Elon Musk (born 1971) is a South African-American physicist, entrepreneur and philanthropist best known for co-founding PayPal, SpaceX and Tesla Motors. He is currently the CEO and CTO of SpaceX, CEO and Product Architect of Tesla Motors and Chairman of SolarCity.
| Elon Musk | |
|---|---|
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| Born | June 28, 1971 South Africa |
| Residence | Bel-Air, California |
| Education | B.S. in Economics and B.A. Physics from University of Pennsylvania |
| Occupation | engineer/entrepreneur |
| Net worth | US$328 million |
| Known for | co-founder of Zip2, PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla Motors |
| Title | CEO and CTO of SpaceX Chairman of SolarCity CEO of Tesla Motors |
| Spouse(s) | Justine Musk (divorced) |
| Partner | Talulah Riley (fiancée) |
| Children | five sons (50% custody) |
Contents |
Early life
Musk was born and raised in South Africa, the son of a South African engineer and a Canadian mother who works as a New York City dietitian and model. His father inspired his love of technology and Musk bought his first computer at age 10 and taught himself how to program;[1] by the age of 12 he sold his first commercial software for about $500, a space game called Blastar.[1]
After matriculating at Pretoria Boys High School he left home in 1988 at the age of 17, without his parents' support and in part because of the prospect of compulsory service in the South African military: "I don't have an issue with serving in the military per se, but serving in the South African army suppressing black people just didn't seem like a really good way to spend time."[1] He wanted to move to the US, saying: "It is where great things are possible."[2]
His mother was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and many of his relatives are spread across the Canadian West. So he emigrated to Canada in June 1989 at 17 years old.[3] He worked at his cousin's wheat farm in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, where he cleaned out grain bins and worked in the vegetable patch. He cleaned out boilers at a lumber mill in British Columbia, later took on the task of cutting logs with a chainsaw. He moved to Toronto and worked a summer in the computer department at TD Bank while applying to Queen's University. He left Canada in 1992 after getting a scholarship to study business and physics at the University of Pennsylvania. From Wharton he received an undergraduate degree in economics and stayed on another year to finish a second bachelor's degree in physics.[4] His undergraduate degrees behind him, Musk then considered three areas he wanted to get into that were "important problems," as he said later. "One was the Internet, one was clean energy, and one was space."[1]
Career
In 1995, Musk went on to a graduate program in applied physics and materials science at Stanford, in which he stayed exactly two days before dropping out to start Zip2, with his brother Kimbal Musk which provided online content publishing software for news organizations. In 1999, Compaq's AltaVista division acquired Zip2 for US$307 million in cash and US$34 million in stock options[5]
In March 1999, Musk co-founded X.com, an online financial services and email payments company. One year later, X.com merged with Confinity, originally a company formed to beam money between Palm Pilots,[6] and the combined entity focused on email payments through the PayPal domain, acquired as part of Confinity. In February 2001, X.com changed its legal name to PayPal. In October 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for US$1.5 billion in stock.[7] Before its sale, Musk, the company's largest shareholder, owned 11.7% of PayPal's shares.[8]
In June 2002, Musk founded his third company, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), of which he is currently the CEO and CTO. SpaceX develops and manufactures space launch vehicles, with an emphasis on low cost and high reliability. The company's first two launch vehicles are the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets and its first spacecraft is Dragon.
On 23 December 2008, SpaceX was awarded a $1.6 billion NASA contract for 12 flights of their Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station, replacing the Space Shuttle after it retires in 2010. Initially, Falcon 9/Dragon will replace the cargo transport function of the Shuttle and astronaut transport will be handled by the Soyuz. However, SpaceX has designed Falcon 9/Dragon with astronaut transport in mind and the Augustine commission has recommended that astronaut transport be handled by commercial companies like SpaceX.[9]
Musk views space exploration as an important step in expanding -- if not preserving -- the consciousness of human life.[10] Musk has said that multiplanetary life may serve as a hedge against threats to the survival of the human species. "An asteroid or a super volcano could destroy us, and we face risks the dinosaurs never saw: An engineered virus, inadvertent creation of a micro black hole, catastrophic global warming or some as-yet-unknown technology could spell the end of us. Humankind evolved over millions of years, but in the last sixty years atomic weaponry created the potential to extinguish ourselves. Sooner or later, we must expand life beyond this green and blue ball -- or go extinct." Musk's goal is to reduce the cost of human spaceflight by a factor of 100. He founded SpaceX with $100 million of his early fortune. He remains chief executive officer and chief technology officer of Hawthorne, Calif.-based company.
In seven years, SpaceX has designed the family of Falcon launch vehicles and the Dragon multi-purpose spacecraft from the ground-up. In September 2009, SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket became the first privately funded vehicle to put a satellite into Earth orbit. NASA selected SpaceX to be part of the first program that entrusts private companies to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. This contract, which has a minimum value of $1.6 billion and a maximum value of $3.1 billion, has become a cornerstone of the Space Station. In addition to these services, SpaceX's goals include simultaneously lowering the price of orbital spaceflight and improving reliability, both by a factor of ten, while creating the first fully reusable orbital launch vehicle. In the coming years, Musk will focus on delivering astronauts to the International Space Station, and even Mars.[11]
Musk is perhaps most famous for his role at Tesla Motors, where he was a co-founder and the company's sole product architect and chairman of the board. He became CEO in October 2008. Tesla Motors builds an electric sports car, the Tesla Roadster, and plans to produce a more economical four door electric sedan.[12] Musk is principally responsible for an overarching business strategy that aims to deliver affordable electric vehicles to mass-market consumers. His vision was to create the Tesla Roadster as a means to that end -- a car aimed specifically at affluent early adopters, who would then buy the sports car and subsidize the research and development costs of lower priced models of electric vehicles. From his earliest involvement with the company, Musk has been a champion of the Model S, a four-door family sedan with an anticipated base price of half that of the Roadster. Musk has also favored building a sub-$30,000 subcompact and building and selling electric vehicle powertrain components so that other automakers can produce electric vehicles at affordable prices without having to develop the products in house.[13] Several mainstream publications have compared him with Henry Ford for his revolutionary work on advanced vehicle powertrains.[14]
He is also the primary investor and Chairman of the Board of SolarCity, a photovoltaics products and services startup company where his cousin Lyndon Rive is the CEO.[15][16] The underlying motivation for funding both companies is to help combat global warming.[17]
Musk's fortune was estimated at US$328 million in 2005.[18]
Philanthropy
Musk is Chairman of the Musk Foundation, which focuses its philanthropic efforts on science education, pediatric health and clean energy. He is a trustee of the X Prize Foundation, promoting renewable energy technologies. He sits on the boards of The Space Foundation, The National Academies Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, The Planetary Society, and Stanford Engineering Advisory Board.
In 2001, Musk had plans for a "Mars Oasis" project, which would land a miniature experimental greenhouse on Mars, containing food crops growing on Martian regolith.[19][20] He put this project on hold when he discovered that launch costs would dwarf the mission development and construction costs for the project, and decided to work on creating interplanetary rockets by founding SpaceX.
His long term goal is that SpaceX helps humanity become a true spacefaring civilization. Musk's philosophy and description of what is needed to solve the problem are provided in the IEEE podcast "Elon Musk: a founder of Paypal, Tesla Motors, and SpaceX"[21] and article "Risky Business" [22]
Awards and recognition
Named as one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century by Esquire (magazine) [23]
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics George Low award for the most outstanding contribution in the field of space transportation in 2007/2008. Musk was recognized for his design of the Falcon 1, the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to reach orbit.
National Space Society's Von Braun Trophy in 2008/2009, given for leadership of the most significant achievement in space. Prior recipients include Burt Rutan and Steve Squyres.[24]
National Wildlife Federation 2008 National Conservation Achievement award for Tesla Motors and SolarCity. Other 2008 awardees include Thomas Friedman, Senator Leahy and Governor Crist.[25]
The Aviation Week 2008 Laureate for the most significant achievement worldwide in the space industry.[26]
R&D Magazine Innovator of the Year for 2007 for SpaceX, Tesla and SolarCity.[27]
Inc Magazine Entrepreneur of the Year award for 2007 for his work on Tesla and SpaceX. [28]
2007 Index Design award for his design of the Tesla Roadster.[29]
Global Green 2006 product design award for his design of the Tesla Roadster, presented by Mikhail Gorbachev[30]
Honorary doctorate in humane letters from Amherst College, Mass.
Honorary doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Surrey, UK.
Musk is a Director of the Planetary Society, a Trustee of The X-Prize Foundation and a member of the Stanford University Engineering Advisory Board. He has previously served as a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board.
Interests
Musk has described himself as a workaholic who routinely puts in 100-hour work weeks, primarily on his businesses Tesla Motors and SpaceX. In his rare free time, he says he plays with his five children.[31]
The SpaceX factory was used as a shooting location for Iron Man II and Musk has a small part in the movie. [32]
Musk owned a McLaren F1 sports car that he purchased for approximately $1 million and sold in 2007 for $1.5 million, and a Czech-built Aero L-39 trainer worth approximately $250,000.[33] The 1994 model Dassault Falcon 900 aircraft used in the film, Thank You for Smoking (Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2006) is registered to Musk (N900SX). Musk is listed as an Executive Producer of the film.[34]
Education
- Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, B.S., Economics
- University of Pennsylvania, B.A., Physics
- Excelled at mathematics and science at Pretoria Boys High School.
- Went to Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario Canada
Family
Musk lives in Bel-Air, California, with his fiancée, the British actress Talulah Riley.[35] Riley is best known for playing Mary in Pride and Prejudice.
With his ex-wife, the Canadian-born author Justine Musk, whom he met while both were students at Queen's University, he has five sons.
Elon Musk's sister Tosca Musk is the founder of Musk Entertainment and producer of various movies.[36][37] Elon himself was the executive producer of her first movie, called Puzzled.[38] Elon Musk's brother Kimbal Musk is the CEO of a social search company OneRiot and owner of The Kitchen restaurant in Boulder, Colo.
Controversies
After Musk had confirmed an earlier report[39] that Tesla Motors only had $9 million cash in bank[40], he was reported to have hired an outside IT contractor to go through the company's email and instant messages, then had an investigator take fingerprints off a printout discarded near a copier used to leak the email. The email implicated employee Peng Zhou as the source of the company's status. Zhou had sought to frame other employees at Tesla by claiming in his leaked emails that he was a four year employee. Musk offered Zhou the option of apologizing to the company and resigning, which he did, rather than face prosecution. [41]
After firing Zhou from Tesla Motors, Musk was reported attempting to catch employees who leak corporate secrets, without prior knowledge by other Tesla Motors executives, by sending each employee a slightly altered version of a memo which Musk expected would get sent to the media. The plan backfired when general counsel Craig Harding forwarded his own personalized copy of the memo along with a new, stricter nondisclosure agreement mentioned in the memo to other employees nullifying the entrapment plan.[42]
On May 26, 2009, former Tesla CEO Martin Eberhard filed suit in San Mateo County, California against Tesla and Elon Musk (Chairman and CEO of Tesla) for slander, libel and breach of contract. The case hinged on the question of who could rightly be called a "founder" of Tesla. [43] On July 29, 2009, a judge in San Mateo County, Calif., Superior Court struck down a claim by Eberhard, who asked to be declared one of only two founders of the company.[44] Tesla said in a statement that the ruling is "consistent with Tesla’s belief in a team of founders, including the company’s current CEO and Product Architect Elon Musk, and Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel, who were both fundamental to the creation of Tesla from inception."[45] In early August, Eberhard withdrew the case,[46], and the parties reached a final settlement September 21. The terms of the settlement are confidential, but the agreement includes a provision that the parties will consider Martin Eberhard, Elon Musk, JB Straubel, Marc Tarpenning, and Ian Wright to be the five co-founders.[47]
Notes
- ^ a b c d Michael Belfiore. Rocketeers. HarperCollins, 2007. ISBN 978-0-06-114902-3 - see chapter 7 "Orbit on a Shoestring" pp. 166-195.
- ^ Halvorson, Todd (2005-01-29). "Elon Musk Unveiled". Florida Today. http://web.archive.org/web/20070928230012/http://www.benup.com/media.php?page=36. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Entrepreneur Tries His Midas Touch in Space". Los Angeles Times. 2007-04-22. http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2003/030422-space01.htm.
- ^ Compaq buys Zip2 by Sandeep Junnarkar, CNet News.com.com, February 16th, 1999
- ^ "PayPal Puts Dough in Your Palm", by Karlin Lillington, Wired News, July 27, 1999
- ^ EBay SEC 10-K (PDF format) December 31, 2002
- ^ Paypal SEC 10-K, December 31, 2001
- ^ http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nasa-group-seeks-more-private-industry-involvement-2009-08-13
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ Musk steps in as CEO, from the New York Times.
- ^ [4]
- ^ [5]
- ^ SolarCity Management Team
- ^ [6]
- ^ "The unveiling of the Tesla Motors Electric Car", video from "Autoblog.com" via YouTube. Retrieved 2006-07-26
- ^ "Hondas in Space", FastCompany.com, Issue 91, February 2005, Page 74, By Jennifer Reingold
- ^ "Elon Musk, Life to Mars Foundation", from Mars Now, a weekly column by John Carter McKnight of the Space Frontier Foundation, September 25, 2001
- ^ [7]
- ^ http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/podcast/aerospace/space-flight/elon-musk-a-founder-of-paypal-tesla-motors-and-spacex
- ^ http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/space-flight/risky-business
- ^ http://www.esquire.com/features/75-most-influential/elon-musk-1008
- ^ http://www.nss.org/news/releases/pr20090617.html
- ^ http://www.nwf.org/about/connieawards2008.cfm
- ^ http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=comm&id=news/LAUR030409.xml
- ^ http://rdmag.com/Awards/Innovator-Of-The-Year/2007/08/Rocket--Man/
- ^ http://www.inc.com/magazine/20071201/entrepreneur-of-the-year-elon-musk.html
- ^ http://www.indexaward.dk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=89&Itemid=71
- ^ http://www.teslamotors.com/media/company_team.php
- ^ [8]
- ^ http://twitter.com/timoreilly/statuses/2849362946
- ^ "A Bold Plan to Go Where Men Have Gone Before", by Leslie Wayne, The New York Times, February 5, 2006
- ^ "Thank You For Smoking (2005) - Full cast and crew", IMDB
- ^ [9]
- ^ Musk entertainment
- ^ Tosca Musk on IMDb
- ^ Elon Musk on IMDb
- ^ Tesla Motors has $9 million in the bank, may not deliver cars
- ^ Tesla CEO admits his carmaker's running out of cash
- ^ [10]
- ^ Elon Musk reportedly sets trap for loose lipped Tesla employees
- ^ Martin Eberhard lawsuit as filed in San Mateo County, CA (146 pages)
- ^ "Superior Court of California. County of San Mateo". Sanmateocourt.org. 2009-07-17. http://www.sanmateocourt.org/director.php?filename=./tentrul/wed.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
- ^ "Judge Strikes Claim on Who Can Be Declared a Founder of Tesla Motors". Businesswire.com. http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090729006483&newsLang=en. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
- ^ "Eberhard Says ‘Uncle’ in Tesla Lawsuit | Autopia". Wired.com. http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/08/eberhard-tesla-lawsuit/. Retrieved 2009-09-14.
- ^ "Tesla Motors founders: Now there are five". CNet. September 21, 2009. http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10357665-54.html?tag=mncol. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
External links
- The Musk Foundation web site
- Elon's ex-wife Justine Musk
- Viral Marketing, MBAs and pesky governments, Elon talks at Stanford (October 8, 2003)
- Statement of Elon Musk at House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Hearings on the Future Market for Commercial Space (April 20, 2005)
- 1999 Salon.com article on Musk
- Elon Musk Is Betting His Fortune on a Mission Beyond Earth's Orbit, Wired Magazine June 2007
- [11], Elon Musk test drives his personal Tesla for Robert Scoble and Jason Calacanis
- Elon Musk on rockets, sports cars, and solar power, CNET News.com (February 15, 2008)
- Entrepreneur of the Year: Elon Musk, Inc. Magazine profile, December 2007
Interviews
- "An interview with Elon Musk" at HobbySpace (August 5, 2003)
- "Lift off with Elon Musk" at Carte Blanche (September 4, 2005)
- "SpaceX’s Musk and Thompson Q and A" at nasaspaceflight.com (January 20, 2006)
- Video interview of Elon Musk by Zadi Diaz of EPIC FU, weekly web show that covers online pop culture (June 17, 2008)
- "Forget the bungalow, retire to Mars" at Sunday Times (January 4, 2009)
- "Uber Entrepreneur: An Evening with Elon Musk" video at the Churchill Club via FORA.TV (January 4, 2009)
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