ELON MUSK

Elon Reeve Musk is a business magnate, industrial designer and engineer. He is the founder, CEO, CTO and chief designer
of SpaceX; early investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; founder of The Boring Company; co-founder of Neuralink; and co-
founder and initial co-chairman of OpenAI. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2018. Also that year, he was ranked
25th on the Forbes list of The World's Most Powerful People, and was ranked joint-first on the Forbes list of the Most Innovative
Leaders of 2019. Musk net worth jumped by up to US$7 billion after end of November 2020. As of November 29, 2020, his net worth
is estimated by Forbes to be US$132.1 billion, making him the second-richest person in the world. As CEO of Tesla, he is the longest
tenured CEO in history of any automotive manufacturer globally.
In May 2002, Musk founded SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company, of which he is CEO and
lead designer. He joined Tesla Motors, Inc. (now Tesla, Inc.), an electric vehicle manufacturer, in 2004, the year after it was founded,
becoming its product architect that year and its CEO in 2008. In 2006, he helped create SolarCity, a solar energy services company
(now a subsidiary of Tesla). In 2015, he co-founded OpenAI, a nonprofit research company that aims to promote friendly artificial
intelligence. In July 2016, he co-founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology company focused on developing brain–computer interfaces. In
December 2016, Musk founded The Boring Company, an infrastructure and tunnel construction company focused on tunnels
optimized for electric vehicles. In addition to his primary business pursuits, he envisioned an open-source high-speed transportation
system known as the Hyperloop based on the concept of a vactrain.
In March 1999, Musk co-founded X.com, an online financial services and e-mail payment company, with US$10 million from the sale
of Zip2. One year later, the company merged with Confinity, which had a money-transfer service called PayPal. The merged company
focused on the PayPal service and was renamed PayPal in 2001. Musk was ousted in October 2000 from his role as CEO (although
he remained on the board) due to disagreements with other company executives over his desire to move PayPal's Unix-based
infrastructure to a Microsoft one. In October 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for US$1.5 billion in stock, of which Musk
received US$165 million. Before its sale, Musk, who was the company's largest shareholder, owned 11.7% of PayPal's shares.

In 2017, Musk purchased the domain X.com from PayPal for an undisclosed amount, explaining that it had sentimental value to him.
In 2001, Musk conceived Mars Oasis, an idea to land a miniature experimental greenhouse on Mars, containing food crops growing
on Martian regolith, in an attempt to reawaken public interest in space exploration. In October 2001, Musk traveled to Moscow
with Jim Cantrell (an aerospace supplies fixer), and Adeo Ressi (his best friend 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. 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 had another meeting with Kosmotras and were offered one rocket for US$8 million. Musk considered the price
too high, and 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. Ultimately, Musk founded SpaceX with the long-term goal of creating a true spacefaring
civilization.
With US$100 million of his early fortune, Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies
Corp., traded as SpaceX, in May 2002. Musk is CEO and CTO of the Hawthorne, California-
based company. By 2016, Musk's private trust held 54% of SpaceX stock, equivalent to 78%
of voting shares.
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. Both men played active roles in the company's early development prior to Elon Musk's
involvement. Musk led the Series A round of investment in February 2004, joining Tesla's board of directors as its chairman. According
to Musk, all three, along with J. B. Straubel, were inspired by the earlier AC Propulsion tzero electric roadster prototype. 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. Following the financial crisis in 2008 and after a series of escalating conflicts in 2007, Eberhard was ousted from
the firm. Musk assumed leadership of the company as CEO and product architect in 2008, positions he still holds today. As of 2019,
Elon Musk is the longest tenured CEO of any automotive manufacturer globally.
Tesla's "master plan", as iterated by Musk in 2006 was:

Build sports car. Use that money to build an affordable car. Use that money to build an even more affordable car. While doing
above, also provide zero-emission electric power generation options.

Tesla Motors first built an electric sports car, the Tesla Roadster, in 2008, with sales of about 2,500 vehicles to 31 countries,
which was the first serial production all-electric car to use lithium-ion battery cells. Tesla began delivery of its four-
door Model S sedan 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. In addition to its own cars, Tesla sold
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 Daimler and Toyota as long-term investors in Tesla.