Elon Musk Andreas Kapadoukas Γ΄1 Elon Musk General information • Elon Reeve Musk was born on June 28th,1971 and is 46 years old. • In December 2016, he was ranked 21st on the Forbes list of The World's Most Powerful People. • As of February 2018, he has a net worth of $20.8 billion and is listed by Forbes as the 53rd richest person in the world. Early life (1) • Musk was born in Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa, the son of Maye Musk and Errol Musk. • He has a younger brother, Kimbal, and a younger sister, Tosca. • After his parents divorced in 1980, Musk lived mostly with his father in the suburbs of Pretoria. Early life (2) • During his childhood he was an avid reader. • At age of10, he developed an interest in computing and at the age of 12 he taught himself computer programming. • Musk was severely bullied throughout his childhood, and was once hospitalized when a group of boys threw him down a flight of stairs and then beat him until he lost consciousness. Education (1) • Musk attended Waterkloof House Preparatory School, and Bryanston High School before graduating from Pretoria Boys High School. • At the age of 17, Musk was accepted into Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and after 2 years he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania where in May 1997 he received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and a Bachelor of Science degree in economics. Education (2) • In 1995, at the age of 24, Musk moved to California to begin a PhD in applied physics and materials science at Stanford University • He left the program after two days to pursue his entrepreneurial aspirations in the areas of the internet, renewable energy and outer space. Family (1) • Musk met his first wife, Justine Wilson, while both were students at Ontario's Queen's University. • They married in 2000 and separated in 2008. • Their first son, Nevada Alexander Musk, died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) at the age of 10 weeks. Family (2) • They later had five sons. • After their divorce, they share custody of all five sons. • In 2008, Musk began dating English actress Talulah Riley, and in 2010, the couple married. • In late 2016 they divorced. Philanthropy (1) • Musk is chairman of the Musk Foundation, which focuses its philanthropic efforts on providing solar- power energy systems in disaster areas. • In 2010, the Musk Foundation collaborated with SolarCity to donate a 25-kW solar power system to the South Bay Community Alliance's hurricane response center in Alabama. Philanthropy (2) • In July 2011, the Musk Foundation donated US$250,000 towards a solar power project in Sōma. • In July 2014, Musk was asked to donate US$8 million toward the construction of the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe, but he agreed to donate 1 million. • Musk donated US$10 million to the Future of Life Institute in January 2015 Career • In 1995, Musk and his brother, Kimbal, started Zip2. • In March 1999, Musk co- founded X.com. • Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, in May 2002. • He became co-founder, CEO, and product architect of Tesla, Inc. • In December 2015, Musk announced the creation of OpenAI. • In 2016, he became co- founder and CEO of Neuralink. SpaceX (1) • In May 2002 Musk founded SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company, of which he is CEO and lead designer. • In 2011 their Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft replaced the US Space Shuttle. • On February 6, 2018, SpaceX successfully launched the Falcon Heavy. SpaceX (2) • On December 22, 2015, SpaceX successfully landed the first stage of its Falcon rocket back at the launch pad. This was the first time in history such a feat had been achieved by an orbital rocket. • Musk stated that he wants to establish a Mars colony by 2040, with a population of 80,000. Tesla (1) • Tesla, Inc. was incorporated in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. • In February 2004, Musk joined Tesla's board of directors as its chairman. • He took an active role within the company, but was not deeply involved in day-to- day business operations. • Following the financial crisis in 2008, Musk assumed leadership of the company as CEO and product architect. Tesla (2) • Musk has favored building a sub-US$30,000 compact Tesla model. • As of 2014, Musk's annual salary is one dollar, similar to that of Steve Jobs and other CEOs. • In January 2018, Musk was granted a $2.6 billion award by the company, awarding him with 20.3 million shares thereby raising Tesla's market value to $650 billion. Final thoughts • Considering all the good Elon Musk has done for his fellow humans, he is truly an admirable person and can therefore be considered a hero. • He strives to help people by providing solar power in disaster areas and donating money for charitable causes. • His inventions are extraordinary and he is an amazing entrepreneur. References • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk .