How did a shy, nerdy young boy coming from South Africa turned into an acclaimed American engineering entrepreneur? This story of Elon Musk is one of those definite examples of applied principles that can capitulate outstanding results.
His inspiring triumph paved the way for comparisons on other ambitious entrepreneurs namely Bill Gates, Howard Hughes, Henry Ford, and Steve Jobs.
As of this writing, Elon Musk is considered the world's richest person. According to analysts’ predictions, he might become a trillionaire— the first in world history. Before delving into his way into triumph, let's get to know his backstory first.
Early Life
Elon Reeve Musk was born in one of the major cities in South Africa named Pretoria in 1971. His mother was a nutritionist and a model, while his father was an engineer.
When Musk was a 10-year-old boy, his fascination with technology was evident when he was abreast in programming via a cost-friendly home computer known as Commodore VIC-20. Shortly, he developed his skills and created a video game close to Space Invaders— Blastar. For a paycheck of $500, he sold the games' BASIC code to a magazine named PC and Office Technology.
Education
At the age of 17, Musk migrated to Canada to avoid serving in the South African military; wherein at that time, implemented apartheid. Through his mother, he later obtained his Canadian citizenship.
Musk completed his degree in Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Bachelor of Science in Physics from Wharton School. Before Musk tasted the fruits of his determination and labor, he developed a tenacious work ethic. Wherein he was known by his colleagues and those who personally know him as someone who works 80 to 120 hours a week.
X.com
Musk started Zip2 along with his young brother named Kimbal. It was a web software company that help newspapers create digital city guides. But, in 1999, it was attained by Compaq's AltaVista web. Musk didn't give up and used the money to create X.com which later became PayPal. Unfortunately, he was removed before the company was bought for $1.5 billion by eBay.
Tesla
He contributed in funding for $70 million for Tesla. In 2004, Elon Musk joined other engineers namely Marc Tarpenning and Martin Eberhard in running Tesla Motors. Aside from that, Musk was a fundamental individual in designing an electric car named Tesla Roadster. Following several disagreements, Eberhard was removed from the management in 2007. As a result, Musk was able to obtain management control as product architect and CEO. Under the aegis of Musk, Tesla rose its popularity to the consumers and has been considered as one of the world's most sought-after car brands.
SpaceX
Musk maximize financial proceeds from PayPal sales to establish what we commonly know as Space X or Space Exploration Technologies Corporation— an astronomical travel company. In 2002, about $100 million was spent from Musk's pocket to found SpaceX.
An article written by Morgan Stanley Adam Jones revealed that Musk's riches could make him the world’s first trillionaire because of this private space business. Even if SpaceX is only the tip of Musk's growing companies iceberg, over the past decades, his ultimate goal is to fly from the earth and settle on Mars.
Elon Musk's fascination with science fiction, fantasy, and philosophy novels shaped his idealism in regard to business and human progress. For many years now, his work focuses on the fate of humanity's future, particularly space colonization, renewable energy sources, and the Internet.