CHAPTER EIGHTThe Vision of Elon Musk
He's been compared to Apple founder Steve Jobs. He's been called the Thomas Edison of the twenty-first century. He's disrupting the transportation industry, solar energy, and space travel. “He” is Elon Musk.
MUSK: THE EARLY DAYS
Elon Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa. His mother, originally from Canada, was a nutritionist. His father was an engineer, which was likely the reason he was so taken by computers. At the age of 12, he had already written the code for a video game he had designed called “Blastar.”1 He's the founder, CEO, and CTO (chief technology officer) of SpaceX. He is the cofounder and CEO of Tesla, Inc. And he was a cofounder and chairman of SolarCity, his solar energy company. (On November 17, 2016, SolarCity and Tesla Motors merged and became Tesla, Inc.2) The goal of his three current ventures is to “change the world and humanity.”
SpaceX is Musk's space transportation company. Its mission is to develop reusable rockets and is dramatically lowering the cost of space launches. Tesla is moving the world toward a sustainable energy model. Its products are EVs, energy storage, and solar roofing tiles. SolarCity (which merged with Tesla in 2016) manufactures and installs commercial and residential solar panels. Its products and services are now offered through Tesla.
Musk spent his early childhood in South Africa. In 1989, at the age of 17, he immigrated to Canada. He left Canada in 1992 when he landed ...