Today we are going to reveal the path to success of a very rich, influential and creative figure in the world – Elon Musk. How did he grow from a startup entrepreneur, step by step, to a billionaire? How did he found Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and the Boring Company, among many other disruptive companies? How did he realize his dream of Mars? Next, let’s explore!
[Part I: The Age of Initialization]
Elon Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa in 1971. His father is a South African engineer and his mother is a Canadian model and nutritionist. He has had a strong interest in science and technology since he was a child. When he was 10 years old, he taught himself programming and developed a space shooting game called Blastar in BASIC language. He later sold it to a computer magazine for $500. He was also an avid reader, once devouring the Encyclopedia Britannica in three months, as well as numerous science fiction and philosophical works.
He spent his childhood and teenage years in South Africa, but he did not like the environment and system there. He longed to go to the United States, which he believed was a paradise of innovation and freedom. When he was 17 years old, he left his family and went to Canada, his mother’s home country, to start his college career. He studied physics and economics at Queen’s University and the University of Pennsylvania, earning a double degree. He originally planned to continue studying for a Ph.D. in physics at Stanford University, but he gave up his studies the next day in 1995 and founded his first company, Zip2, with his brother.
Zip2 is a website that provides online city guides, which can help users find restaurants, hotels, shops, etc., and also provide map and navigation services. Zip2 quickly attracted cooperation from some large newspapers, such as the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune, both of which hoped to use Zip2’s technology to increase their online influence. Zip2’s business is also expanding, and it also provides some e-commerce and advertising functions. In 1999, Zip2 was acquired by Compaq for $307 million, a huge deal in the Internet industry at the time. Musk owned 7% of the shares and thus received $22 million, his first pot of gold.
[Part II: The PayPal Era]
Not content with his first success, Musk quickly moved on to his next project – X.com. X.com is a company that provides online payment and financial services, which allows users to conduct safe, fast and convenient transactions through email. X.com’s creativity and potential quickly caught the attention of users and investors, and it became one of the most popular websites at the time. X.com merged with another similar company, Confinity, in 2000 to form PayPal. PayPal is a company focused on providing online payment solutions. Its logo is a blue P. PayPal’s core product is a service called PayPal Account, which allows users to shop, transfer, and collect money online without revealing their bank or credit card information. PayPal’s advantages lie in its security, convenience and low cost. It has quickly become the world’s largest online payment platform, with millions of users and merchants.
Musk played a key role in the development of PayPal, where he is the company’s largest shareholder, as well as its CEO and technical director. He promoted PayPal’s technological innovation and business expansion. He also proposed the idea of integrating PayPal’s services into eBay. This was a very far-sighted move because eBay was the largest online auction website at the time, with its largest number of users and transaction volume. They are all very large, and their payment methods are still very backward, requiring users to complete transactions through checks or remittances, which is neither safe, convenient, nor efficient. Musk believes that if PayPal can become eBay’s default payment method, it can gain huge market share and revenue. However, Musk’s idea was not supported by other senior executives at PayPal. They believed that PayPal should remain independent rather than relying on eBay. They also worried that eBay might acquire or compete with PayPal, thereby harming its interests. Disagreements between Musk and other senior executives led to a bitter power struggle that ultimately forced Musk to resign as CEO in October 2000, replaced by Peter Thiel. Although Musk lost control of PayPal, he remains the company’s largest shareholder, and he hasn’t given up on his eBay idea. In 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.8 billion, which was another huge deal in the Internet industry at the time. Musk received US$165 million as a result, which was his second pot of gold.
[Part III: The SpaceX Era]
Musk’s experience with PayPal made him lose interest in the internet industry and he started looking for new challenges and opportunities. He had a dream since he was a child, which was to go to Mars. He believed that human beings should become a multi-planet species, so as to ensure the survival and development of human beings, as well as to expand their horizons and possibilities. He once thought that if someone could send some plants or animals to Mars, then it would be able to arouse people’s interest and enthusiasm in space exploration and also promote the development of space technology. He had tried to buy some decommissioned Russian ICBMs as his space vehicle, but he realized that they were too expensive and too poorly performing to meet his needs. He decided that if he wanted to realize his dream of Mars, he would have to build his rocket himself. He embarked on a grueling journey of self-education, reading tons of books and papers on space technology and rocket engineering, and he visited a number of space experts and rocket engineers to ask for advice and learn from them. In 2002, he used part of his earnings to found SpaceX, a company dedicated to developing reusable rockets and colonizing Mars, with the goal of reducing the cost and increasing the frequency of space transportation, and ultimately allowing humans to establish a permanent residence on Mars.
The creation of SpaceX has not been smooth sailing, it has faced many difficulties and challenges, such as technical difficulties, shortage of funds, obstruction by competitors, lawsuits, media questioning and so on. Musk not only has to act as the CEO of SpaceX, but also as the chief engineer of SpaceX, he is personally involved in every important design and decision of SpaceX, he also has to personally supervise every launch and test of SpaceX. He once said that he works 100 hours/week, and that he is constantly traveling between SpaceX’s headquarters, factories, and launch sites. His hard work and dedication didn’t pay off right away, SpaceX’s first three rocket launches ended in failure, causing SpaceX to fall into a serious financial crisis, Musk almost went bankrupt, he even had to borrow money from his friends to pay his rent. He once said that he was only 10% confident that SpaceX could succeed.
However, Musk didn’t give up, he persevered, he used his last money for SpaceX’s fourth rocket launch in 2008, this time, he finally succeeded, his rocket, called Falcon 1, successfully put a satellite into orbit, this is a historic breakthrough, SpaceX became the first company to use an indigenously developed reusable liquid-fueled rocket to put a satellite into orbit. This successful launch not only won SpaceX worldwide acclaim and respect, but also earned SpaceX a $1.6 billion contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which wanted SpaceX to provide cargo transportation services to the International Space Station. This contract, gave SpaceX a huge amount of money and confidence to continue to grow and innovate.In 2022 SpaceX raised about $2 Billion in proceeds by issuing stock.
[Part IV: The Tesla Era]
While Musk was at SpaceX, he was also involved in innovation and revolution in another field, that is, electric vehicles and clean energy. In 2004, he joined Tesla, an electric car company founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Mark Tarpenning, and became the company’s CEO and product architect. His vision for Tesla is to create an electric vehicle that is both environmentally friendly and has excellent performance, making electric vehicles a mainstream means of transportation, thereby reducing human dependence on fossil fuels, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and protecting the earth’s environment. He also has a bigger plan for Tesla’s future, which is to build a complete clean energy ecosystem, including solar power generation, battery energy storage and smart grids, so that humans can self-sufficiently use renewable energy and realize energy safe and sustainable.
The creation and development of Tesla has not been smooth sailing. It has also faced many difficulties and challenges, such as technical difficulties, shortage of funds, market competition, legal proceedings, media questioning, etc. Musk not only has to serve as Tesla’s CEO, but also as Tesla’s chief designer. He has personally participated in the design and development of every Tesla car. He also has to personally promote and sell Tesla’s products. Cars and products. He once said that his working hours are 120 hours per week, and his work location is constantly traveling between Tesla headquarters, factories and showrooms. His efforts and dedication did not pay off immediately. Tesla’s previous cars, such as Roadster, Model S and Model X, encountered various problems and difficulties, such as production delays, quality problems, sales Difficulties, serious losses, etc. He once said that he was only 10% confident that Tesla could succeed.
However, Musk did not give up. He persisted. In 2017, he launched Tesla’s most popular car, the Model 3, a high-performance electric sedan for the masses that was relatively affordable. , its cruising range is relatively long, its safety performance is relatively advanced, its smart functions are relatively advanced, it is a real dream car, it has attracted millions of reservations and purchases around the world, and it has made Tesla Sales and revenue have increased significantly, which has caused Tesla’s stock price and market value to rise significantly. It has made Tesla the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer and the most valuable car company in the world. In 2019, he launched Tesla’s latest car, the Model Y, an electric crossover based on the Model 3 platform. It has more space, more functions, and a higher cost performance. It is an electric car suitable for families and travel. It has also been warmly welcomed by the market and consumers. It is expected to become Tesla’s best-selling car. In 2020, he launched Tesla’s most amazing car, the Cybertruck, a futuristic electric pickup truck. Its shape is like a metal triangle, its material is stainless steel, and its performance is unparalleled. It’s an electric car that’s both rugged and stylish, and it’s generating buzz and buzz around the world. It’s also received millions of pre-orders and attention.
Musk’s Tesla dream is finally becoming a reality. In 2021, he announced his ultimate goal, which is to realize Tesla’s fully autonomous driving, so that Tesla’s cars can drive and navigate automatically in any road conditions and environments, so that Tesla’s cars can Become an intelligent mobile platform that provides a variety of services and functions, such as entertainment, social networking, sharing, making money, etc. He said that he hopes to experience Tesla’s fully autonomous driving in his lifetime to see what it feels like and experience. He said that he is willing to invest everything, even his wealth and reputation, for this dream. He said that he believed that one day, Tesla would establish a fully autonomous driving network covering tens of millions of vehicles around the world. Tesla would create an efficient and convenient transportation system around the world, with special features. Tesla will realize a clean and renewable energy cycle around the world, and Tesla will bring a beautiful and smart lifestyle to the world. He said that he believed that Tesla was the future and the hope of mankind. Tesla’s stock price has risen sharply in the past few years, and its current market value exceeds $800 billion. Musk holds about 20% of the company’s shares. Musk’s 2023 can be described as a prosperous year. His two most successful projects, Tesla and SpaceX, are still growing at a rapid pace: among them, Tesla’s stock price has risen by more than 100% in 2023, with a market value of more than 802.8 billion U.S. dollars; The rocket company SpaceX successfully conducted more than 90 launches this year, and its valuation soared to more than 175 billion US dollars. This year, his personal wealth increased by US$108.4 billion, and his net worth reached US$254.9 billion. The growth rate is far ahead among the world’s richest people, and he firmly ranks as the world’s richest man.
[Ends: Musk’s Dream]
We have only told part of Musk’s story, and his story is not over yet. He has more dreams and plans waiting for him to realize and complete. In 2023, he announced his biggest dream, which is to build a global satellite Internet system called Starlink, using thousands of low-orbit micro-satellites to provide high-speed and low-cost Internet access to people around the world. , allowing everyone to enjoy the convenience and benefits of the Internet, and allowing everyone to connect to human knowledge and wisdom. He said that he hoped to personally witness the completion and operation of Starlink during his lifetime and see the impact and changes. He said that he was willing to invest everything, even his time and energy, for this dream. He said that he believed that one day, Starlink would establish a seamless and unlimited information network all over the world. Starlink would create a fair and open information society all over the world. Starlink would create a fair and open information society all over the world. To realize a free and democratic information age, Starlink will bring a new and beautiful information civilization to the world.
The above are some of the wealth creation stories of this billionaire.