06/09/2018 Elon Musk - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the book, see Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future.
Elon Reeve Musk FRS(/ˈiːlɒn/; born June 28, 1971) is a business
magnate, investor[7][8] and engineer.[9] He is the founder, CEO, and Elon Musk
lead designer of SpaceX;[10]CEO, and product architect of Tesla, FRS
Inc.; co-founder and CEO of Neuralink; and co-founder of PayPal.
In December 2016, he was ranked 21st on the Forbes list of The
World's Most Powerful People.[11] As of August 2018, he has a net
worth of $20.2 billion and is listed by Forbes as the 46th-richest
person in the world.[12]
Born in Pretoria, South Africa, Musk taught himself computer
programming at the age of 10. He moved to Canada when he was
17 to attend Queen's University. He transferred to the University of
Pennsylvania two years later, where he received an economics
degree from the Wharton School and a degree in physics from
the College of Arts and Sciences. He began a Ph.D. in applied
physics and material sciences at Stanford University in 1995 but
dropped out after two days to pursue an entrepreneurial career. He
subsequently co-founded Zip2, a web software company, which
was acquired by Compaq for $340 million in 1999. Musk then
founded X.com, an online bank. It merged with Confinity in 2000
and became PayPal, which was bought by eBay for $1.5 billion in
October 2002.[17]
In May 2002, Musk founded SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer
and space transport services company, of which he is CEO and
Musk in 2015
lead designer. He helped fund Tesla, Inc., an electric vehicle and
solar panel manufacturer, in 2003, and became its CEO and Born Elon Reeve Musk
product architect. In 2006, he inspired the creation of SolarCity, a June 28, 1971 (age 47)
solar energy services company that is now a subsidiary of Tesla, Pretoria, Transvaal,
and operates as its chairman. In 2015, Musk co-founded OpenAI, a South Africa
nonprofit research company that aims to promote friendly artificial
intelligence. In July 2016, he co-founded Neuralink, a Residence Bel Air, Los Angeles, California,
neurotechnology company focused on developing brain–computer United States[1][2]
interfaces, and is its CEO. In December 2016, Musk founded The Citizenship South Africa (1971–present)
Boring Company, an infrastructure and tunnel-construction Canada (1989–present)
company.
United States (2002–present)
In addition to his primary business pursuits, Musk has envisioned a
Alma mater Queen's University
high-speed transportation system known as the Hyperloop, and
has proposed a vertical take-off and landingsupersonic jet electric University of Pennsylvania[3][4]
aircraft with electric fan propulsion, known as the Musk electric Occupation Entrepreneur, engineer,
jet.[18][19] Musk has stated that the goals of SpaceX, Tesla, and and investor
SolarCity revolve around his vision to change the world and
Net worth US$20.2 billion (August 2018)[5]
humanity.[20] His goals include reducing global
warming through sustainable energyproduction and consumption Title CEO, Lead Designer of SpaceX
and reducing the "risk of human extinction" by establishing CEO of Tesla, Inc.
a human colony on Mars.[21] CEO of Neuralink
Founder of The Boring Company
Contents
Political Independent
1 Early life
1.1 Early childhood party
1.2 Education Spouse(s) Justine Musk
2 Career (m. 2000; div. 2008)
2.1 Zip2 Talulah Riley
2.2 X.com and PayPal (m. 2010; div. 2012)
2.3 SpaceX (m. 2013; div. 2016)[6]
2.4 Tesla Children 6 (1 deceased)
2.5 SolarCity
2.6 Hyperloop Parent(s) Errol Musk (father)
2.7 OpenAI Maye Musk (mother)
2.8 Neuralink Relatives Kimbal Musk (brother)
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2.9 The Boring Company Tosca Musk (sister)

2.10 pravduh.com Lyndon Rive (cousin)
2.11 Tham Luang cave rescue
2.11.1 Device viability Awards Fellow of the Royal Society
2.11.2 Media coverage and Musk's behavior Signature
3 Views
3.1 Political
3.1.1 Lobbying
3.1.2 Subsidies
3.2 Destiny and religion
3.3 Extraterrestrial life
3.4 Artificial intelligence
3.5 Public transport
4 Personal life
4.1 Philanthropy
4.2 Family
4.3 Zolpidem usage
5 Awards and recognition
6 In popular media
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links

Early life
Early childhood
Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa,[22] the son of Maye
Musk (née Haldeman), a model and dietitian from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada,[23]and Errol Musk, a South
African electromechanical engineer, pilot, and sailor. He has a younger brother, Kimbal (born 1972), and a
younger sister, Tosca (born 1974).[27] His paternal grandmother was British, and he also has Pennsylvania
Dutch ancestry.[28][29] His maternal grandfather Joshua Haldeman was American, from Minnesota[30], but spent
most of the first half of his life in Canada where he was a leader in the Technocracy movement.[31] When
Haldeman became frustrated with Canadian politics and commercialism, he took his family to Pretoria, South
Africa, where he became known for his unusual and adventurous pursuits such as being the first to fly a private
plane from South Africa to Australia and back, racing in the 8,000 mile Cape Town to Algiers Motor Rally in the
family station wagon, and numerous expeditions through the bush of Botswana in efforts to find the Lost City of
Kalahari.[32] Musk's mother Maye thus grew up in a family where boldness and adventure were the norm, and
according to her brother Scott, they were raised to believe "there's nothing that a Haldeman can't do" -- a belief
she would pass on to her son Elon.[33] She met and married Errol Musk in Pretoria, and they raised their children
there.
After his parents divorced in 1980, Musk lived mostly with his father in the suburbs of Pretoria,[28] which Musk
chose two years after his parents split up, but now says was "not a good idea".[34] As an adult, Musk has severed
relations with his father.[34] He has a half-sister,[35] and half-brother.[36]
During his childhood, Musk was an avid reader.[37] At age 10, he developed an interest in computing with
the Commodore VIC-20.[38] He taught himself computer programming at the age of 10, and by the age of 12 sold
the code of a BASIC-based video game he created called Blastar, to a magazine called PC and Office
Technology, for approximately $500.[39][40] A web version of the game is available online.[39][41] His childhood
reading included Isaac Asimov's Foundation series from which he drew the lesson that "you should try to take the
set of actions that are likely to prolong civilization, minimize the probability of a dark age and reduce the length of
a dark age if there is one."[34]
Musk was severely bullied throughout his childhood[34] and was once hospitalized when a group of boys threw
him down a flight of stairs and then beat him until he lost consciousness.[37][42]
Musk attended Waterkloof House Preparatory School, and Bryanston High School[42] before graduating
from Pretoria Boys High School. Though Musk's father insisted that Elon go to college in Pretoria, Musk became
determined to move to the United States. As he states, "I remember thinking and seeing that America is where
great things are possible, more than any other country in the world."[43] Knowing it would be easy to get to the
United States from Canada, he moved to Canada against his father's wishes in June 1989, just before his
18th birthday,[44] after obtaining a Canadian passport through his Canadian-born mother.[45][46]

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Education
At age 17, in 1989, Elon Musk moved to Canada to attend Queen’s University and avoid mandatory service in
the South African military. He left in 1992 to study business and physics at the University of Pennsylvania. He
graduated with an undergraduate degree in economics and stayed for a second bachelor's degree in physics.
After leaving Penn, Elon Musk headed to Stanford University in California to pursue a PhD in energy physics.
However, his move was timed perfectly with the Internet boom, and he dropped out of Stanford after just two
days to become a part of it, launching his first company, Zip2 Corporation.[47]

Career
Zip2
Main article: Zip2
In 1995, Musk and his brother, Kimbal, started Zip2, a web software company, with money raised from a small
group of angel investors.[34] The company developed and marketed an Internet "city guide" for
the newspaper publishing industry.[48]Musk obtained contracts with The New York Times and the Chicago
Tribune[49] and persuaded the board of directors to abandon plans for a merger with CitySearch.[50] While at
Zip2, Musk wanted to become CEO; however, none of the board members would allow it.[37] Compaq acquired
Zip2 for US$307 million in cash[37]:109 and US$34 million in stock options[citation needed] in February
1999.[51] Musk received US$22 million for his 7 percent share from the sale.[49][37]:109

X.com and PayPal

Main articles: PayPal and X.com
In March 1999, Musk co-founded X.com, an online financial services and e-mail payment company,
with US$10 millionfrom the sale of Zip2.[44][48][50] One year later, the company merged
with Confinity,[49][52] which had a money-transfer service called PayPal. The merged company focused on the
PayPal service and was renamed PayPal in 2001. PayPal's early growth was driven mainly by a viral
marketing campaign where new customers were recruited when they received money through the
service.[53] Musk was ousted in October 2000 from his role as CEO (although he remained on the board) due to
disagreements with other company leadership, notably over his desire to move PayPal's Unix-based
infrastructure to Microsoft Windows.[54] In October 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for US$1.5 billion in
stock, of which Musk received US$165 million.[55] Before its sale, Musk, who was the company's
largest shareholder, owned 11.7% of PayPal's shares.[56]
In July 2017, Musk purchased the domain x.com from PayPal for an undisclosed amount stating that it has "great
sentimental value" to him.[57]

SpaceX
Main article: SpaceX
In 2001, Musk conceptualized "Mars Oasis", a project to land a miniature
Wikinews has related
experimental greenhouse on Mars, containing food crops growing on news:SpaceX Falcon
Martian regolith, in an attempt to regain public interest in space Heavy rocket blasts Elon
exploration.[58][59] In October 2001, Musk travelled to Moscow with Jim Musk's personal Tesla
Cantrell (an aerospace supplies fixer), and Adeo Ressi (his best friend into solar orbit
from college), to buy refurbished Dnepr Intercontinental ballistic
missiles (ICBMs) that could send the envisioned payloads into space. The group met with companies such
as NPO Lavochkin and Kosmotras; however, according to Cantrell, Musk was seen as a novice and was
consequently spat on by one of the Russian chief designers,[60] and the group returned to the United States
empty-handed. In February 2002, the group returned to Russia to look for three ICBMs, bringing along Mike
Griffin. Griffin had worked for the CIA's venture capital arm, In-Q-Tel, as well as NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, and was just leaving Orbital Sciences, a maker of satellites and spacecraft. The group met again with
Kosmotras, and were offered one rocket for US$8 million; however, this was seen by Musk as too expensive;
Musk consequently stormed out of the meeting. On the flight back from Moscow, Musk realized that he could
start a company that could build the affordable rockets he needed.[60] According to early Tesla and SpaceX
investor Steve Jurvetson,[61] Musk calculated that the raw materials for building a rocket actually were only 3
percent of the sales price of a rocket at the time. It was concluded that theoretically, by applying vertical
integrationand the modular approach from software engineering, SpaceX could cut launch price by a factor of ten
and still enjoy a 70-percent gross margin.[62] Ultimately, Musk ended up founding SpaceX with the long-term goal
of creating a "true spacefaring civilization."[63]
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With US$100 million of his early fortune,[64]

Musk
founded Space Exploration Technologies,
or SpaceX, in May 2002.[65]Musk is chief
executive officer (CEO) and chief technology
officer (CTO) of the Hawthorne, California-based
company. SpaceX develops and manufactures
space launch vehicleswith a focus on advancing
the state of rocket technology. The company's first
two launch vehicles are the Falcon 1 and Falcon
9 rockets (a nod to Star Wars' Millennium Falcon),
and its first spacecraft is the Dragon (a nod to Puff
the Magic Dragon).[66] In seven years, SpaceX
designed the family of Falcon launch vehicles and
the Dragon multipurpose spacecraft. In Musk and President Barack Obama at the Falcon 9 launch
September 2008, SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket site in 2010
became the first privately funded liquid-fueled
vehicle to put a satellite into Earth orbit.[37] On
May 25, 2012, the SpaceX Dragon vehicle berthed with the ISS, making history as the first commercial company
to launch and berth a vehicle to the International Space Station.[67]
In 2006, SpaceX was awarded a contract from NASA to continue the development and test of the SpaceX Falcon
9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft in order to transport cargo to the International Space
Station,[68][not in citation given]followed by a US$1.6 billion NASA Commercial Resupply Services program contract
on December 23, 2008, for 12 flights of its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to the Space Station, replacing
the US Space Shuttle after it retired in 2011.[69] Astronaut transport to the ISS is currently handled solely by
the Soyuz, but SpaceX is one of two companies awarded a contract by NASA as part of the Commercial Crew
Development program, which is intended to develop a US astronaut transport capability by 2018.[70]
Musk believed that the key to making space travel affordable was to make rockets reusable.[71] According to
innovation researcher Melissa Schilling who profiles Musk in her book Quirky: The remarkable story of the traits,
foibles, and genius of breakthrough innovators who changed the world, most experts in the space industry did
not believe that reusable rockets were possible or feasible, but Musk stated simply, "I think I can do it." 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 and is a significant step towards
rocket reusability lowering the costs of access to space.[72] This first stage recovery was replicated several times
in 2016 by landing on an autonomous spaceport drone ship, an ocean-based recovery platform,[73] and by the
end of 2017, SpaceX had landed and recovered the first stage on 16 missions in a row where a landing and
recovery were attempted, including all 14 attempts in 2017. 20 out of 42 first stage Falcon 9 boosters have been
recovered overall since the Falcon 9 maiden flight in 2010.[74] In the most recent full year—2017—SpaceX
launched 18 successful Falcon 9 flights, more than doubling their highest previous year of 8.[75]
On February 6, 2018, SpaceX successfully launched the Falcon Heavy, the fourth-highest capacity rocket ever
built (after Saturn V, Energia and N1) and the most powerful rocket in operation as of 2018. The inaugural
mission carried a Tesla Roadster belonging to Musk as a dummy payload.[76]
SpaceX is both the largest private producer of rocket engines in the world, and holder of the record for
highest thrust-to-weight ratio for a rocket engine (the Merlin 1D).[77][78] SpaceX has produced more than 100
operational Merlin 1D engines. Each Merlin 1D engine can vertically lift the weight of 40 average family cars. In
combination, the 9 Merlin engines in the Falcon 9 first stage produce anywhere from 5.8 to 6.7 MN (1.3 to
1.5 million pounds) of thrust, depending on altitude.[79]
Musk was influenced by Isaac Asimov's Foundation series[80]and views space exploration as an important step in
preserving and expanding the consciousness of human life.[81] Musk 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 10.[82] In a 2011 interview, he said he hopes
to send humans to Mars' surface within 10–20 years.[83] In Ashlee Vance's biography, Musk stated that he wants
to establish a Mars colony by 2040, with a population of 80,000.[38] Musk stated that, since Mars' atmosphere
lacks oxygen, all transportation would have to be electric (electric cars, electric trains, Hyperloop, electric
aircraft).[84] Musk stated in June 2016 that the first unmanned flight of the larger Mars Colonial
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Transporter (MCT) spacecraft is aimed for departure to the red planet in 2022, to be followed by the first manned
MCT Mars flight departing in 2024.[85] In September 2016, Musk revealed details of his architecture to explore
and colonize Mars.[86] By 2016, Musk's private trust holds 54% of SpaceX stock, equivalent to 78% of voting
shares.[87]
In late 2017, SpaceX unveiled the design for its next-generation launch vehicle and spacecraft system—BFR—
that would support all SpaceX launch service provider capabilities with a single set of very large vehicles: Earth-
orbit, Lunar-orbit, interplanetary missions, and even intercontinental passenger transport on Earth, and totally
replace the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Dragon vehicles in the 2020s. The BFR will have a 9-meter (30 ft) core
diameter. Significant development on the vehicles began in 2017, while the new rocket engine development
began in 2012.[88][89]

Tesla
Main article: Tesla, Inc.
Tesla, Inc. (originally Tesla Motors) was incorporated in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, who
financed the company until the Series A round of funding.[90]
Both men played active roles in the company's early development prior to Elon Musk's involvement.[91] Musk led
the Series A round of investment in February 2004, joining Tesla's board of directors as its chairman.[92] Musk
took an active role within the company and oversaw Roadster product design at a detailed level, but was not
deeply involved in day-to-day business operations.[93]
Musk and Eberhard were both technically savvy and highly opinionated, and soon personality clashes began to
emerge. As a result of escalating conflict in 2007, Eberhard was ousted from the firm. [94][95] Musk assumed
leadership of the company as CEO and product architect, positions he still holds today. Tesla Motors first built an
electric sports car, the Tesla Roadster in 2008, with sales of about 2,500 vehicles to 31 countries. Tesla began
delivery of its four-door Model Ssedan on June 22, 2012. It unveiled its third product, the Model X, aimed at
the SUV/minivan market, on February 9, 2012; however, the Model X launch was delayed until September
2015.[96][97][98] In addition to its own cars, Tesla sells electric powertrain systems to Daimler for the Smart
EV, Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive and Mercedes A Class, and to Toyota for the RAV4 EV. Musk was able to
bring in both companies as long-term investors in Tesla.[99]

Musk observing an Musk standing in front of a Tesla Musk and Senator Dianne Feinstein next to
assembly demo at the Model S in 2011 a Tesla Model S (2010)
reopening of
the NUMMIplant, now
known as the Tesla
Factory (Fremont,
California) in 2010

Musk has favored building a sub-US$30,000 compact Tesla model 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; this led to the Model 3 that is planned to have a base price
of US$35,000.[100] Several mainstream publications have compared him with Henry Ford for his work on
advanced vehicle powertrains.[101]
In a May 2013 interview with All Things Digital, Musk said that to overcome the range limitations of electric cars,
Tesla is "dramatically accelerating" its network of supercharger stations, tripling the number on the East and West
coasts of the U.S. that June, with plans for more expansion across North America, including Canada, throughout
the year.[102] As of January 29, 2016, Musk owns about 28.9 million Tesla shares, which equates to about 22% of
the company.[103][104]
As of 2014, Musk's annual salary is one dollar, similar to that of Steve Jobs and other CEOs; the remainder of his
compensation is in the form of stock and performance-based bonuses.[105][106]

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In 2014, Musk announced that Tesla would allow its technology patents to be used by anyone in good faith in a
bid to entice automobile manufacturers to speed up development of electric cars. "The unfortunate reality is
electric car programs (or programs for any vehicle that doesn't burn hydrocarbons) at the major manufacturers
are small to non-existent, constituting an average of far less than 1% of their total vehicle sales," Musk said.[107]
In February 2016, Musk announced that he had acquired the Tesla.com domain name from Stu Grossman, who
had owned it since 1992, and changed Tesla's homepage to that domain.[108]
In January 2018, Musk was granted a $2.6 billion award by the company, awarding him with 20.3 million shares
and could raise Tesla's market value to $650 billion. Majority shareholder approval is pending.[109] The grant was
also meant to end speculation about Musk's potential departure from Tesla to devote more time to his other
business ventures.[110] A report by advisory firm Glass Lewis & Co. to clients argued against granting the
award.[109] Despite what the New York Postdescribed as an "astronomical deal" in pay, Musk accepted $750
million in public funds from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as part of the Buffalo Billion project, a plan to
invest money to help the economy of the Buffalo, New York area. The money was used to build a factory and
infrastructure for solar panel maker SolarCity, which Tesla acquired. As of March 2018, the plant employed "just
a few hundred workers and its future remains uncertain." (The Buffalo area actually lost nearly 5,000 jobs
between December 2016 and December 2017).[111]

SolarCity
Main article: SolarCity
Musk provided the initial concept and financial capital for SolarCity, which was then co-founded in 2006 by his
cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive.[112][113] By 2013, SolarCity was the second largest provider of solar power
systems in the United States.[114] SolarCity was acquired by Tesla, Inc. in 2016 and is currently a wholly owned
subsidiary of Tesla.[115][116][117]
The underlying motivation for funding both SolarCity and Tesla was to help combat global warming.[118] In 2012,
Musk announced that SolarCity and Tesla are collaborating to use electric vehicle batteries to smooth the impact
of rooftop solar on the power grid, with the program going live in 2013.[119]
On June 17, 2014, Musk committed to building a SolarCity advanced production facility in Buffalo, New York, that
would triple the size of the largest solar plant in the United States. Musk stated the plant will be "one of the single
largest solar panel production plants in the world," and it will be followed by one or more even bigger facilities in
subsequent years.[120][needs update]

Hyperloop
Main articles: Hyperloop and Hyperloop pod competition
On August 12, 2013, Musk unveiled a concept for a high-speed transportation system incorporating reduced-
pressure tubes in which pressurized capsules ride on an air cushiondriven by linear induction motors and air
compressors.[121]The mechanism for releasing the concept was an alpha-design document that, in addition to
scoping out the technology, outlined a notional route where such a transport system might be built: between
the Greater Los Angeles Areaand the San Francisco Bay Area.[122]
After earlier envisioning Hyperloop, Musk assigned a dozen engineers from Tesla and SpaceX who worked for
nine months, establishing the conceptual foundations and creating the designs for the transportation
system.[123][124] An early design for the system was then published in a whitepaperposted to the Tesla and
SpaceX blogs.[125][126][127] Musk's proposal, if technologically feasible at the costs he has cited, would make
Hyperloop travel cheaper than any other mode of transport for such long distances. The alpha design was
proposed to use a partial vacuum to reduce aerodynamic drag, which it is theorized would allow for high-speed
travel with relatively low power, with certain other features like air-bearing skis and an inlet compressor to reduce
freestream flow. The document of alpha design estimated the total cost of an LA-to-SF Hyperloop system
at US$6 billion, but this amount is speculative.[128]
In June 2015, Musk announced a design competition for students and others to build Hyperloop pods to operate
on a SpaceX-sponsored mile-long track in a 2015–2017 Hyperloop pod competition. The track was used in
January 2017, and Musk also started building a tunnel.[129]
Hyperloop One, a company unaffiliated with Musk, had announced that it had done its first successful test run on
its DevLoop track in Nevada on July 13, 2017. It was on May 12, 2017 at 12:02 a.m. and had lasted 5.3 seconds,
reaching a top speed of 70 mph.[130]
On July 20, 2017, Elon Musk announced that he had gotten "verbal government approval" to build a hyperloop
from New York City to Washington, D.C., stopping in both Philadelphiaand Baltimore.[131] However, the New York
City Transit Authority, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Washington Metropolitan Area
Transit Authority, Maryland Transit Administration, United States Department of Homeland Security, as well as

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the mayors of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. stated that they are unaware of any such
agreement.[132]

OpenAI
Main article: OpenAI
In December 2015, Musk announced the creation of OpenAI, a not-for-profit artificial intelligence (AI) research
company. OpenAI aims to develop artificial general intelligence in a way that is safe and beneficial to
humanity.[133]
By making AI available to everyone, OpenAI wants to "counteract large corporations who may gain too much
power by owning super-intelligence systems devoted to profits, as well as governments which may use AI to gain
power and even oppress their citizenry."[134] Musk has stated he wants to counteract the concentration of
power.[34] In 2018 Musk left the OpenAI board to avoid "potential future conflict" with his role as CEO of Tesla as
Tesla increasingly becomes involved in AI.[135]

Neuralink
Main article: Neuralink
In 2016, Musk co-founded Neuralink, a neurotechnologystartup company to integrate the human brain with
artificial intelligence. The company is centered on creating devices that can be implanted in the human brain,
with the eventual purpose of helping human beings merge with software and keep pace with advancements in
artificial intelligence. These enhancements could improve memory or allow more direct interfacing with
computing devices.[136] Musk sees Neuralink and OpenAI as related: "OpenAI is a nonprofit dedicated to
minimizing the dangers of artificial intelligence, while Neuralink is working on ways to implant technology into our
brains to create mind-computer interfaces."[34]

The Boring Company

Main article: The Boring Company
On December 17, 2016, while stuck in traffic, Musk tweeted "Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just
start digging..." The company was named 'The Boring Company'.[137] On January 21, 2017, Musk tweeted
"Exciting progress on the tunnel front. Plan to start digging in a month or so."[138] The first tunnel will start on the
SpaceX campus,[139] and will probably go to a nearby parking garage. As of January 26, 2017, discussions
with regulatory bodieshave begun,[140] but no requests for permits to dig in the Los Angeles area had been filed
with the California Department of Transportation by late January 2017.[141][needs update]
In February 2017, the company began digging a 30-foot-wide, 50-foot-long, and 15-foot-deep "test trench" on the
premises of Space X's offices in Los Angeles, since the construction requires no permits.[142][143] Musk has said
that a 10-fold decrease in tunnel boring cost per mile is necessary for economic feasibility of the proposed tunnel
network.[144][needs update]

pravduh.com
After a string of negative press targeting Tesla caused Musk to become "frustrated",[145] specifically articles
published by Reveal News criticizing Tesla for its factory safety procedures,[146] Musk announced on Twitter that
he is planning on creating a website where users could rate the truthfulness of specific articles in addition to the
credibility of journalists and publications.[147] He suggested calling it "Pravda" after a Soviet Union-era
Communist Party newspaper of the same name
This caused backlash from many journalists, claiming that a platform where any user could freely vote on an
article's or a journalist's credibility could be prone to abuse.[148][149]
After realizing the site "pravda.com" is used by the Ukrainian Internet newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda, Musk
bought the site pravduh.com on May 25, 2018.[150] It currently links to Musk's Twitter page, and its future is
unclear.

Tham Luang cave rescue

In July 2018, Musk attempted to provide assistance to rescuers during the Tham Luang cave rescue by ordering
his employees to build a small rescue pod.
Musk, responding to requests for help from Twitter users,[151]ordered engineers from two of his companies to
design a "kid-sized" submarine to help the rescue effort and publicised the process via Twitter.[152][153] Engineers
at Musk's companies SpaceX and The Boring Company built the mini-submarine out of a Falcon 9 liquid oxygen
transfer tube [154] and personally delivered it to Thailand.

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Named "Wild Boar" after the children's

soccer team,[155] its design, a five foot long,
12 inch wide sealed tube weighing about
90 pounds propelled manually by divers in
the front and back,[156] was intended to
solve the problem of safely transporting the
children, who might have had difficulty
learning the scuba skills required to exit the
cave on their own without panicking.[157] In
case the mini-submarine could not fit
through the cave system, Elon Musk also
requested Wing Inflatables, a California-
based inflatable boat manufacturer, to build
inflatable escape pods. The pods were
designed, fabricated, and tested in one day
before being flown to Thailand.[158][159] Mini-submarine being tested by divers in a pool.

By this time, eight of the twelve children

had already been rescued and Thai
authorities decided not to use the submarine, describing it as technologically impressive but
impractical.[160][161][162]

Device viability
The supervisor of the rescue operation Narongsak Osatanakorn dismissed the submarine as “not practical for
this mission”. The British rescue caver, Vern Unsworth, who had been exploring the cave for the past six years
and who had originally located the trapped football team, said that Musk's idea "had absolutely no chance of
working....the submarine, I believe, was about five foot six long, rigid, so it wouldn’t have gone round corners or
round any obstacles. It wouldn’t have made the first 50 metres into the cave from the dive start
point."[163][164] Musk tweeted that Richard Stanton, leader of the international diving team, had earlier urged
Musk to continue construction of the mini-submarine as a back-up, in case the flooding worsened.[165]
Although the device could safely hold an occupant, the submarine could not have been used at this operation, as
its rigid body was only slightly smaller than the narrowest passages in the cave.[155]

Media coverage and Musk's behavior

As media coverage of the event grew, some were skeptical of Musk's intentions, claiming the submarine was
mainly built for publicity for Tesla and Musk, citing the apparent uselessness of the device.[166][167][168]
One of the divers said to have played a "major role" in the rescue criticized the submarine as amounting to
nothing more than a "PR stunt" that "had absolutely no chance of working" and "he had no conception of what
the cave passage was like";[169] and said that Musk "can stick his submarine where it hurts". Musk reasserted
on Twitter that the device would have worked and name-called the diver, referring to him unsubstantially as "pedo
guy", causing backlash against Musk.[170][171] He subsequently deleted the tweets, along with an earlier tweet in
which he told another critic of the device "Stay tuned jackass".[171] On 16 July, the diver stated that he was
considering legal action in relation to Musk's comments.[172][173]
After Musk's Tweets, Tesla shares fell 4% as some investors worried about his erratic behavior.[174] Tesla
investors subsequently demanded that Musk apologize.[175] Two days later, Musk issued an apology for his
remarks:[176][177] "The fault is mine and mine alone" [178] and "...my words were spoken in anger..."[179]
On August 28, 2018, in response to criticism from a writer on Twitter regarding how Musk had handled the diver's
criticism, Musk circled back to the pedophilia accusation tweeting "You don’t think it’s strange he hasn’t sued me?
He was offered free legal services. [...]".[180] The following day, a letter from L. Lin Wood, the rescuer's attorney,
dated August 6, emerged, showing that he had been making preparations for a libel lawsuit.[181][182]
On 5 September 2018, a reporter from Buzzfeed Newspublished an email written by Musk on August 30 marked
"off the record", saying "I suggest that you call people you know in Thailand, find out what's actually going on and
stop defending child rapists, you fucking asshole. As for this alleged threat of a lawsuit, which magically
appeared when I raised the issue ... I fucking hope he sues me." Musk confirmed that he had sent the email.[183]

Views
Political

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Politically, Musk has described himself as "half Democrat,

half Republican." In his own words: "I'm somewhere in the
middle, socially liberal and fiscally
conservative."[184] Prompted by the emergence of self-
driving cars and artificial intelligence, Musk has voiced
support for a universal basic income;[185] he additionally
backs direct democracy.[186] He has described himself as
a socialist, but "not the kind that shifts resources from most
productive to least productive, pretending to do good, while
actually causing harm" - arguing instead, "true socialism
seeks greatest good for all."[187] He supports targeting an
inclusive tax rate of 40%, prefers consumption
taxes to income taxes, and supports the estate tax, as the
Musk speaking alongside former "probability of progeny being equally excellent at capital
Irish Taoiseach(Prime Minister) Enda Kenny in 2013 allocation is not high."[188]
Musk has described the United States as "[inarguably] the
greatest country that has ever existed on Earth," describing
it as "the greatest force for good of any country that's ever been." Musk believes outright that there "would not be
democracy in the world if not for the United States," arguing there were "three separate occasions in the 20th-
century where democracy would have fallen with World War I, World War II and the Cold War, if not for the
United States." Musk also stated that he thinks "it would be a mistake to say the United States is perfect, it
certainly is not. There have been many foolish things the United States has done and bad things the United
States has done."[189]
Prior to the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, Musk criticized candidate Trump by
saying: "I feel a bit stronger that he is probably not the right guy. He doesn't seem to have the sort of character
that reflects well on the United States."[190] Following Donald Trump's inauguration, Musk expressed approval of
Trump's choice of Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State and accepted an invitation to appear on a panel advising
President Trump. Regarding his cooperation with Trump, Musk has subsequently commented: "The more voices
of reason that the President hears, the better."[191] He subsequently resigned from both in June 2017, in protest
at Trump's decision to withdraw the United Statesfrom the Paris Agreement on climate change.[192][193]

Lobbying
In an interview with The Washington Post, Musk stated he was a "significant (though not top-tier) donor
to Democrats," but that he also gives heavily to Republicans. Musk further stated, "in order to have your voice be
heard in Washington, you have to make some little contribution."[194][195]
A recent report from the Sunlight Foundation (a nonpartisan group that tracks government spending), found that
"SpaceXhas spent over US$4 million on lobbying Congress since it was established in 2002 and doled out more
than US$800,000 in political contributions" to Democrats and Republicans. The same report noted that
"SpaceX's campaign to win political support has been systematic and sophisticated," and that "unlike most tech-
startups, SpaceX has maintained a significant lobbying presence in Washington almost since day 1." The report
further noted that "Musk himself has donated roughly US$725,000 to various campaigns since 2002. In 2004, he
contributed US$2,000 to President George W. Bush's reelection campaign, maxing out
(over US$100,000)[196] to Barack Obama's reelection campaign and donated US$5,000 to Republican
Sen. Marco Rubio, who represents Florida, a state critical to the space industry. (...) All told, Musk and SpaceX
gave out roughly US$250,000 in the 2012 election cycle."[194][197] Additionally, SpaceX hired former
Republican Senate Majority LeaderTrent Lott to represent the company, via the Washington-based lobbying
group Patton Boggs LLP. Alongside Patton Boggs LLP, SpaceX uses several other outside lobbying firms, who
work with SpaceX's own lobbyists.[198]
Musk had been a supporter of the U.S. political action committee (PAC) FWD.us, which was started by fellow
high-profile entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg and advocates for immigration reform. However, in May 2013, Musk
publicly withdrew his support in protest of advertisements the PAC was running that supported causes like
the Keystone Pipeline. Musk and other members, including David O. Sacks, pulled out, criticizing the strategy as
"cynical."[199] Musk further stated, "we shouldn't give in to the politics. If we give in to that, we'll get the political
system we deserve."[200]
In December 2013, Sean Becker of the media/political website Mic called Musk a "complete hypocrite," stating
that "[for] the 2014 election cycle, Musk has contributed to the Longhorn PAC and the National Republican
Congressional Committee – both of which have funded the campaigns of anti-science, anti-
environment candidates such as Rep. Michelle Bachman (R-Minn.)."[200] Musk has directly contributed to
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who has been accused of holding similar positions regarding climate change.[197]

Subsidies
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Musk has stated that he does not believe the U.S. government should provide subsidies to companies but should
instead use a carbon tax to price in the negative externality of air pollution and discourage "bad behavior." Musk
argues that the free market would achieve the "best solution," and that producing environmentally unfriendly
vehicles should come with its own consequences.[201]
Musk's statements have been widely criticized, with Stanford University Professor Fred Turner noting that "if
you're an entrepreneur like Elon Musk, you will take the money where you can get it, but at the same time believe
as a matter of faith that it's entrepreneurship and technology that are the sources of social change, not the state.
It is not quite self-delusion, but there is a habit of thinking of oneself as a free-standing, independent agent, and
of not acknowledging the subsidies that one received. And this goes on all the time in Silicon
Valley."[202] Author Michael Shellenberger argued that "in the case of Musk, it is hard not to read that as a kind of
defensiveness. And I think there is a business reason for it. They are dealing with a lot of investors for whom
subsidies are not the basis for a long-term viable business, and they often want to exaggerate the speed with
which they are going to be able to become independent." Shellenberger continues, "we would all be better off if
these entrepreneurs were a bit more grateful, a bit more humble." While journalist and author Jim Motavalli, who
interviewed Musk for High Voltage, his 2011 book about the electric vehicle industry, speculated that "Elon is now
looking at it from the point of view of a winner, and he doesn't want to see other people win because they get
government money – I do think there is a tendency of people, once they have succeeded, to want to pull the
ladder up after them."[203]
In 2015, Musk's statements were subject to further scrutiny when an LA Times article claimed that SpaceX,
Tesla, SolarCity and buyers of their products had or were projected to receive together an
estimated US$4.9 billion in government subsidies over twenty years. One example given is New York state,
which is spending $750 million to build a solar panel factory in Buffalo which will be leased to SolarCity for $1 a
year. The deal also includes no property taxes for a decade, an estimated $260 million valuation. Musk employs
a former U.S. State Department official as the chief negotiator for Tesla.[204]

Destiny and religion

When asked whether he believed "there was some kind of destiny involved" in humanity's transition to a multi-
planetary species, rather than "just physics," Musk responded:

Well, I do. Do I think that there's some sort of master intelligence architecting all of this stuff? I think
probably not because then you have to say: "Where does the master intelligence come from?" So it
sort of begs the question. So I think really you can explain this with the fundamental laws of physics.
You know it's complex phenomenon from simple elements.[205]

Musk has stated that he does not pray, or worship any being, although previously admitted to praying before an
important Falcon 1 launch, asking "any entities that [were] listening" to "bless [the] launch." When asked whether
he believed "religion and science could co-exist," Musk replied "probably not."[206]

Extraterrestrial life
Although Musk believes "there is a good chance that there is simple life on other planets," he "questions whether
there is other intelligent life in the known universe."[206] Musk later clarified his "hope that there is other intelligent
life in the known universe," and stated that it is "probably more likely than not, but that's a complete guess."[207]
Musk has also considered the simulation hypothesis as a potential solution to the Fermi paradox:

The absence of any noticeable life may be an argument in favour of us being in a simulation.... Like
when you're playing an adventure game, and you can see the stars in the background, but you can't
ever get there. If it's not a simulation, then maybe we're in a lab and there's some advanced alien
civilization that's just watching how we develop, out of curiosity, like mould in a petri dish.... If you
look at our current technology level, something strange has to happen to civilizations, and I mean
strange in a bad way. ... And it could be that there are a whole lot of dead, one-planet
civilizations.[208]

Artificial intelligence
Musk has frequently spoken about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence, declaring it "the most serious
threat to the survival of the human race." During a 2014 interview at the MIT AeroAstro Centennial Symposium,
Musk described AI as "[humanity's] biggest existential threat," further stating, "I'm increasingly inclined to think
that there should be some regulatory oversight, maybe at the national and international level, just to make sure

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that we don't do something very foolish." Musk described the creation of artificial intelligence as "summoning the
demon".[209][210]
Despite this, Musk has previously invested in DeepMind, an AI firm, and Vicarious, a company working to
improve machine intelligence. In January 2015, he donated $10 million to the Future of Life Institute, an
organization focused on challenges posed by advanced technologies.[211] He is the co-chairman of OpenAI, a
nonprofit artificial intelligence research company.[212]
Musk has said that his investments are, "not from the standpoint of actually trying to make any investment
return... I like to just keep an eye on what's going on with artificial intelligence." Musk continued, "There have
been movies about this, you know, like Terminator – there are some scary outcomes. And we should try to make
sure the outcomes are good, not bad."[213]
In June 2016, Musk was asked whether he thinks humans live in a computer simulation, to which he answered:

The strongest argument for us probably being in a simulation I think is the following: 40 years ago
we had Pong – two rectangles and a dot. That's where we were. Now 40 years later we have
photorealistic, 3D simulations with millions of people playing simultaneously and it's getting better
every year. And soon we'll have virtual reality, we'll have augmented reality. If you assume any rate
of improvement at all, then the games will become indistinguishable from reality, just
indistinguishable.[214]

Elon Musk's dark warnings over Artificial Intelligence have brought him some controversy. He
and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg have clashed with the latter terming his warnings "irresponsible". Musk
responded to Mark's censure by saying that he had discussed AI with Zuckerberg and found him to have only a
"limited understanding" of the subject. In 2014 Slate's Adam Elkus argued "our 'smartest' AI is about as intelligent
as a toddler—and only when it comes to instrumental tasks like information recall. Most roboticists are still trying
to get a robot hand to pick up a ball or run around without falling over." Elkus goes on to argue that Musk's
"summoning the demon" analogy may be harmful because it could result in "harsh cuts" to AI research
budgets.[215]
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a Washington D.C. think-tank, awarded its Annual
Luddite Award to "alarmists touting an artificial intelligence apocalypse"; its president, Robert D. Atkinson,
complained that Musk and others say AI is the largest existential threat to humanity. Atkinson stated "That's not a
very winning message if you want to get AI funding out of Congress to the National Science
Foundation."[216][217][218] Nature sharply disagreed with the ITIF in an April 2016 editorial, siding instead with
Musk, and concluding: "It is crucial that progress in technology is matched by solid, well-funded research to
anticipate the scenarios it could bring about... If that is a Luddite perspective, then so be it."[219] In a
2015 Washington Post editorial, researcher Murray Shanahan stated that human-level AI is unlikely to arrive
"anytime soon," but that nevertheless "the time to start thinking through the consequences is now."[220]

Public transport
At a Tesla event on the sidelines of the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems in December
2017, Musk stated that:

I think public transport is painful. It sucks. Why do you want to get on something with a lot of other
people, that doesn’t leave where you want it to leave, doesn’t start where you want it to start,
doesn’t end where you want it to end? And it doesn’t go all the time. [...] It’s a pain in the ass. That’s
why everyone doesn’t like it. And there’s like a bunch of random strangers, one of who might be a
serial killer, OK, great. And so that's why people like individualized transport, that goes where you
want, when you want.[221]

Afterwards, he dismissed an audience member’s response that public transportation functioned effectively in
Japan.[222][223]
His comment sparked widespread criticism from both the public and transit experts. Urban planning expert Brent
Toderian started the hashtag #GreatThingsThatHappenedonTransit which was widely adopted by Twitter users in
order to dispel Musk's notion that everybody hated public transport.[222][224][225] Yonah Freemark, an urbanist
and journalist specialising in planning and transportation, summarised Musk's views on public transport as "It's
terrible. You might be killed. Japanese trains are awful. Individualized transport for everyone! Congestion?
Induced demand? Climate change impacts? Unwalkable streets? Who cares!"[221]
Jarrett Walker, a known public transport expert and consultant from Portland, said that "Musk's hatred of sharing
space with strangers is a luxury (or pathology) that only the rich can afford," referring to the theory that planning a
city around the preferences of a minority yields an outcome that usually does not work for the

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majority.[226][227][228]
Musk responded with "You're an idiot," later saying "Sorry [...] Meant to say 'sanctimonious
idiot.'"[229][230][231]
The exchange received a significant amount of media attention and prompted Nobel
laureate Paul Krugman to comment on the controversy, saying that apparently, "You're an idiot" is Musk's idea of
a cogent argument.[226][232]

Personal life
Musk owned a McLaren F1 supercar, which he crashed while it was uninsured.[233][234] He also previously
owned an Aero L-39, a Czech-made jet trainer aircraft.[235][236][237]
The 1994 model Dassault Falcon 900 aircraft used in the 2005 film Thank You for Smoking was registered to
Musk (N900SX),[238] and Musk had a cameo as the pilot of his plane, opening the door for Robert Duvall and
escorting Aaron Eckhart aboard. Musk owns Wet Nellie, the Lotus Esprit from the James Bond film The Spy Who
Loved Me. He plans to convert it into the functional car-submarine from the film.[239]
Musk attended the Burning Man festival in 2004 and has said he first thought up the idea for SolarCity at the
festival.[119]
Tosca Musk, Elon's sister, is a filmmaker. She is the founder of Musk Entertainment and has produced various
movies.[240]
Musk stated that he wants "to die on Mars, just not on impact."[241]

Philanthropy
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 Coden, Alabama.[242] In
July 2011, the Musk Foundation donated US$250,000 towards a solar power project in Sōma, Japan, a city that
had been recently devastated by a tsunami.[243]
In July 2014, Musk was asked by cartoonist Matthew Inmanand William Terbo, the grandnephew of Nikola Tesla,
to donate US$8 million toward the construction of the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe.[244] Ultimately, Musk
agreed to donate US$1 million toward the project and additionally pledged to build a Tesla Supercharger in the
museum car park.[245]
Musk donated US$10 million to the Future of Life Institute in January 2015, to run a global research program
aimed at keeping artificial intelligence beneficial to humanity.[246][211][247]
As of 2015, Musk is a trustee of the X Prize Foundation[248]and a signatory of The Giving Pledge.[249]

Family
Musk met his first wife, Canadian author Justine Wilson, while both were students at Ontario's Queen's
University. They married in 2000 and separated in 2008.[250] Their first son, Nevada Alexander Musk, died
of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) at the age of 10 weeks.[251] They later had five sons through in vitro
fertilization[252] – twins in 2004, followed by triplets in 2006. They share custody of all five sons.[253]
In 2008, Musk began dating English actress Talulah Riley, and in 2010, the couple married. In January 2012,
Musk announced that he had ended his four-year relationship with Riley,[26][254] tweeting to Riley, "It was an
amazing four years. I will love you forever. You will make someone very happy one day."[255] In July 2013, Musk
and Riley remarried. In December 2014, Musk filed for a second divorce from Riley; however, the action was
withdrawn.[256] The media announced in March 2016 that divorce proceedings were again under way, this time
with Riley filing for divorce from Musk.[257] The divorce was finalized in late 2016.[258]
Musk began dating American actress Amber Heard in 2016 but the two split up after one year due to their
conflicting schedules.[259] On May 7, 2018, Musk and Canadian musician Grimes revealed that they had begun
dating.[260]

Zolpidem usage
In an apparent admission of mixing zolpidem (Ambien) and alcohol, Musk tweeted in June 2017: "A little red
wine, vintage record, some Ambien ... and magic!"[261] Musk gained media attention for mentioning the
dangerous drug combination publicly on his social media.[262][263]

Awards and recognition

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In 2006, Musk served as a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences Aeronautics and
Space Engineering Board.[264]
Inc Magazine Entrepreneur of the Year award for 2007 for his work on Tesla and SpaceX.[265]
2007 Index Design award for his design of the Tesla Roadster.[266] Global Green 2006 product design award
for his design of the Tesla Roadster, presented by Mikhail Gorbachev.[267]
American Institute of Aeronautics and AstronauticsGeorge 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.[268]
National Wildlife Federation 2008 National Conservation Achievement award for Tesla and SolarCity. Other
2008 recipients include journalist Thomas Friedman, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Florida
Governor Charlie Crist.[269]
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.[270]
Listed as one of Time's 100 people who most affected the world in 2010.[271]
The world governing body for aerospace records, Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, presented Musk in
2010 with the highest award in air and space, the FAI Gold Space Medal, for designing the first privately
developed rocket to reach orbit. Prior recipients include Neil Armstrong, Burt Rutan of Scaled
Composites and John Glenn.[272]
Named as one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century by Esquire magazine.[81]
Recognized as a Living Legend of Aviation in 2010 by the Kitty Hawk Foundation for creating the successor
to the Space Shuttle (Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft). Other recipients include Buzz
Aldrin and Richard Branson.[273]
In February 2011, Forbes listed Musk as one of "America's 20 Most Powerful CEOs 40 And Under."[274]
In June 2011, Musk was awarded the US$250,000Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space
Commercialization[275]
In 2012, Musk was awarded the Royal Aeronautical Society's highest award: a Gold Medal.[276]
Musk was the 2012 recipient of Smithsonian magazine's American Ingenuity Award in the Technology
category.
In 2013, Musk was named the Fortune Businessperson of the year for SpaceX, SolarCity, and Tesla.[277]
In 2015, he was awarded IEEE Honorary Membership.[278]
In June 2016, Business Insider named Musk one of the "Top 10 Business Visionaries Creating Value for the
World" along with Mark Zuckerberg and Sal Khan.[279]
In December 2016, Musk was ranked 21st on Forbes list of The World's Most Powerful People.[11]
Musk was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2018.[280][281]

In popular media
In Iron Man 2 (2010), Musk met Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in a restaurant, and had some brief lines
regarding an "idea for an electric jet."[282]
In January 2015, Musk made a guest appearance playing himself on The Simpsons in an episode titled "The
Musk Who Fell to Earth"; the episode poked fun at many of Musk's ideas.[283]
In November 2015, Musk appeared in an episode of The Big Bang Theory, playing himself, volunteering at
a soup kitchenwith Howard.[284]
Musk was featured in the 2015 environmental documentary Racing Extinction, in which a custom Tesla Model
S was designed to help project images of critically endangered species onto public buildings, including
the Empire State Building and the Vatican.[285]
In 2016, Musk appeared as himself in the romantic comedy film Why Him? where he was briefly met by one of
the main characters, Ned Flemming played by Bryan Cranston, in a bar at a party.[286]
Also in 2016, Musk was referenced by Dr. Martin Stein on The CW time-travel TV show DC's Legends of
Tomorrow. During time travel to the past, Stein meets his younger self and introduced himself as Elon Musk, to
disguise his own identity.[287]
In October 2017, Musk was prematurely immortalized as a historic pioneer on the CBS All Access series Star
Trek: Discovery. Set in the year 2256, Captain Gabriel Lorcaattempts to motivate a scientist on his ship by asking
him "How do you want to be remembered in history? Alongside the Wright Brothers, Elon Musk, Zefram
Cochrane? Or as a failed fungus expert. A selfish little man who put the survival of his own ego before the lives
of others?"[288][289] According to an article in techcrunch.com published the day after the episode aired, this
mention is "also interesting because of its notable omission of Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos: This

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other space entrepreneur is such a big fan of Star Trek that he pitched and succeeded in landing a cameo in Star
Trek Beyond as an alien being, but he doesn’t rate a mention from Lorca among the spaceflight pantheon."[290]
Musk is significantly referenced numerous times in Hat Films' 2017 album, Neon Musk.[291]
In November 2017, Musk appeared as himself in the Season 1, Episode 6, episode of The Big Bang Theory spin-
off prequel series Young Sheldon. The successful first landing of a SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage on a drone
ship on April 8, 2016, is shown being covered by CNN. This is followed by a scene where Musk is shown alone in
his office reading the notebook that young Sheldon mailed NASA in 1989 (a scene shown earlier in the episode)
containing calculations detailing how this feat could be accomplished.[292]

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