Who doesn’t know the name of billionaire Elon Musk? With some of the most influential companies, including PayPal, Tesla, and SpaceX, Elon Musk is the idol of every entrepreneur.
Elon Musk became the third person with a net worth of $200 billion. After surpassing the former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, he has earned the title of the richest man in the world. However, he was also someone normal, just like us.
If you are bewildering about how he became someone from ordinary to extraordinary, then take a look at this. Today our discussion topic is the success story of Billionaire Entrepreneur Elon Musk.
The Early Life of Elon Musk
In early 1970, a child was born in South Africa. No one knew at that time that this youngster would change the world. Elon’s father was an engineer, while his mother was a nutritionist. Since his parents were busy, he spent most of his childhood with his household keeper.
Mask had an interest in video games and computers. He was also a fan of the books of Isaac Asimov.
Musk entered the University of Pennsylvania and graduated with two degrees, B.Sc in Physics and B.A. in Economics.
Journey to the Success
After graduating, Musk planned for the Ph.D. program at Stanford. However, he quit in 2days after joining to start his own startup.
Taking the first step: Zip2
With his friend and brother, Musk started his first company, Zip2. They provided online city guide software to the newspapers publishing industry, with maps, directions, and yellow pages.
Even though Musk had a rough time, it was a success. Many prominent investors, including New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, sponsored this undertaking. This first venture sold for $307 million in 1999, earning him $22 million for his 7%.
The Second Venture: X.com
After the sensation of Zip2, his next project was a financial services company X.com. Musk founded the company with Harris Fricker, Ed Ho, and Christopher Payne in 1999.
During that time, online banking was something unexplored. X.com became one of the first online banks. In 2000, X.com merged with a software-based company, Confinity Inc, and changed the name to Paypal.
After the two consecutive successes, Musk had more than enough to lead a comfortable life. However, he decided to invest his earnings to start not only one but two new ventures. He acquired 180 million from Paypal and spent $100 million on Space and $70m on Tesla.
Tesla Motors
Musk founded Tesla Motor, an electric vehicle, and clean energy company, around the middle of 2003. In Feb 2004, he invested $6.5 million and had the highest shares in the company.
Musk became the CEO of Tesla in 2008. The company launched the first electric sports car, the Roadster, in the same year. He has been in the position of CEO since 2008.
SpaceX
In 2001, Musk came in contact with the Mars Society. The concept of growing plants on Mars inspired him and he decided to fund this project. Mask invested a huge amount of money in this initiative.
In 2001, Musk came in contact with the Mars Society. The concept of growing plants on Mars inspired him, and he decided to fund this project. Mask invested a huge amount of money in this initiative.
In October 2001, Musk went to Moscow to buy renovated Intercontinental ballistic missiles in order to send the greenhouse payloads to Mars. However, the projectiles were too expensive. So instead, Musk founded the company SpaceX with rocket engineer Tom Mueller.
In 2005, the company had 160 employees whom Musk had interviewed himself. However, the rockets failed three times. In 2008, SpaceX successfully launched Falcon 1 into orbit.
The glory of Elon Musk
Elon Musk is the most successful entrepreneur in this era. He has earned global fame for his vision for SpaceX and Tesla. He has also appeared in several movies and TV shows, including Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Big Bang Theory, and more.
With a fortune of 212 Billion dollars, Elon Musk has become the wealthiest person in the world. Many hope he will be the first trillionaire in a few years.