Quick Facts About Elon Musk

Elon Musk is the CEO of electric car manufacturer Tesla. He was the co-founder of the electronic-payment firm PayPal and Space X, maker of launch vehicles and spacecraft. Elon Musk was born on June 28, 1971, to a South African father and a Canadian mother. In 1988, after obtaining a Canadian passport, Musk left South Africa because he was unwilling to support the political right of the whites that exit in South Africa. At age 12 he created a video game and sold it to a computer magazine. He develops talent at his early age as an entrepreneur and loves to be around computers.

Education

In 1992, Musk attended Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and later transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where he received a bachelor’s degree in Physics and Economics. He then had admission at Stanford University in California as a graduate in physics but left after two days because he realized there is something much better in him than just studying physics.

PayPal and Space X

In 1995, he founded Zip2, a company that provides maps software and license to online newspapers. A computer manufacturer Compaq bought the company for $307million. Also, Musk founded X.com an online financial service company  now known as PayPal an online money transactions mostly used worldwide. In 2002, eBay bought PayPal for $1.5 billion.

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Musk was just a gem, he wouldn’t give up. Therefore, in 2002 he founded Space Exploration Technology (SpaceX) an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services to make more affordable rockets. The first two rocket (Falcon 1 and Falcon 9) were launched in 2006 and 2010 respectively, and the third Falcon Heavy launched in 2018. Besides, Musk was the chief designer in building the Falcon rockets, Dragon and Grasshopper.

Tesla

Musk becomes the CEO of Tesla Inc. an electric car Manufacturer and clean energy company in California. In 2003, an American entrepreneurs Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning founded Tesla Motors, but named after Nikola Tesla a Serbian American inventor. However, in funding the company Elon Musk contributed more than $30 million and therefore becomes the chairman of the company in 2004.

In late 2007 Eberhard resigned as CEO and president of technology and joined the advisory board of the company. It was announced in 2008 that he had left the company, though he remained a shareholder. Tarpenning, who was also vice president of electrical engineering, supervising the development of electronic and software systems for the Roadster, also left the company in 2008. Musk took over as CEO. In 2010 Tesla’s initial public offering raised some $226 million.