beginning of Musk's career

The first company in the career of Musk and his brother was Zip2, founded in 1996. They borrowed money for the start-up capital from their father.

Zip2 developed software for news companies. In less than 3 years, the brothers will sell it for $308 million.

As a result of the sale, Elon received $22 million and invested the bulk of the funds in a new project. With the remaining money he bought a McLaren F1 sports car.

This was only the beginning of successful endeavors in his biography.

PayPal

In 2000, Elon met Peter Thiel. Together with him he decides to create an electronic monetary system, which could be used all over the world. Soon the project was successfully launched.

After some time, the founders were faced with the question of which brand to choose for the developing payment giant: X.com or PayPal.

As a result, a conflict arose, since Elon Musk was strongly in favor of the X.com brand. Ultimately, by decision of the board of directors, Musk was fired from the company. At the same time, some considered this decision to be unfair, since many of the ideas that contributed to the development of the company belonged to Elon.

In 2002, eBay bought PayPal for $1.5 billion. From this sale, Musk, who has 11.7% of the shares, gained $180 million. He invested almost all of this amount in his SpaceX and Tesla Motors projects.

SpaceX

Since childhood, Elon has been reading science fiction. Perhaps it was for this reason that in 2002 he created a large company called SpaceX, which was engaged in the manufacture of launch vehicles and spacecraft.

After 6 years, NASA entered into an agreement with SpaceX for an amount exceeding one and a half billion dollars.

In 2016, Elon's company announced that it plans to fly to . According to their calculations, this should happen before 2025.

Tesla

In 2003, big events took place in the biography of Elon Musk. He became the ideological inspirer and leader of Tesla, and also invested about $70 million in it.

Tesla continues to successfully produce electric powered vehicles today.

By the way, you probably guessed that the Tesla company is named after the outstanding inventor and “conqueror of electricity” -.

Personal life

Elon Musk's first wife was Justine, whom he met as a student. The couple married in 2000. They had six boys, but after 8 years life together they decided to separate.

The second wife in Musk’s biography was actress Talulah Riley. This union lasted 6 years, after which the couple divorced in 2016.

A year later, the inventor married for the third time. His chosen one was actress Amber Heard. It is interesting to note that before this the girl was married to.

In 2018, Musk appeared in public with Canadian singer Grimes, which sparked rumors of his new romance. However, there is no reliable information on this matter.

By his own admission, Elon Musk has problems sleeping and uses sleeping pills.

According to The New York Times, some members of Tesla's board of directors have expressed their concerns about this.

Smoking Elon Musk

In September 2018, Musk attended the show of American comedian Joe Rogan. During the conversation, Rogan invited him to smoke in live a mixture of marijuana and tobacco.

The Tesla founder agreed, after first asking the comedian if it was legal.

Musk also said that he rarely smokes marijuana, explaining that the drug does not affect him.

After this broadcast, the next day, Tesla shares fell by 10%, and smoking Elon Musk became real on the Internet.

Elon Musk today

Today, Elon Musk is still in the spotlight. At the end of 2016, he joined the Presidential Forum on Strategy and Policy.

The purpose of this organization is to advise the president on issues related to the creation of new jobs and the economic development of the country.

In the same year, Elon Musk founded another company called Neuralink. She is engaged in the study and invention of devices aimed at treating .

On October 7, 2017, Musk helped restore power in Puerto Rico, which was damaged after a serious hurricane.

Today, as before, Elon Musk devotes a lot of free time to reading. In addition, he likes extreme types. He is often written about in the press and shown on television.

Perhaps in the future he will be able to surprise humanity more than once with his fantastic inventions and personal achievements.

Photo by Elon Musk

Below are the most famous and popular photo by Elon Musk. There will also be a photo with his mother, who, despite her advanced age, retains an amazing appearance. All photos of Elon Musk are taken from open sources.

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Canadian-American inventor, engineer, entrepreneur and investor Elon Musk is not only the real image of Tony Stark from the film “Iron Man”. This brilliant inventor and leader managed to bring a fantastic future closer and speed up the path to it.

Brief biography of Elon Musk

Elon Musk ( full name – Elon (Elon) Reeves Musk) was born June 28, 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa. His father - Errol Musk, African engineer and entrepreneur. His mother - May Haldman, a popular Canadian nutritionist.

Young programmer

At the age of ten, Elon received his first computer as a gift and learned to program on it. At the age of 12 he sold his first program for $500, a video game called Blast Star, in which the player fired at rows of aliens with a laser cannon.

Moving to Canada

After graduating from school in South Africa, Elon Musk decides to go to Canada, contrary to the opinion of his parents. At first he had money for an independent life - he was already at that time successfully invested in pharmaceuticals.

Elon settled in Canada with his mother's relatives in 1989. Having received Canadian citizenship, Elon Musk goes to Montreal, where at first he agrees to any job and teeters on the brink of poverty for almost a year.

Moving to the USA

In 1992 Elon Reeves Musk is finally realizing his dream and moving to the United States, having received a scholarship to study at the University of Pennsylvania. The following year he received his bachelor's degree in business, but decided to stay at the university for another year to obtain a bachelor's degree in physics.

Main question

Every person in life has a number of questions about his purpose and the future of all humanity. Elon Musk asked the same question. And in the end I decided that The future of humanity will be affected by:

…internet, transition to renewable energy sources
and the relocation of people to other planets...

He decided to try to contribute in each of these directions. But first he needed money.

Zip2 success

In 1995, Musk and his brother founded the company Zip2, which specialized in software for news companies. In 1999, Zip2 was acquired Compaq for 308 million dollars. Elon received 7% of the sale amount – $22 million.

At the time of the company’s creation, the global web was rapidly developing, but no one had yet managed to truly make money on the Internet.Zip2 was one of the very first to do this.

X.com and PayPal

After selling his first company, Elon Musk decides to master electronic payments and creates his own startup X.com. In March 2000, X.com merged with a competitor company on a parity basis. Confinity Peter Thiel and Max Levchin.

This merger subsequently leads to the emergence of the now famous payment system - PayPal. In 2002, a popular service bought the online auction eBay for $1.5 billion. Elon received $180 million from this deal.

Investments and management in Tesla Motors

In 2004, Elon, with cash from selling PayPal, invested $70 million in the project TeslaMotors. This company attracted his attention because it was developing electric cars. Alternative energy sources - this was in the spirit of Musk's principles.

The main driver of Tesla's financial success was its luxury sedan Model S with a battery charge of 426 km, a bright design and unique speed characteristics (acceleration to 96 km/h in 3.9 s). The model was put into mass production at a price of $69,900 and was highly rated by Consumer Reports.

Founding of SpaceX

At the turn of the millennium, an ambitious entrepreneur and inventor thought about creating a flying ship that could reusable for traveling people into space and to other planets.

The moment Elon Musk's financial fortune increased, he decided to start making this dream come true. His brainchild in this area was the company SpaceX(full name: Space Exploration Technologies Company). The company was founded in 2002.

He invested more than $100 million in the project. The cost of proposals on the market - from $15 million for a rocket in Russia to $65 million in the USA - was considered by the entrepreneur to be many times too high. That is why he decided to build his own spacecraft.

SpaceX's first successes

Despite all the difficulties and setbacks, SpaceX managed to create two types of potentially reusable launch vehicles: Falcon 1 And Falcon 9, as well as a reusable spacecraft Dragon.

Contract with NASA

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

Expedition to Mars

For Elon Musk, all the current achievements of SpaceX are just preparation for the realization of his main dream - expeditions to Mars. Until the end of his life, the billionaire wants to become a pioneer colonizer of the “red” planet. To this end, SpaceX is developing a project Mars Colonial Transporter(MCP).

Musk's engineers are working on innovative rocket engines and spacecraft to take people from Earth to Mars. The ambitious entrepreneur announced that he would carry out his expedition in 2020-25.

Based on the Falcon, it is planned to create the Grasshoper rocket, which can land vertically, and the second generation Dragon is technically already capable of getting to Mars, Musk assures.

Using the example of Elon Musk, we can trace the path of a person making childhood dreams come true, because many people in childhood wanted to fly into space, and soon this will be possible.

Business has come to astronautics, and many will benefit from this, because space tourism will soon become a reality, including thanks to Elon Musk.

The Western world relies on active, lively, smart, slightly adventurous people creating their own businesses. And even if for every successful businessman there were hundreds of failures, it was they who became the engine and brand of the West. And one of them was Elon Musk.

Childhood

The biography of Elon Musk is very similar to similar stories about the lives of the same businessmen, politicians, famous actors and scientists. Moreover, often all these professions were combined in the same people. Musk is not a Native American - he was born in Pretoria (South Africa) in the early seventies. The city where Elon Musk was born was formed as the administrative capital of the country, which was also considered a scientific center. His parents worked there - his father (an engineer by profession) and his mother - a Canadian model in her youth, and then a nutritionist. In addition to Elon, the family had two more children.

At the age of ten, Elon was given his first computer, which allowed him to actively engage in new technologies. Already at the age of twelve, he managed to sell his first computer game for $500. The teenager invested the proceeds in a pharmaceutical company and after a while received several times more for the shares. With this money, at the age of 17, Musk moved to Canada. There he will learn new life, including learning what poverty is. So, he learned to live on $1 a day, fortunately, without getting any digestive tract disease.

Formation of worldview

In his youth, Musk literally devoured philosophical and religious books. But the most significant influence on him was made by science fiction, for example, the book “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.” According to the future businessman, it was then that he decided that it was necessary, first of all, to be able to ask the right questions. And when he got a job at college, he already understood how to influence the development of civilization - he would work on relocating earthlings to new planets. The entrepreneur set himself the task of making science fiction real in order to contribute to the development of the space industry. And he began to look for funds.

First steps in business

In the early nineties, Musk changed his place of residence and stopped in the United States, where he settled at the University of Pennsylvania and began studying such opposing subjects as physics and business. Doctoral dissertation he composes at Stanford University, but does not attend classes. Together with his friends, students like him, Musk creates the company Zip2. At the end of the twentieth century, this company was bought by Compaq Computer for $307 million, of which the young man received $20 million. With this money he bought a McLaren F1 plane and moved into luxury housing.

From X.com to SolarCity

The businessman did not remain still. Elon Musk, whose biography is replete with a variety of, often simply miraculous, phenomena, creates at the end of the twentieth century new company immediately after selling the previous one. X.com was initially successful, but then problems arose. A couple of years later, the company was renamed PayPal, merging with the latter.

Both structures worked on the development of individual electronic money transfers through the e-mail system, and the result of the commercial transaction was the unification of payment systems. In practice, however, this did not work out that way. Musk stood firm behind the X.com brand by not renaming it PayPal. Colleagues thought differently. This led to a split in the campaign leadership.

The development of events ended with the departure of Musk by decision of the board of directors. But Elon’s very idea of ​​​​forming a new company by merging two companies, together with the rapid development of a computer online payment system, contributed to the growth of the company’s image in record time. The company had already been irrevocably converted into PayPal. Significant changes and growth in value made it possible to place securities on the stock exchange in early 2002. In the same year, PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion. Given that Musk had 11.7% of the company's shares, he received $175 million.

New business

In 2006, Musk established SolarCity, a company of which he is still the owner and technical employee. This organization is working on the creation of compact power plants for individual use on the roofs of buildings. But the guiding principle was not to build power plants for homeowners themselves, but to lease them for long period. The buyer can himself analyze the commercial benefits of implementing such a project, because he is very low price purchases his own individual solar power plant. Their owners are usually ordinary Americans. The business turned out to be successful.

But Elon Musk himself was already moving on to other projects.

Happy ending in American style

Here we need to take a short pause. Elon Musk, whose biography has both wild successes and fiascoes, turned out to be very lucky when it comes to innovative ideas. IN last years his company is moving more successfully than its rivals. With over 30 operating centers in the United States, another customer arrives every five minutes, and ahead is a long line of those who want to work with solar energy. SolarCity has already installed such equipment in more than tens of thousands of homes and is now ranked as one of the largest.

Hence the serious changes in the fate of Musk himself. In Forbes magazine's 2016 list of billionaires, Elon Musk's net worth is estimated at $10.7 billion.

In December of the same year, he was among the members of the Presidential Forum on Strategy and Policy under US President Trump, a small association of 16 American businessmen gathered to develop solutions for the 45th US President on economic challenges.

Elon Musk received for his not very long life a large number of awards for what he managed to invent. In 2008, he was included in the list of 75 most significant people of the year according to Esquire magazine. In 2011, the businessman accepted the Heinlein Prize for great achievements in the commercialization of space. At the same time, Forbes included him in the list of the 20 most influential young businessmen.

Elon Musk was the second entrepreneur to start three companies worth over $1 billion each. After this, a large number of businessmen wanted to reproduce such success. However, a fiasco awaited them. It seems that the businessman worked under different laws. Or he was born under the wing of fortune.

Spacewalk

Elon Musk, whose biography shows that in any case one cannot stop, creates a rocket manufacturing company in 2002. At the same time, it was immediately announced that the main goal was to reduce the costs of space flights and the exploration of Mars. Elon Musk (SpaceX is his brainchild) is defined as a private creator, manufacturer of a number of launch vehicles and commercial operator of space structures.

And success awaited him again. That same year, NASA awarded the company a $1.6 billion contract for 12 launches of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station to replace obsolete carriers.

Such great interest was caused, according to the recollections of Elon himself, not only by the desire for profit, but also by the ideas of major science fiction writers, in particular, the novels of Isaac Asimov with his ideas of widespread exploration of the universe. The businessman believed that the expansion of humanity's possessions on several planets would be a good defense against the danger of the liquidation of civilization.

To date, SpaceX has made a number space rockets and the Dragon spaceship. In 2010, it became the first spacecraft to be successfully launched, put into orbit, and returned back. Later, in 2015, it was the first spacecraft to be attached to the ISS.

In 2006, Musk’s company managed to take first place in NASA’s competition for grants for space objects and earned $278 million. Five successful flights have already been carried out.

Tesla

The name of Elon Musk is forever associated with another company - Tesla Motors. In 2010, shares of the company, which had never demonstrated normal earnings, were put up for public sale. And the moment was so successful that the stock price immediately rose by 41%. Forbes dubbed them the best-performing stocks of the year.

In 2012, Musk expressed confidence that within half a century all cars would be electric. He began to work along this line, and in 2008, Elon Musk finally created the Tesla Roadster - this is the first electric car put into mass production.

Business plan

Musk is often compared to Steve Jobs. He used the phrase “reality distortion field,” convincing everyone that the impossible is possible. Musk's workmates claim that he collects material so that technology develops within his reality.

His company Tesla Motors was often on the verge of bankruptcy, although Elon Musk himself achieved great results in business. The biography of Tesla's creator makes it clear that the businessman tried by all means to keep the company afloat. Over the years the situation has improved.

A little about personal

Elon Musk's personal life is not original compared to others famous people. The first wife, Justin Musk, studied with Elon at the same university in Canada. Their marriage took place in 2000, they have five sons. But in the fall of 2008, the couple decided to separate because Musk began dating English actress Taluda Riley. The second marriage took place in 2010 and turned out to be unsuccessful - the couple divorced several times, then got back together again, until they separated forever in 2016.

Currently, Elon Musk is dating American actress Amber Heard.

We need to live differently

Elon Musk, whose biography teaches us to constantly step out of the ordinary, believes that innovation is hampered by people's ability to think in analogies. Therefore, they do not organize fresh ideas, but try to improve the existing ones. The businessman believes that it is necessary to expand reality and organize something fundamentally opposite.

By the way, space seems to be unrealistic for business. To implement projects in this area, a lot of money is needed. But Musk is convinced that costs can be dramatically reduced by defining a new mission for flights. Because of this, he formed SpaceX, whose goal is considered to be the colonization of planets. The entrepreneur notes that when it is necessary to resettle the people of Earth to another planet, it must be done inexpensively.

It's hard to live as an innovator

This is what Elon Musk is all about. One of the company's successes is General Motors' decision to develop the Chevy Volt. It is a small machine with electric charging potential. At the level of an electric car, it is able to travel 65 km. During the creation period, 33 thousand people wanted to buy a car.

Elon Musk, whose plans are always optimistic, became successful by implementing seemingly crazy ideas. However, he not only became a self-sufficient person and fed his family, he also went down in history. A businessman strives to improve life and therefore works on projects that in subsequent years will provide an opportunity for humanity to develop.

Elon (Elon) Reeve Musk(English: Elon Reeve Musk) is a Canadian-American engineer, entrepreneur, inventor, and investor. Elon Musk is the founder of Paypal, SpaceX, Tesla, and also a member of the board of directors of SolarCity, founded by his cousins.

early years and Elon Musk's childhood

Mother - May Musk, was a model and a famous nutritionist. Father - Errol Musk, is a pilot, sailor and engineer. He made money by consulting.

The family had three children: Elon, Kimbal and daughter Tosca. May and Errol divorced when the children were young. But they stayed with their father, and Errol Musk was able to raise successful children.

As a child, Elon was an unusual child; he read a lot. As his father recalled, once Elon, when he was three or four years old, asked him: “Where does the world end and begin?”

Pictured left: aged 12 with a fish he caught on a family fishing trip in South Africa. In the photo on the right: with brother and sister (Photo: eastbaytimes.com)

Elon and Kimbal attended Pretoria Boys High School. Elon graduated from school with excellent marks in physics and computer science. At the same time, at school, Musk had a difficult time in relationships with other children; after one of the beatings, he had to repair a broken nose, according to Elon Musk’s biography on Wikipedia.

Since childhood, Elon read a lot, loved science fiction, Jules Verne before Asimov, Heinlein And Tolkien. Novel Douglas Adams“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” helped him cope with an identity crisis at the age of fourteen, and the books “Academy” and “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” awakened Elon’s interest in space, according to Musk’s biography on the World of Science Fiction website.

When Elon Musk was 10 years old, he received his first Commodore VIC-20 computer as a gift, which he used for programming; at the age of 12, he sold his first program for $500, the game Blastar, in which you could shoot at aliens with a laser gun.

In the photo on the left: Elon Musk with his mother, brother and sister. In the photo on the right: Elon Musk's father (Photo: notjustrich.com)

To avoid conscription into the army in South Africa, the boys went to Canada to live with their mother. It is noted that Musk raised the money for the trip himself by selling shares of a pharmaceutical company.

At age 19, Elon entered Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. In 1992, Musk moved to the United States and attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the College of Arts and Sciences and a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from the Wharton School of Business. Over time, he transferred to Stanford, but did not complete his studies.

Elon Musk's career

Zip2 is the first company founded jointly by the Musk brothers in 1996. They were producing software. Their project was a digital equivalent of the Yellow Pages, with which you could find the nearest pizzeria in any area of ​​​​San Francisco. The startup did not develop as quickly as Elon wanted, but his hard work made it possible to bring it to such a level that investors became interested in it. Soon, Compac acquired Zip2 for $307 million, 22 million went to Elon Musk personally, and he became a millionaire at the age of 27.

In March 1999, Elon Musk co-founded X.com (investing $12 million of his own savings), intending to revolutionize the banking payments industry. Already in 2000, the companies X.com and Confinity merged, thereby merging the X.com and PayPal systems. Musk demanded the X.com brand instead of PayPal for the new formation. This caused disagreements within the organization, and Elon resigned by decision of the Board of Directors. But strategically and economically, Musk again made the right move. In October 2002, PayPal was purchased by eBay for $1.5 billion, and Elon received $175 million for his 11.7% stake.

In the photo (from left to right): Peter Thiel and Elon Musk (Photo: strumpeople.com)

Elon Musk and SpaceX

In June 2002, Musk founded his third company, SpaceX. This company of Elon is associated with space developments; the purpose of its creation was to reduce the costs of space flights, promote its development and, in particular, the future colonization of Mars.

Elon Musk became chief engineer and CEO of SpaceX. On March 24, 2006, the company's first launch of the Falcon 1 launch vehicle took place, but it ended in an accident. However, that same year, SpaceX was one of the winners of NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) competition, receiving $396 million in total funding to develop and demonstrate the Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft.

Photo: SpaceX Falcon 1 from the air shortly after launch as it rises over Omelek Island in the Marshall Islands. 2006 (Photo: wikipedia.org)

On September 28, 2008, the first successful launch of the Falcon 1 rocket took place and the payload was launched into orbit. Thanks to the energetic actions of Elon Musk, the company has developed two types of potentially reusable launch vehicles: Falcon 1 and Falcon 9, as well as the reusable Dragon spacecraft.

Photo: Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO and CTO, unveils the SpaceX Dragon V2 spacecraft at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, 2014 (Photo: AP Photo/TASS)

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

Further achievements of SpaceX were: the launch of the Dragon spacecraft, which was launched into orbit and returned to Earth on December 8, 2010, the first ever landing of the first stage on the ground, carried out after the payload was launched into low-Earth orbit (December 22, 2015), the first successful landing the first stage of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle onto the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship offshore platform (April 8, 2016) and the first launch and landing of a used Falcon 9 launch vehicle stage (March 31, 2017).

Photo: SpaceX founder Elon Musk speaking at the 67th International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico. Musk elaborated on his plans to colonize Mars, 2016 (Photo: AP Photo/Refugio Ruiz/TASS)

One of Musk's fantasies was the exploration of Mars. According to Elon, Mars research will make it possible to set the price for transport flights to the planet at $500 thousand, which is “quite acceptable” for residents of developed countries, and will also mark the beginning of the exploration of other planets.

“I like to be involved in projects that change the world. The Internet did it, and space will probably change the world more than anything else. If humanity can go beyond the Earth, it is obvious that its future will be there,” the entrepreneur asserted.

Elon Musk has repeatedly spoken out in favor of the colonization of Mars, including his proposal to drop thermonuclear bombs on the poles of Mars in order to heat the surface of the planet and make it suitable for life.

In April 2016, news came out that SpaceX's Red Dragon spacecraft would fly to Mars no later than 2018. There is a version that Elon Musk, the head of SpaceX, reacted in this way to the message about the start of the hardware implementation of the promising Russian spacecraft Federation.

SpaceX is planning a 2018 mission to Mars (Photo: SpaceX/ZUMAPRESS.com/Global Look Press)

During the expedition to Mars, technologies for delivering large cargo to the surface of the planet will be developed, the company’s Twitter reports. If the mission is successful, SpaceX will become the first private company to send a ship to Mars.

In May 2017, the media reported that the American company Elysium Space was selling seats on spaceship for the ashes of the dead. Elysium Space will be launched into orbit by the Falcon 9 launch vehicle from Elon Musk's Space X company.

It is reported that for 2.5 thousand dollars, relatives can send the remains of their loved ones into space, where the “star hearse” will circle the Earth’s orbit for two years, after which it will enter the atmosphere and burn up.

In September 2017, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced the possibility of using a multi-purpose rocket to fly to anywhere on Earth in half an hour.

"Get to most places on Earth in under 30 minutes and anywhere in under 60. The ticket should cost about the same as a full-fledged economy class airline ticket," Musk wrote on Instagram.

For new rocket under the working title BFR, the company’s previous achievements will be used, as reported by RIA Novosti. The rocket can replace Falcon 9 and Dragon, and it can also be used for flights to the Moon and Mars. It is noted that the BFR rocket will refuel after entering low-Earth orbit, and then fly to its destination; the technology will allow flying to the Moon and back.

Elon Musk's Tesla

In 2003, Elon founded a company that he named after Nikola Tesla Tesla Motors. The scope of activity of this company is the creation of environmentally friendly electric vehicles.

In 2008, Tesla Motors released the first electric car, the Tesla Roadster. The car was criticized, but Elon Musk and his company worked to improve the car and the Tesla Model S was introduced in 2011.

Tesla Roadster (Photo: CarrrsMag.com)

On September 27, 2012, a revolutionary network of super-refueling stations for long-distance travel was launched. Two Tesla Model S electric cars were tested and traveled from the West Coast to the East Coast from January 28 to February 2, 2014. For recharging, only “superchargers” (electric filling stations) were used. The trip from Los Angeles took 76 and a half hours and cost $0, thereby setting a Guinness record.

Tesla Model S (Photo: tesla.com)

At the end of 2014, Tesla Motors introduced the Tesla Model X, a new electric crossover car. In 2016, a new budget model was introduced - Tesla Model 3. In 2016, the company's share price reaches $231.55, market capitalization is $29 billion. Tesla Model 3 is built on a new chassis. The basic version of the electric car will be able to accelerate from zero to 96 kilometers per hour in less than six seconds, and the top version in 4 seconds. The battery supply is enough for 350-400 kilometers. Model 3 will start at $35,000.

Tesla Model X (Photo: tesla.com)

In 2016, Tesla received at least 373,000 orders for its most affordable model, the Model 3. Musk said that due to the very large number of orders for the car, the company will try to “increase production volumes as quickly as possible.” At the same time, Elon Musk released a long-term development plan for Tesla, promising that already in 2017 new models of transport that run on electric energy would be presented: heavy trucks and urban passenger transport.

Elon Musk also said that Tesla Motors is quite capable of creating a flying car just to have it, but it is much more difficult to make it quiet and safe. “It’s unlikely that people will be happy about a car roaring over their heads,” Musk was quoted as saying by the media.

In March 2017, the news reported that Tesla intends to open its representative offices, showrooms and service centers in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Hyperloop Elon Musk

In 2012, Musk, in addition to announcing his plans to conquer space, announced another project - a high-speed pipeline passenger transport Hyperloop (“hyperloop”). In 2012, Musk said in an interview that new vehicle It will be 2 times faster than an airplane and 3-4 times faster than a high-speed train, it will be safe and run on solar energy, while the Hyperloop will be much cheaper than the California High-Speed ​​Rail project*. In January 2015, Elon Musk also announced his desire to build a 5-mile Hyperloop test track in Texas.

Hyperloop high-speed pipeline passenger transport project (Photo: hyperloop.com)

Co-founder of Hyperloop One Shervin Pishevar expressed hope for cooperation with the Russian authorities, in particular, he spoke about the prospect of using such trains to transport Chinese goods to Europe through the territory of the Russian Federation; the news wrote about the possible use of technology on the Moscow-London route.

In the summer of 2017, US authorities gave Elon Musk permission to begin work on the construction of a tunnel between New York and Washington for the implementation of the Hyperloop project. The businessman promises that his project will help residents of these two cities cover the 250 km distance between them in less than half an hour.

Social activity Elon Musk

Another of Elon Musk’s promising projects is SolarCity . The company produces solar panels for generating electricity. SolarCity is one of the leading suppliers of such panels worldwide.

Solarcity, one of the world's largest installers solar systems(Photo: solarcity.com/TASS)

Billionaire Elon Musk does not forget about charity. Elon became chairman of the board charitable foundation Musk Foundation. In January 2015, the foundation donated $10 million to the Future of Humanity Institute for research into the control of artificial intelligence.

Elon Musk commented on the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin about the creation of artificial intelligence in a very original way:

“I think the race for leadership in artificial intelligence will most likely lead to World War III,”

“Elon Musk heard certain things about her behavior that categorically did not suit him. Amber can be very selfish and often manipulates others,” said a source from close circle couples.

Elon Musk's income

In August 2017, Forbes reported that Elon Musk, who nearly went bankrupt after launching Tesla Motors and the rocket company SpaceX, was worth more than $20 billion for the first time on its annual list of the richest tech billionaires. Musk took 12th place with $20.7 billion, ahead of the Microsoft Corporation co-founder Paul Allen($20.5 billion) and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alphabet Eric Schmidt($12.4 billion). It is reported that since March 2017, according to Forbes, Elon Musk has become richer by almost $7 billion.

The publication explained these data by the growth of SpaceX's capitalization, the value of which was estimated at $21 billion. Musk owns more than half of SpaceX.

At the same time, Musk's Wikipedia biography states that in July 2017 he was ranked 80th on the list of the world's richest people with $16.1 billion.

In December 2016, Elon Musk was ranked 21st on Forbes' list of the world's most powerful people.

Elon Musk V movie

Elon Musk is very popular in the USA. According to Jon Favreau, director of the film “Iron Man” (2008), Elon Musk served as the inspiration for Tony Stark, whom he played Robert Downey Jr. In 2010, Musk appeared in the film Iron Man 2 as himself (in the story, Elon is Tony Stark’s friend).

Still from the movie "Iron Man 2"

Elon Musk made a cameo in the 12th episode of the 26th season of the animated series The Simpsons, released on January 25, 2015. In episode 9 of season 9 of The Big Bang Theory, Musk also played a cameo. In 2017, he starred in the comedy “Why Him?” as himself.

Musk can fly a plane. Elon owned a Czechoslovakian-made Aero L-39 Albatros and a Dassault Falcon 900 jet. In October 2013, Musk bought the Wet Nellie submarine car from the 1977 James Bond film “The Spy Who Loved Me” at auction for $997,000.

* High-speed rail - California's high-speed rail system, currently under construction, which will connect Los Angeles to San Francisco. The trains have stated speeds of up to 220 miles (350 km/h) per hour, providing a one-way trip of 2 hours 40 minutes. Construction began in 2015 and is expected to be completed in 2029.

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

The story of Elon Musk is interesting because, by birth, he was not a candidate to become 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 since childhood (he went to school a year earlier than his peers), even his parents admitted the fact that his son’s contacts with his peers did not go well. He himself would later say: “I was a little nerdy kid, quite smart... so during school I just read a lot of books and tried not to get in people’s way.”

The guy compensated for his lack of friends by constantly reading everything he could get his hands on: from Spider-Man comics to encyclopedias. At the age of 17, after graduating from school in Pretoria, the future billionaire makes the bold decision to start an independent life in the USA.

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 a difficult life: he worked wherever he could, earning a living. The situation changes when entering Queens University in Ontario. The talented student attracted attention, and in 1992, his dream of coming to the United States came true, thanks to receiving a scholarship to study in Pennsylvania. At the University of Pennsylvania, Elon received a bachelor's degree in business in a year, devoted the second year to studying physics and also received a bachelor's degree.

The story of serial businessman Elon Musk

The term appeared relatively recently and is used to refer to entrepreneurs who apply their talent to launch 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 gaming room. They did almost everything for this:

• found a room to rent;
• We agreed with a machine provider who could supply the equipment.

However, it was not possible to obtain city approval: the parents did not know about their sons’ idea, and the young entrepreneurs were under 18 years old.

Second start-up more successful. To open internet company Zip2 Elon leaves graduate school at Stanford University after only two days there! The decision is explained as follows: “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 things didn’t work out, there would be an opportunity to return back.”

As part of Zip2's activities:

• a platform was developed that allowed newspapers to provide commercial services to clients;
• Many printed publications, including authoritative ones, are being transferred to the digital era;
• The first online city directory is created.

The degree of success of the idea is easily assessed by 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 conducted in cash.

The third part of Elon Musk's business story- PayPal electronic payment system. Initially, the startup was called X.com, after merging with the competitive company Confinity on a parity basis, it received 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 we can do it without the help of the Internet. Previously, it took a week to make a purchase using a card; PayPal processes the 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 billionaire's fourth project- TeslaMotors can rightfully be considered one of the most brilliant. Starting with the fact that Musk invested all his savings into 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. At first everything went great:

• 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 body material, were the merits of the billionaire inventor);
• receiving the GlobalGreen award for contribution to environmentally friendly production;
• changing the image of an electric car: inconvenient, small cars, after Musk’s team worked on them, turned into prestigious high-speed sports cars;
• attracting new investors, such as Larry Page, Sergey Brin, etc.

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

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

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

• fires Eberhard and senior managers who made major mistakes;
• invests in Tesla all the money he had at that time - $20 million;
• ruthlessly reduces the number of company employees, leaving only those who are necessary;
• negotiates with suppliers, bargaining for every cent;
• attracts investors in traditional and non-traditional ways (fortunately, there are many of these, you just need to wisely look for options);
• is looking for any means possible, even selling his favorite McLaren F1 car.

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 can be found in Table 1. In 2016, it became known that there was a fatal accident in America involving the innovative Tesla sedan. This reduced the share price by 3%, but everyone is sure that the company’s development cannot be stopped.

The company's profits up to 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 lower prices in key regions for the company: Europe, China, and the USA. The Model S and Model M electric cars are currently available for sale.

A logical continuation was the opening of gas stations for electric vehicles from Tesla Supercharger. The idea is that they will be available worldwide, making electric cars more affordable.

Fifth project: SpaceX.

Long term, I'd really like to go to Mars. This is SpaceX's primary goal. (Quote from the 2014 film “Billionaire Elon Musk: How I Became a Real Iron Man”).

The most ambitious project supported in the United States at the government level. The company was founded in 2002, its goal is the ability to travel to other planets using modern high-tech rockets. Departure point - Mars.

The 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 occasional flights there.

Today, Musk’s “crazy” idea is not only generally accepted, but is also supported at the state level. NASA has awarded SpaceX a contract 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 a rocket, Musk did not order it from government agencies; he bought it on eBay, saving $25,000.

Human delivery to Mars is planned for 2026.

“Personal style” of Elon Musk and success story

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

Elon Musk is not a man with business acumen. He is a dreamer, working to ensure that his projects, even the most fantastic ones, become reality. However, in difficult situations he acts like a tough businessman who does not look at personalities. An incomplete list of situations when the actions of an entrepreneur, which seemed crazy to others, led to stunning success:

• investing money not just in innovative, but in revolutionary projects;
• the ability to see one step ahead where others did not see prospects;
• 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 worldviews. From now on, driving electric cars is easy, convenient and prestigious! A whole network of gas stations was also built to service this type of car.

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

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