Copyright

Elon Musk:

Biography of a Self-Made Visionary, Entrepreneur, and Billionaire

August 2014

Copyright © 2014
All rights reserved.
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the expressed written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotation in a book review.

Contents

Introduction

Who is Elon Musk: A Brief Overview

Elon Musk’s Humble Beginnings

Zip2 Corporation: Musk’s First Company

X.com & PayPal: A New Way of Doing Business

SpaceX and the Journey to Mars

Tesla Motors: A New Breed of Electric Cars

SolarCity: The Potential of Solar-Powered Systems

Hyperloop: Going the Distance in Less Time

Getting Personal with Elon Musk

The Future

Conclusion

Introduction

I want to thank you and congratulate you for downloading the book, “Elon Musk: Biography of a Self-Made Visionary, Entrepreneur and Billionaire”.

Elon Musk has been regarded as the modern version of several great visionaries and business magnates of yesteryear –– John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, Howard Hughes, and Steve Jobs, just to name a few. The movie version of Marvel’s Iron Man played by Robert Downey, Jr. was even modeled after him, and while he never would have dreamed it possible, it is actually easy to understand why. His desire for global change is comparable to the sense of adventure of great explorers who took off and wandered across the world –– despite not knowing what would ultimately become of the journey. Musk had this distinct entrepreneurial spirit about him, and while others were busy doubting his crazy ideas, he was working very hard to prove that these could work.

Musk’s ventures all revolve around one theme, and that is to improve the world and change the way we live with the help of technological innovations. A lot of people are too focused on making money and creating a name for themselves, and while that is not entirely a bad thing, Musk’s visions are more than that. He may already have the name, the fame, and the fortune, but beyond those things, he is simply someone who prefers to concentrate on making things better, because it is his sincere wish to make the future a brighter and healthier place. This book is all about his journey –– from the simple rules he broke as a child all the way to the possibility of supporting human life on Mars.

Thanks again for downloading this book, I hope you enjoy it!

Who is Elon Musk: A Brief Overview

Elon Musk is currently ranked 144th in the Forbes world’s billionaires list. He is probably best known as the man behind PayPal, SpaceX or Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, and Tesla Motors. According to Forbes, his wealth has multiplied more than three times during the past year, yielding $2.7 billion last 2013. His stocks at Tesla Motors and SolarCity have been up by 625% and 340% respectively, and SpaceX’s value rose to $4 billion in March 2013. This year, Tesla Motors declared their plans of building a $5 billion-worth factory that concentrates on manufacturing batteries on a large-scale basis. Indeed, money never sleeps for Musk –– the man who is often considered as the real-life version of Tony Stark AKA the Marvel Comics superhero Iron Man.

Childhood and Education

              Musk was born on June 28, 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa. His mother, Maye, was a dietitian and a model, while his father, Errol, was a mechanical and electrical engineer. At the age of 10, Elon was able to buy his own computer from his savings, though his father also made some contributions. Two years later, he was able to earn $500 for selling the code of “Blastar”, a video game he developed and designed on his own. He even learned computer programming all by himself. This event was probably the start of all the amazing things he would achieve thereafter.

              In his late teenage years, he was faced with the choice to join the South African military service. While he had no issues with serving the army per se, working for the military to suppress the country’s indigenous black people was not really something that interested him. As his mother was Canadian, he made arrangements to acquire Canadian citizenship. He figured that migrating to the United States would be easier and more convenient if he were to do it from Canada instead of starting all the way from South Africa. After graduating from Pretoria Boys High School, he left home in 1988 when he was 17 years old and then immigrated to Canada in June 1989. Because he was particularly fascinated with computers and science fiction, going to the United States seemed to be the ultimate goal for him as the books he read all pointed to the U.S. when it came to the latest technology.

              Musk wanted to pursue business and so for one summer term, he worked as a college intern at a Canadian bank. This was actually the only “real job” he had before he became an entrepreneur. He spent two years studying at Queen’s University in Kingston before he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. There, he obtained his bachelor’s degree in economics and his second degree in physics one year later. During those times, he was not yet certain what exactly he wanted to do or pursue in life, but he was aware that there were three “key problems” that he wanted to get his hands on: 1) the Internet; 2) clean energy; and 3) outer space.

              A few years later, his academic excellence won him admission to Stanford’s doctoral program where he intended to focus on energy physics. He had just moved to California in 1995 when the Internet boom began, and because he wanted to be part of this big change, he discontinued his Ph.D. studies after two days in order to launch Zip2 Corporation –– his very first company. He reckoned that obtaining a graduate degree was probably not the best path towards his goals, and he wanted to start working on his ideas immediately.

              He was only 24 years old when Zip2 was launched. At one point, he even said that “Failure is an option”, because for him, the lack of failure means that one is not making enough innovations. This, perhaps, is one of the main reasons why he continues to be successful and manages to surprise us with a number of ambitious but carefully thought-out projects every now and then.

Elon Musk’s Humble Beginnings

Every time we hear of someone rising to fame because of his or her particular talent in making innovative solutions, it is only natural to wonder how he or she was made. We can always think that these imaginative geniuses were simply born that way, but it is more plausible that the path they took, whether by choice or not, was the one that is less traveled. Hence, they usually turn out differently and, more often than not, significantly more successful than the rest.

Of course, this difference can be quite frightening to others, especially during the childhood years. We all know how kids can be awful and mean to each other. Usually, the kids who are really smart and creative –– the ones who are not afraid at all to stand out –– are the ones who are picked on during breaks and gym class. Elon Musk is actually not a stranger to these scenarios. Today, we know him as a rich and creative genius –– a guy who develops electric cars and sends rockets into space. However, during his years growing up in South Africa, other kids gave him a really hard time.

On Being Different

              In 2012, Esquire magazine interviewed Elon’s mother, Maye Musk, in which she told writer Tom Junod that Elon was always picked on by his peers. His brother, Kimbal, explained how tough you had to be in South Africa because bullying is no excuse to skip school. Elon simply had no choice but to wake up every morning and go to school, even though he hated it a lot.

              According to Junod, there were two ways in which Musk was able to overcome the bullying. First, he got encouragement from his family as they would often talk about themselves in a special way. Indeed, Elon’s forebears had notable accomplishments themselves –– his maternal great-grandmother, Dr. Almeda Haldeman, was Canada’s first chiropractor; his grandfather had won a race from Cape Town, South Africa all the way to Algiers, Algeria; and his grandparents were the first people to travel from South Africa to Australia riding a single-engine plane. In a way, we can say that pursuing greatness is something that runs in his family.

              The other way in which Musk was able to keep his mind off the bullying had something to do with computers and business. His sister, Tosca, said that Elon got busy with computers as soon as it became available to them. At the young age of 17, Elon had already tried exploring the world of business by attempting to open a video arcade close to his school. While they already had a lease and some suppliers, the business didn’t materialize because they were prevented by the city from pushing through with it. This rejection, however, may seem like just a tiny pinch compared to what was to come later on.

Breaking Rules

              Elon Musk has been “breaking rules” since he was 6 years old. This statement isn’t meant to be taken in a bad way, but rather, it’s meant to show how he has been breaking away from the norm even at such a young age.

There was a rather amusing story about how he got to a cousin’s birthday party despite being grounded. He could no longer remember why he was grounded exactly, but he really wanted to go to his then 5-year-old cousin’s party even though his mom wouldn’t allow him. His cousin lived around 10 to 12 miles across town, a distance quite far for a kid to travel by himself. He then told his mom that he was determined to get there on his bike, but his mom told him that one needed a license for riding bikes and that the police would come to stop him. Young Elon wasn’t entirely sure if it was indeed the truth, but he thought it would be better if he just walked. Since his cousin’s home was further than he realized, the walk took him a total of four hours, just in time to see his mom and two siblings already leaving the party. When he realized that his mom saw him along the road, he freaked out and sprinted to his cousin’s house. He then climbed a tree and wouldn’t come down until later.

He and his siblings experienced an unusually high degree of independence as they were growing up. In fact, he and his younger brother Kimbal had once tried travelling around 50 miles by bicycle going to Johannesburg. Elon recalls how they thought that they knew the way, yet neither of them actually brought a map. Naturally, they got lost half-way through and even wound up in some very dangerous places. Of course, we already know that they eventually found their way home.

Musk also liked creating and experimenting with homemade rockets and explosives. He says he’s lucky that he still has all his fingers, which probably meant that there were quite a number of things that he tried to blow off. He also led Kimbal and their cousins to join him in some of his ventures, like selling Easter eggs and opening up a video arcade. We can see here that Elon has been drawn to the uncommon since the beginning ––he definitely has never been your typical and average kid. These “rule-breaking” stints were likely the start of the big visions that he would later bring to life.

Inspiration from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

              Elon Musk had always been a big reader. When they were kids, Kimbal recalls how Elon would read and finish two books in a day. As a child, his favorite authors included J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert Heinlein, and Jules Verne. He would usually spend his time reading books, reading comic books, working on his computer, and playing Dungeons & Dragons.

During his early teens, Musk had an existential crisis so he tried to devour a number of religious and philosophical materials to seek the meaning of life. They had a few books by Nietzsche and Schopenhauer at home and looking back on it, he thinks that young teens should wait it out before they attempt to read it because the contents are very negative. Among the works he read, the particular book that gave him peace of mind was Douglas Adams’ comedy/science fiction novel, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

              The book taught him that most of the time the questions are harder to deal with than the answers. However, if one is able to figure out how to properly ask or phrase a question, then the answers will come easily. He figured that if we could only make ourselves strive for higher knowledge and be more aware of the things around us, then we could think of better questions to ask. At a young age, he already understood what it takes to create big companies out of simple ideas and how to make them thrive.

Moving from South Africa to Canada

              Musk was already on the plane out of South Africa by the time he was 17. Of course, he had been planning for this way earlier, probably when he was 14 or 15 years old. In fact, he had a lot of plans, unfortunately (or fortunately) not all of them materialized. We already know that he was set on going to the U.S. because the cutting edge technologies tend to be there, or in North America in general. He tried to convince his parents, who were divorced since he was 9 years old, if either of them would come with him to the U.S. He already had his father convinced at one point but unfortunately, he reneged. He didn’t know exactly why his father changed his mind, but it was probably because the older Musk was already an established engineer in South Africa and didn’t want to bother going back to square one in a foreign land.

              Elon’s mother, Maye, was born in Canada, and her father, Joshua Norman Haldeman, was American. It would have been easier if his mother had gotten her American citizenship, but that wasn’t the case. This meant that he had to take some extra steps before he could be an American citizen. Determined to reach his goal, Musk filled out forms for his mother and got themselves Canadian passports. After he had gotten his Canadian passport, Musk was in Montreal within three weeks.

He had little money and no particular home when he first arrived in Canada. For about a year he showed up unexpectedly on distant relatives’ doorsteps and spent time on their farms, tended patches of vegetables, and shoveled some grain. He also experienced working at a lumber mill to clean out boilers. He recalls having to wear a hazmat suit and shimmying through a little tunnel, where he had to take some steaming goop and scoop it back to the tunnel where he just passed through. He would then wait until someone else puts it in a wheelbarrow.

              Elon Musk may seem to have it all today, but none of it came to him that easily. He went through the toughest of times just like any other normal person who is determined to find the deeper meaning of things and chase down his dreams. The key factor to his success, perhaps, is the fact that he knows what he wants and how to get it –– even if there are obstacles along the way.

Zip2 Corporation: Musk’s First Company

In 1999, one of the biggest ever internet-based cash payments was made, and it was for the purchase of none other than Elon Musk’s first company, Zip2. The deal amounted to over $300 million and it was the first big break that solidified Musk’s position as a multi-millionaire.

Internet Potential

              Elon Musk had already graduated with a physics degree from the University of Pennsylvania as well as a business degree from Wharton when he enrolled himself in a Ph.D. program for energy physics at Stanford University in 1995. He was 24 years of age, and after attending Stanford for just 2 days, he decided to drop out so that he could launch his first ever company. While he undoubtedly loved physics and showed great promise for the discipline, he simply came to the realization that there was much more potential in the Internet than in physics—potential, that is, in making a significant change in society.

              As internet usage was starting to rise, he realized that a lot of media companies would eventually want to have their printed materials converted into digital contents. He thought that money would be quick to come if he could provide the tools needed for that. Since many of his target companies were financially stable, he supposed that helping them transfer their contents to the web would generate funds efficiently. He teamed up with Kimbal Musk, his younger brother, to develop a content publishing software intended for news and media companies. It was definitely a big risk during that time because the concept of the internet wasn’t even well-known to venture capitalists –– in fact, many of them were not aware of the term at all.

              Zip2 then became a supplier of software that provides local media and information. It started out as something that could help people search for maps and directions on the internet, with people also being able to post information through something similar to a micro-blogging system. As a form of expansion, Musk and his team sought out media companies like the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times. Deals and agreements were made so that the media companies could use the program and have their information readily available to the community through the internet. It went on to provide complete online content for both companies that helped the new web versions of the media giants to take off. The system also attracted electronic-commerce sites that wanted their information to be readily available online.

Negative Money, a Rented Office, and Positive Cash Flow

              Some people may think that Elon Musk must have been a very lucky guy to have gotten that much wealth at such an early age, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing for him and his Zip2 Company. In a talk he gave at Stanford University, he tells about Zip2 and its humble beginnings.

              The internet might have already been available in 1995, but back then, it was not as widespread as it is today. However, Musk saw how great its potential was and he wanted to take chances with it. At that time, he had been working on a program that would provide a city guide for community members and he wanted it to be available through the internet. To take off, all he had was his idea and program, a rented office, and a handful of people who would make up the team behind Zip2.

              His first clients were small newspapers. He recalls how tough those days were because he had no money –– in fact, what he actually had was “negative money”. There wasn’t enough to rent an office and an apartment at the same time. He therefore chose to rent an office, and there he would sleep on a futon and take care of his personal hygiene at the local YMCA. His desperation for funds urged him to make use of an internet service provider just below his office floor. He then made a hole on the floor to connect to the ISP’s server and made negotiations with his clients regarding the monthly fees. This set-up worked for him and eventually his income was getting bigger than his expenses.

              Potential and determination paid off for Musk as Zip2 Corporation soon became the market leader in its field. Zip2 Corporation provided web hosting, web development, and maintenance services for several companies, operating nearly 200 websites by 1999. Some of their clients included the local directory of The New York Times, Knight-Ridder, Times Mirror, and Pulitzer Publishing chains.

The success of Zip2 grabbed the attention of CitySearch, an online city guide, and discussions regarding a potential merger circulated. However, the merger didn’t push through and instead, Zip2 was bought by Compaq Computers in 1999 for a whopping $307 million –– not bad considering that this was done only four years after its initiation. Compaq planned to combine Zip2 with its search engine, AltaVista, to expand their search options and make them more localized at the same time. Elon Musk walked away from the deal with a hefty sum in his pocket as well as shares to the company that allowed him to be a multi-millionaire at the age of 28.

X.com & PayPal: A New Way of Doing Business

In the same year that Zip2 was sold to Compaq Computers, Musk also started on his new company, X.com. From the earnings he got from the sale of Zip2, Musk used $10 million to set up what would be known as one of the first online banks. Founded in 1999, the idea behind X.com was for the possibility to have a completely online bank. Musk envisioned that any and all financial services being offered by the banks could also be provided by X.com –– while using only the internet. As part of his mission to make this goal come true, Musk also developed a way for people to securely send and receive money using only their e-mail address.

X.com became so successful that in just the following year, it was able to merge with another company, Confinity. Confinity was already developing a system for transferring money through the internet, and together with X.com, it was soon renamed to none other than PayPal. If there is one company, one service provider, or even one term that stands out in the realm of online payments through the use of e-mail addresses, it is PayPal. To date, the company has over one hundred million users, with thousands of new users signing up almost every day.

In just a few years after its inception, PayPal was then sold to eBay, marking the second sale of Musk’s company that amounted to millions of dollars. The year was 2002, and by that time, Musk again solidified his position in Silicon Valley’s hall of fame.

E-mail Payments

              The main goal of X.com was to provide financial services in a seamless interface. The idea was very broad so Musk planned on making adjustments by adding special and specific functions such as being able to transfer funds from one account holder to the other. However, when Musk pitched the system to potential investors and to trial users, they seemed to be most interested in the idea of sending payments via e-mail. The other financial services can be foregone, at least for now, and Musk knew what he had to focus on.

X.com and Confinity

              At around the same time that Musk was working on X.com, another group of internet entrepreneurs were also working on a payment system that could transfer money through the use of infrared and PDAs (personal digital assistants). These devices are the predecessors of our current smartphones. The idea was from Peter Thiel and Max Levchin, who wanted to turn the handheld devices into what they term as “digital wallets”. They believed that this method of keeping and transacting money was much safer than actual wallets as they cannot be physically stolen.

In November 1999, their product was available to the public through the website PayPal.com. PayPal.com allowed users to download an application that lets them send and receive funds to and from anyone who also has the same app. In essence, funds could be beamed from one user to another with the use of the handheld devices’ infrared functions.

When Musk met with Peter and Max, it was easy for them to decide on a merger of their two companies. Both companies were financial in nature, and were founded on sound software that was essential to make the system work. Both teams were very eager about the merger, and PayPal soon became another industry leader the same way that Zip2 was.

Musk as PayPal Co-Founder

              Although Musk is clearly known as a co-founder of the world-renowned PayPal service, there have been issues as to how relevant he was in the whole venture. When X.com and Confinity merged in the year 2000, it was later renamed PayPal the following year. This pushes the speculation that Musk was merely a head figure and only served as someone who funded the program, and that the PayPal idea was still largely from Peter Thiel and Max Levchin.

During the latter parts of 2006, there was even a book published about the history of PayPal which showed that Musk was negligible, or was even a bad seed in the whole effort. The book entitled “PayPal Wars” was written by a PayPal employee who was with the company during its first years. In the PayPal website, the history pages also speak much about Thiel and Levchin, but very little about Musk. This downplaying of Musk’s role seems to undermine his part and also his character as a critical thinker who was indispensable for the success of PayPal.

              In all fairness, Musk was indeed very significant in the success of PayPal. Yes, X.com seems to have drowned in the background because it was PayPal that took off. However, PayPal’s success was also largely due to the fact that Musk saw the big potential in making payments and fund transfers available via e-mail. He was critical enough to forego his initial dreams of having a fully functioning online bank so that he could focus on the feature that seemed to grab people’s attention more.

              It should be noted that Thiel and Levchin’s initial PayPal idea was an app that allowed e-mail payments only with the use of PDA’s or Palm Pilots that had infrared features. Combined with Musk’s vision, the app turned into something that could be used by any computer that had access to the user’s e-mail and the internet. This point should be well noted as PayPal would not have taken off as much as it did if it continued to focus only on Windows-run handheld devices. It may all seem straightforward to us today, but having such ideas during that point was highly risky and indeed, sounded crazy and unbelievable at times.

              X.com did not simply ride on PayPal’s success as many people seem to believe. At the time of the merger, X.com actually had more users, more personnel, and even a faster growth rate than Confinity. The latter did have more users on eBay, which was at that time growing strongly as the leading online shopping site. While Musk saw the potential that Confinity had, it was clear that Thiel and Levchin never would have agreed to the merger if they saw nothing special about X.com either.

Marketing Gimmick

              Musk’s penchant for coming up with and recognizing visionary ideas was not the only thing that earned him a spot as one of PayPal’s co-founders. During the first few months of the merger from January 1999 to around October 2000, Musk was PayPal’s Chairman or CEO. It was under his management that X.com/PayPal grew into the largest e-mail payments company, thanks to a viral system that Musk himself set up.

              When X.com became available to the public in December 1999, it offered incentives to its new customers. Those who opened up an online checking account would receive a $20 cash card that could be used at an ATM. Every account holder would also be given an additional $10 cash card for every successful referral that they had. This means that if you opened up an online checking account with X.com and referred a friend who also opened up a new account successfully, you would receive a total of $30 cash card and your friend would also receive a $20 cash card. Not surprisingly, the company was able to acquire more than one hundred thousand new customers within its first two months. This number was very close to beating the leader at that time which was EtradeTelebank. Coupled with PayPal’s close tie-up with eBay, the company soon rose to industry leader status in just a short period of time.

Working for Musk

              Although X.com quickly rose to a successful stage, things were not all well with the company’s management. There were disputes and disagreements amongst Musk, Thiel, and Levchin as well as a clash of personalities and egos. All of these men had great ideas, but not all of them could be used for the company. In an interview with Levchin, he said that working with Musk was very much like working for Musk. He said that it was very difficult dealing with Musk, especially with his style of micromanaging things. Levchin noted that Thiel was very frustrated with how Musk ran things in the company, especially with the disputes regarding which technologies to use and in terms of branding the company.

              It was because of these disputes that in the fall of 2000, a coup was organized against Musk by Thiel and Levchin. At that time, Musk had gone away to meet with prospective investors for the company. Upon his return, he was surprised to find that the board had fired him from the CEO position. Thiel was chosen to replace him as CEO and Musk simply became part owner of the company. It was also after this coup that in 2001, the company was finally renamed to PayPal.

Acquisition

              While Musk clearly felt betrayed by the things that happened behind his back, he was never one to bear grudges against people. Instead, he kept his chin up and kept his own feelings bottled up. Thiel also made very few changes to the structure of the company, and he did a good job of managing it on his own terms. In short, despite the political turmoil within the company, it still managed to run smoothly and become successful. The coup against Musk also led to favorable conditions as it was Thiel who decided to make the company public in 2002. Not long after, in October 2002, PayPal was then officially acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion. Musk, being the largest shareholder of the company with 11.7% of the shares, earned a hefty $165 million because of the acquisition.

Many people can be quoted in saying that Musk is highly talented and creative with exceptional analytical and technical skills. Even more would probably believe that he is simply very lucky –– that he just happened to be at the right place at the right time. Whatever ideas others may have about him, Musk is clearly a visionary who knows how to work hard and who is very dedicated to whatever he puts his mind into.

SpaceX and the Journey to Mars

Musk was already getting on his next business venture even before PayPal was sold to eBay. He had been fascinated with space since he was young, and this interest most likely started to grow as he read science fiction novels such as the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov. Having realized that the Earth may one day fall apart because of external or internal catastrophes, he thought it would all do us good if we could already start working on the technology required for interplanetary travel –– and for sustaining life beyond Earth.

The idea for his third company, Space Exploration Technologies or SpaceX, came up after he had some discussions about space with a friend. They reckoned that vast improvements have already been made by most technological sectors over the decades; however, the same thing cannot be said about the space industry. For Musk, it seems that humanity hasn’t been able to do any significant follow-ups ever since man set foot on the moon for the first time. Although we have already gone to the moon, he says that we haven’t really done anything better than that. And so, Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 to transform the current state of space technology.

Beyond Apollo

              Musk is disappointed with the fact that we haven’t made any notable progress ever since NASA’s Apollo moon missions ceased in the 1970s. He has never even encountered anyone or any organization that plans to go beyond that. If no one is going to do it, or even think about it, then he wants to be the person who sets the motion for exceeding that goal. This time, Musk is focused on something beyond building and owning a successful company. He wishes to be part of a global legacy –– something that will leave a considerable impact for many years to come.

              Musk had always wanted to be involved with matters that transform the world and how we go about it. The Internet has already done that, and right now space travel will probably change the world more than anything can. If mankind can come up with something that will take them beyond this planet and allow them to thrive there, then that is where the future is. That is basically where we’ll need to go, and Musk wants to build a company that will bring us to that kind of future –– SpaceX’s “Holy Grail”. He is not certain how far we’d be able to go with SpaceX’s missions, but if we could get the ball rolling and keep it moving forward, that would be enough to achieve significant results. Although the possibility of failure is ever present, it is a chance he’s willing to take.

              The whole notion may seem crazy but with the right mindset and resources, it will eventually happen. The important thing for Musk is to be able to keep his business stable as we take critical steps toward reaching greater philosophical goals. He always sees the bigger picture in all of his ventures, and this way of thinking makes several observers believe that this is what sets Musk apart from the other people who tried and failed before him. He did not only want to launch a business just so he could earn millions in return, he did so because he wanted to bring the kind of change that would get us to new frontiers, to the kind of places what he only once read and dreamed of.

Space Goals

              Other entrepreneurs have also tried working on their space dreams before Musk, and perhaps the most noteworthy among them is Mark Shuttleworth. On top of paying $20 million, Shuttleworth also spent 6 months training in Russia so he could eventually become a self-funded space tourist. Musk’s goals, on the other hand, are much grander than that. If it were up to him, he would spend his $20 million differently. Becoming the second self-funded space tourist is not really a bad goal per se, but for Musk, it won’t do much for the whole of humanity. His major goal is to come up with ways on how to enable people go to space, and not just him personally.

              While it is not Musk’s top priority to go to space, it is something that he would eventually want to experience for himself. For now, however, he is satisfied with pouring his efforts into a much bigger dream. If we can create something that can take people, equipment, and other necessary resources to Mars, and build a transportation infrastructure that allows humans to become a multi-planetary species, then at that point he will be able to say that SpaceX’s mission has been fulfilled.

The Risk of Failing

              When Musk began SpaceX, he was well aware that the odds were against him. However, failure was not something that could stop him, and if indeed he was bound to fail, he was going to commit to it in ways that nobody had tried before. He took the necessary and inevitable risks in order to succeed, and whether or not he would come out victorious, at the very least he would accomplish something new and unheard of.

              Several experts were doubtful of Musk and the whole idea of SpaceX because they thought that his physics degree and previous business ventures hardly made him qualified to conceptualize, develop, and build rockets. No one considered the fact that one of our greatest aviation pioneers, Jack Northrop, was a high school graduate from Santa Barbara High School without any degree in either engineering or aeronautics. Just like Northrop did, Musk learned things on the job, and to be certain that he was doing things right he hired the best engineers from top aerospace companies such as Boeing, TRW, and NASA.

The Beginning of SpaceX

              There have been no further efforts at manned space exploration ever since humans first landed on the moon in 1969. For some reason, any goals beyond that seem to be out of reach, or it’s simply off NASA’s priority list of space activities. Musk wanted to pique the public’s interest in order to encourage NASA to increase their allocated funds for space exploration. He examined the total cost of “Mars Oasis”, a project which would involve a rocket landing a device on the Red Planet. When it gets there, it would plant seeds, build an environment, and establish the fundamental groundwork for future human arrivals –– in short, a bubble bioverse.

The basic concept is to bring a small greenhouse to Mars’ surface, filled with dehydrated nutrient gel that would allow hydration upon landing. After some time we would get this photo of green plants on a red background –– which would eventually be the first signs of life on Mars. It would then be the farthest that life has ever gone, as far as we know it. Musk estimates that it would take around $20 million to accomplish this project.

Meanwhile, the United States was relying heavily on Space Shuttles to get their astronauts to space. However, one shuttle launch already costs around $300 million and involves more than 10,000 people in the process. In addition, the use of Shuttles was significantly risky for the astronauts (The Challenger and Columbia disasters are clear reminders of that.). These numbers show just how costly a single Shuttle launch could be in terms of funding and the possibility of lives lost.

Because of this, Musk wanted to introduce something cheaper and safer. He was also troubled that the United States might lag behind other countries in the race to space. Musk thought that if he could make significant innovations in the world of space technology, it would eventually solve the U.S.’s flagging space efforts. However, when he discovered that the cost of the cheapest rocket made back in 2002 was about $50 million, his $20 million cost estimate for Mars Oasis suddenly became utterly unrealistic. At that point, Mars seemed to move further away in the distance, but it was not enough to stop him from trying at all.

              Musk then went to Russia to make negotiations regarding the purchase of what he termed a “refurbished ICBM”. However, after three trips to Moscow, he reckoned that the deal was too risky and complicated. The good thing that came out of it, perhaps, was the interesting question it raised –– how come the Russians could create an inexpensive yet reliable rocket, while the Americans couldn’t? The U.S. is known for producing reliable and inexpensive cars, sophisticated planes, computers, gadgets, and even household appliances –– items that Russians couldn’t reproduce. Despite that, reliable manned rockets are simply not something that the U.S. is known for.

              The answer was painstakingly obvious –– NASA’s funding was declining rather hastily. Although those in NASA would like to go as far as Musk, there’s nothing they could really do about it as much as they wanted to. In addition, NASA wasn’t allowed to investigate accidents on its own –– such cases were more involved with Star Chamber proceedings in which defendants were presumed guilty and were given grave punishments. As a result, NASA assumed total bureaucracy when it came to space ventures –– they had multiple committees to examine and evaluate every little issue, and a complex array of regulations was also established to ensure that all types of risks were minimized. These strict sets of rules made the execution of space ventures ridiculously expensive or sometimes even totally impossible. Given these circumstances, it is no longer surprising why American space travel is evolving at a snail’s pace.

              To solve this problem, Musk knew what he had to do –– he had to figure out how to build what he needed and create it all from scratch. He had to consider both the costs of the launch the potential liabilities of executing such projects. The chances for success were quite low, and even though Musk was already aware of that, he still moved to Los Angeles and founded SpaceX, building its headquarters in Hawthorne, California. His initial goal was to launch a satellite into orbit using a rocket he would develop and call the Falcon 1. His long-term goal, on the other hand, was to develop and build a super-heavy lift rocket to allow humans to establish lunar and Martian bases. He knew that he needed to exert extra effort to muster all the necessary resources –– still, this didn’t discourage him from prodding on.

Launching Reusable Rockets

              Those who have been working in the space business have been using brand-new rockets for every launch. This means that their launch processes all involved building, launching, and letting rockets eventually fall deep into the sea. This very expensive cycle of rocket building makes no sense to Musk. He imagined building a reusable rocket, one that could fly off to space, return to Earth, and then be launched back to space again. If we could create this kind of rocket, it will significantly reduce the costs of traveling to space and make space travels more economically viable.

              From the very beginning, Musk spearheaded the rocket’s design and development. He concentrated both on performance and cost, because he wanted to build something that was simple and yet reliable to minimize the risks of having failed components. This is because when you lessen the number of components that could fail, you will also make the rocket more stable and reliable. Musk purposely chose to take such a very basic approach and veered away from integrating technical enhancements to cut down costs and reduce the chances for delays.

Fourth Time’s the Charm

              Things did not go well for SpaceX during its first few years. The first scheduled launch for Falcon 1 was in 2005, but the year went by without a launch. In 2006, Falcon 1 had its first launch in Kwajalein, but that demo flight failed and the next two launches in 2007 and 2008 would fail as well. It took a total of four tries before Falcon 1 was able to have its first successful flight –– a day which Musk considers one of the best days of his life.

              It was in 2008 when it all happened. If that fourth launch did not succeed, SpaceX would have been history. He barely even had enough funds to do a fourth launch. The best choice he had was to minimize his losses and keep the $75 million that was left with him. That time, both Tesla and SpaceX were already on the edge, but instead of being deterred, he went all in and still invested the last of his fortunes into his businesses. If things had gone horribly wrong, he would be back to square one. In fact, the situation could have been worse than square one, as he would have ended up owing money to his ex-wife, Justine Musk, among others.

              Perhaps the thing that is hard to believe is why Musk still held on despite knowing that he could lose everything. No, it wasn’t because he had this unshakeable faith in what he could do, but he believed that he had to try, or at least someone ought to. Of course, many would say that it’s not the way to go about business, but to him these ventures were very important. If his businesses were to fail right then and there, then these failures would serve as warnings and present a setback to those who were planning to dabble with the same ideas. He was not concerned if he would be left with nothing, but to know if his ideas were still possible, he had to act on it.

              After the apparent success of Falcon 1, SpaceX was able to get a $1.6 billion contract from NASA which involves 12 future flights on their rocket, Falcon 9, to the International Space Station (ISS). Musk says that SpaceX’s efforts can minimize the U.S. government’s expenses by around $1 billion per year. In June 2010, the Falcon 9 had its inaugural flight in Cape Canaveral, Florida and was sent off into a 250-km orbit. SpaceX was then contracted for at least 30 more future missions –– 18 of which involves delivering commercial satellites to orbit, and some with the Dragon capsule attached so that supplies, plants, and animals may be delivered to the ISS.

              SpaceX has now come a long way since their first successful launch in 2008. Now with a number of successful launches under its belt, SpaceX has become a worthy contender in the field of aerospace technology. If its rivals don’t do something about it now, SpaceX would eventually surpass seasoned fleet admirals such as Boeing and Lockheed in the space race.

Martian Colony

              The success of the Falcon rockets and the potential of reusing them have brought Musk closer to his primary reasons for founding SpaceX. Its goal has always been to advance the state of current space technology in order to establish a self-sustaining human colony on the Red Planet. We still have a long way to go and it takes a lot of effort and hard work. To date, this may be the hardest thing mankind ever has to do but at the same time, it is also the most intriguing and rewarding. If the technology needed for such an adventure already becomes available, Musk estimates around 80,000 people who would go to Mars per year.

How ready are we to leave this planet and settle down elsewhere? Do we just stay here and be content with what we already know, or do we look ahead and reach towards the stars? Musk is already doing the latter, and he is determined to be a key player in humanity’s expansion to new and distant places. We don’t know how soon it is going to happen, but as agents of life, Musk thinks that it isour main responsibility to look for ways on how to preserve it.

Tesla Motors: A New Breed of Electric Cars

Cars have always been a fascination for Elon Musk, and he shares this same fascination with millions of people around the world. However, no one seems to be as passionate about cars as he is, going so far as to make his own car manufacturing company to execute a long-standing idea he had from years ago. Also, unlike a normal car enthusiast, Musk’s fascination does not end with sleek, wonderful designs that accelerate in the shortest amount of time. Instead, Musk dreams big like he always does, and envisions for the world to drive a breed of electric cars that can make traveling a whole new experience.

Electric Cars for Sustainability

The idea for electric cars first came to Musk when he was a sophomore in the university. It was from the simple concern he had about the world’s depleting resources. He knew that carbon-based fuels would soon be running out and it was simply impossible to produce such fuels right away. What was needed was an alternative source of fuel, and this is one of the main reasons why musk decided to pursue the production of electric cars or electric vehicles. Additionally, the internal combustion engines needed to process such carbon fuels had a degrading effect on the environment, and this was a concern that Musk did not take lightly. It was from these thoughts that Musk decided to pursue electric cars for sustainability.

While Musk did not officially pursue his dream of electric cars until after Zip2, X.com, and PayPal, his fascination and passion for the idea never waned. In fact, it had always been a work in progress even as Musk was busy with the development of his first companies and his establishment as a millionaire. Some anecdotes about him even recall how his first date with some girls started with a simple question: “What do you think of electric cars?” The question may be a unique and creative way to break the ice, but it was out of genuine interest that Musk posed such questions. His vision would later on evolve into reality, and in 2003, he started to pursue his own company for the production of electric vehicles.

It all started with Musk reaching out to J.B. Straubel, a known engineering maven who also shared the same passion for electric vehicles. Straubel introduced Musk to Al Ciccone and Tom Gage of AC Propulsion, which was the company behind an all-electric car known as the Tzero. Musk wanted to mass produce the electric vehicle, but Ciccone and Gage showed a lack of interest. They did, however, introduce Musk to a group of men who were also dedicated to reducing the oil consumption of vehicles and to the security of the nation’s people namely Ian Wright, Marc Tarpening, and Martin Eberhard. Together, they established the Tesla Corporation in July of 2003, with the shared vision of producing an environmentally friendly car. They had all also agreed to produce a roadster and the company was named Tesla after Nikola Tesla because of his contribution to the development of AC induction motors.

The Issue with Eberhard

              The team had decided to get the British car manufacturer, Lotus, to produce a roadster for them. The car manufacturer had earlier produced a roadster which they deemed as the right size and would meet all the safety standards of the U.S. Also, the Lotus roadster was fitted with an attractive design and they knew that these characteristics were essential for making their car company work.

They then thought up of how it could be possible to power up such a car for an extended period of time so that it could cover a notable distance. It was in this aspect that they applied J.B. Straubel’s idea of using linked lithium ion batteries. Powering a car the size of a roadster would require hundreds of these lithium ion batteries linked up together, but the concept was the same one being used in laptops and they deemed it the best option for making their electric car work.

At that point, Tesla had its team, a car manufacturing company to make their first car model, and an idea that could make their whole electric vehicle idea work. The only problem left was where to find funding. Eberhard, who was actively talking to prospect investors, had first-hand experience at seeing how hard it was to convince venture capitalists about Tesla’s electric car idea. He even mentions that he could “hear the laughter around the valley” after he was done talking with venture capitalists.

It should be noted that while Musk and the rest of the team behind Tesla were all very successful in their own fields, none of them had enough leverage in the car industry. Musk was becoming known as the “it” boy of Silicon Valley, and although he already made millions with his two past companies and showed great management and entrepreneurial skills, he had nothing under his belt when it came to the car business.

It should also be noted that Tesla was founded in 2003. When the issue of electric cars caught the attention of the public in 2009, The New Yorker posed the question of how a visionary with no experience in the car industry can successfully establish a new company and a new product and even stand against industry giants. Robert Lutz, General Motor’s very own boss, replied to the question with a question of his own: How can a startup with no experience in the car industry do something that the industry giants themselves have been unable to do? In respect to the idea of electric cars, the General Motors boss said that even the geniuses at his company, along with the other minds behind the other big car companies such as Toyota, have all agreed that lithium ion technology for cars would still be at least ten years into the future.  Tesla had been working on the idea since 2003, and at that time, even less people believed that such a venture was even remotely possible.

It was because of this disbelief in the idea that very few capitalists wanted anything to do with Tesla and its electric car project. In fact, Musk had to fund majority of the operations of the company. For the Series A investment, Musk funded 98% of the total $6.5million required. The Series B had Musk funding 90% of $13million, and Musk continually became the majority investor in the succeeding Series C, D, and E. Apart from Musk, the other investors crazy enough to put their money on Tesla were those who were considered as titans of Silicon Valley. The likes of Larry Page and Sergey Brin and other venture capital companies who decided to invest in Tesla were familiar with Musk’s work and knew that if someone could turn the science fiction of electric vehicles into reality, it would be him. Musk was assigned as Chairman of the Board and Eberhard the president of the company.

Despite the positive statements however, Tesla was indeed off to a not-so-successful start. Their goal of having the first Roadster come out of the assembly line by 2007 never materialized, and costs continued to add up as the company still had no income to go by. These prompted disagreements to run between Musk and Eberhard, as Musk did not believe that Eberhard had the right management capabilities to make Tesla work. Eberhard was removed from CEO position and was replaced with an interim CEO, but Musk soon found himself in full charge of the company.

Disputes between Musk and Eberhard continued to flare outside of Tesla, and escalated into a lawsuit that had to be settled outside of court.

On Being the CEO of Two Companies

Musk could easily have been the CEO of Tesla from day one since he provided most of the funding, but he did not actually want to be in that position. Around the time that Tesla was taking off, Musk was also working on his other company, SpaceX. Both companies were simply start-ups and to quote Elon, “Being the CEO of two start-ups at the same time is in no way and should never be appealing to anyone in any way.” It is simply a terrible idea. But there was Tesla under the hands of poor management, and there was Musk who knew that something had to be done if he wanted Tesla to be successful.

Tesla’s Master Plan

When Musk handled Tesla, he employed a simple master plan that worked well with companies in the technology industry. His plan was laid out to go by the following steps:

Build a luxury sports car

Build a more affordable version of the car

Create a line of even more affordable cars

Also create electric power generation with zero emission

Following this plan, Tesla went on to produce their Roadster. It was indeed a luxury sports car with a noticeable price tag of $110,000. While the Roadster was obviously not meant to be owned by the average car consumer, it was a clear testament of how efficient and effective electric vehicles could be. The Roadster was capable of remarkable acceleration, reaching from 0-60 mph in less than 4 seconds. As for the performance of this electric vehicle, it was capable of running a range of more than 200miles in one full charge. Of course, this luxury sports car also caught the attention of the public because of its sleek and sexy good looks. The first Roadster was shipped out in 2008, and by 2012, there were a total of 2,500 Tesla Roadsters sold across the globe. Tesla stopped production of the luxury sports car, making it an even valuable asset.

Now that Tesla has become known because of its luxury Roadster, its next step was to build a more affordable electric vehicle that could penetrate the average consumer market. Not everyone could afford to buy the Roadster, and Tesla would clearly be unable to profit simply from the sales of this luxury vehicle alone. The answer then, was the Tesla Model S.

The Tesla Model S was not to be your ordinary plebeian car. Although coming in at significantly less the selling price of the Roadster at under $70,000 it featured high performance and a very beautiful design. The goals for the Model S were to have it as the fastest car on the road, and also the most beautiful. Following this goal, the Model S is an all-aluminum electric vehicle with the lowest drag coefficient of any sedan today. Its release began in June of 2012, and by December of 2013, Tesla had already delivered over 25,000 Model S vehicles across Europe and the United States. With the spectacular sales of the Model S, Tesla saw profits in its books, reporting a net income of $26 million by the second quarter of 2013. The production of the Model S is now at 500 vehicles every week, and projected sales for the year 2014 are seen exceeding 40,000 vehicles as Tesla plans to expand to the Japan, China, UK, and Australia markets. Following the success of the model S, the company’s stocks are also on an upward trend, and once again Musk proves that he has the golden touch for business.

Hanging by a Thread

              While the Tesla tale seems to be full of positive outcomes ever since Musk started handling it himself, the real-life Iron Man had to come across several obstacles to take Tesla to where it is today. It should be noted that Tesla had a very rough beginning, with most venture capitalists wanting nothing to do with the company and its idea of electric vehicles. There was also the problem with Eberhard, and while Musk stood above all of these obstacles, it is needless to say that he did so by risking a lot on the line.

              Musk had to put his own money on the line so that Tesla could find funding. Also, the first few years –– from Tesla’s incorporation in 2003 up to 2007 when Eberhard was removed from the CEO position –– were nothing but negative on the company’s books. It was not until 2008 that the first Tesla Roadster came out, and it was not until Model S sales made the company profitable in 2012 that Tesla was able to report income in its financial reports. Following the timeline of the company, Tesla is also one of the many American companies that were affected heavily by the recession. No business found it easy to stay afloat during those times, and Tesla was no exception.

              The debut of the Roadster was also not without its own set of adversities. In England’s Top Gear television show, TV host Jeremy Clarkson ridiculed the electric vehicle after a trial run following its release in 2008. Clarkson claimed that the vehicle ran out of power after only a measly 55 miles. This was a huge blow against Tesla, and also against Musk. 2008 was the year that both Tesla and SpaceX were on the verge of bankruptcy, and Musk needed no more negative publicity for any of his two companies. Still, Musk endured through the negative marketing, seeking to prove that the Tesla vehicle could indeed stand by its claim of over 200miles in a full charge, and even going further by seeking to improve the technology to make Tesla vehicles even more powerful.

              Perhaps in this light, Tesla had also decided to supply its consumers with supercharging stations. These stations could help Tesla vehicle owners charge their vehicles in just a short period of time. For free, electric vehicles could be plugged in and fully charged within twenty minutes. If you are in a jiffy, you may opt to pay a fee of $50 and get a fully charged battery within just three minutes. Of course, the success of these supercharging stations relied on the fact that they had to be littered all over the country to be effective. Right now, there are over a hundred supercharging stations across the U.S., with Tesla planning on setting up hundreds more across the United Kingdom, Australia, and its other markets. Each supercharging station sets Tesla back by at least $500,000, but Musk considers this a necessary expense if he wishes to pursue his dream of all-electric and zero-emission vehicles.

              Aside from the Tesla Roadster, the Model S was also ridiculed closely after its release. In February of 2013, New York Times writer John Broder wrote that the vehicle was unable to meet the performance standards set by the company itself. He said that the Model S had a very limited range and was therefore a very unreliable vehicle. The report was not only a hit against Tesla, but against any and all attempts at creating the ideal electric vehicle. It would have blocked the public’s acceptance of electric vehicles, had Musk not looked into it himself and cleared up the claims of the press release.

Musk was very forthright in his response to Broder, challenging him directly and going so far as looking up the test-drive logs and pointing out that it was Broder who failed to follow the testing protocols that were agreed upon. Indeed, the GPS system showed that Broder had continuously driven the Model S in circles around a parking lot, in an attempt to drain out the battery faster. The reported came out with an apology, but Musk had already accepted the fact that due to the negative publicity, Tesla had lost several orders of the Model S and thus lost at least $100 million of income for Tesla.

Model S on Fire

              Negative marketing was not the only obstacle that Musk and Tesla had to go through. In October 1, 2013, a Tesla Model S caught fire as an object that fell off a semi-trailer hit and quite possibly punctured the undercarriage. No one was harmed and the fire was reported to have been contained away from the passenger area, but within a day or two, a video of the Model S on fire had already gone viral over the internet. This caused stocks to plummet and more negative criticism to be directed towards Tesla and the electric vehicles it produced.

              Again, Musk was quick to respond to this, pointing out that the fire was contained and was in no way going to reach the passengers. The fire was also caused by an outside source and not an error on the Model S’s part. Even the National Fire Protection Association seemed to be on Tesla’s side on this one as they reported that had the incident happened to a gasoline powered car, the damage could have been much worse. Figures also showed that between 2006 and 2010, over 150,000 vehicular fires have been reported. Since the Model S went into production, 400 deaths and more than a thousand injuries have been reported due to fires involving gasoline cars. In the same period, the record shows zero deaths and zero serious injuries for fire accidents involving Tesla cars anywhere in the world.

              Despite this, Musk made it a point to heighten the safety features of Tesla vehicles.  Following the incident, Tesla began installing what they referred to as the triple underbody shield. This includes an aluminum bar that deflects oncoming foreign objects, a plate made of titanium that protects the underbody components of the vehicle, and a shallow-angled shield that would absorb energy upon impact. This would cause the vehicle to ramp up against an object that could prove to be immovable, thus avoiding damages due to collision. All new Tesla productions are equipped with this revolutionary triple shield system, and the company is also offering to install the same system to existing cars, free of charge.

New Tesla Models

              New models are already being planned, including a cross between an SUV and a minivan which is planned to be named Model X. The Model X is seen to be priced at the $40,000 range, making it more affordable for the regular consumer. Like its big brothers, the Model X is capable of running over 200miles per full charge, and even comes equipped with an optional Dual Motor All Wheel Drive. The vehicle is seen to debut in 2015, bringing Tesla closer to larger markets and larger profits.

              Following the Model S and the Model X, Tesla also plans on a Model E and a Model Y vehicle. Together, all Tesla vehicle models would spell out S-E-X-Y, which is rightfully earned. While the idea was made in all good fun, Ford seemed to have failed to get the memo and had already bought the rights to the Model E name, pushing Tesla to rename their model to Model 3 written as “Model III.”Clearly, the journey of Tesla is far from over. But for Musk, and probably also for the rest of the world, this is the kind of acceleration that is inevitable –– it simply cannot be held back.

SolarCity: The Potential of Solar-Powered Systems

The search for alternative sources of energy did not stop with Tesla for Elon Musk. On top of being the CEO of Tesla and the mind behind the internationally-acclaimed electric vehicles, Musk is also known as the chairman of the board of directors of another environmental company, SolarCity.

Burning Man Festival and the Start of SolarCity

It all started in 2004 when Musk attended the annual Burning Man Festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert with his cousin, Lyndon Rive. Being in the desert, the event has always faced the issue of maintaining a temporary city without causing environmental harm. One of the major concerns being faced every year was how to generate electricity, and the answer would always revolve around two ideas: portable generators and solar-powered systems.

With Tesla being just a year old, the idea of solar energy was pretty much in Musk’s mind at this time. At the same time, Lyndon Rive told Musk that he wanted to do something with a larger environmental impact. Rive was working as a developer of enterprise software, and he told his cousin that he did not find it particularly exciting. Thus, an idea was formed and SolarCity was born from the idea of providing solar power systems to both businesses and homeowners.

SolarCity was formally founded in 2006 by Lyndon Rive and his brother, Peter. Lyndon was named as CEO, Peter was COO and CTO, and although Musk did not consider himself as a founder, he filled the important position of chairman of board of directors. The company’s mission was to deliver complete solar energy systems to the end users without the cost of any up-front fees, and it promised reduced utility bills for all of its customers. By the middle of 2013, SolarCity reports over $600 million in the bank, employing over 3,300 workers, and serving more than 68,000 customers directly. Some of its customers include eBay, Wal-Mart, and even the U.S. military.

Musk’s Role

With Musk handling SpaceX and Tesla, he is not as involved with SolarCity. In fact, his role in the company involves only about two hours a month by phone and about three hours every quarter for board meetings. Even if this is the case, Lyndon claims that Musk’s involvement in the company is very crucial. His ideas, Rive says, are indispensable, and SolarCity would not be as successful as it is now if it wasn’t for Musk’s genius. Simply put, Rive says that Musk’s involvement with the company is more of “an issue of amazing quality, not quantity.”

Indeed, in the few hours that Musk would spend for SolarCity, he would take time to look at the laid-out plans and he would quickly recognize the flaws. Musk is known as someone who pushes himself harder and harder every time, and he treats those who work with him the same way. While this may cause him to be far from caring and to sometimes lack social graces, it is this quality that allows him to always drive for the better. Musk is quoted by his sister as being brutally honest, but this does not mean that he means to be disrespectful. In turn, Musk also appreciates honesty that is directed towards him.

A Clean and Cheap Energy Resource

From the Burning Man Festival, Musk and Rive realized that solar energy had the potential to create a better future. They tried to figure out how to make that kind of future affordable, and in so doing Musk thought that if they could do a number of things better even if just by 10 percent, it would give them a huge edge on the energy game. He then offered free installation and zero down-payment to homeowners to make it easier for them to go for SolarCity panels. Because he focused on the little details, Musk revolutionized the way the solar industry is run. While the company first relied on tax credits and government refunds for their initial income, in just a few years, SolarCity has become the number one solar power service provider in the United States.

Hyperloop: Going the Distance in Less Time

Some of Elon Musk’s ideas were once only thought of as concepts in the world of science fiction, but with the right blend of determination, enthusiasm, and hard work, he was able to prove that his visions could become reality. As if dabbling with rockets, electric cars, and solar power isn’t enough, he proposed a concept for a new mode of transportation in August 2013 –– something he calls the “Hyperloop”. The idea is to have people travelling between big cities at the speed of sound, and the fare would be comparable to that of a plane ticket. It’s going to be faster than a bullet train, and it could get passengers from downtown San Francisco to downtown Los Angeles in just 30 minutes –– more than half the time it takes a commercial plane to complete the trip.

The Hyperloop’s “Predecessors”

              Back in 1972, the Rand Corporation published a research paper by physicist R.M. Salter’s that described an underground tube system that could take passengers from Los Angeles to New York City in under 30 minutes. Salter named it the “Very High Speed Transit System” or VHST for short. In his conclusion, he stated that many technical problems would arise in the development of the VHST, however, no scientific breakthroughs were necessary in order to make it possible.  This means that the VHST wasn’t merely a farfetched dream –– we could actually turn it into reality if we take care of the construction and political issues involved.

              The general idea of the VHST is relatively straightforward. It’s going to be a vacuum-sealed tube that zooms across the country, with a few stops in between to make it more practical. The VHST would be driven by and would ride on electromagnetic waves, in much the same way as a surfer’s board rides an ocean’s wave. These EM waves would be produced by the currents from electrical conductors that make up the roadbed structure of the tube. During those days, Rand Corporation claimed that they had already tested speeds up to a whopping 14,000 mph –– speed enough to get anyone from L.A. to New York City in 21 minutes.

              In the 1990s, a study made by MIT researchers led by Ernst Frankel had developed a vacuum-tube rail system that could travel from New York to Boston in 45 minutes. The test loop was constructed around the MIT playing fields, and during that time, their cost estimate for the link was $6.8 billion –– a price that is close to the estimated cost of the Hyperloop. Professor Frankel had discussed the concept with Amtrak but apparently nothing came out of it. When he heard of Musk’s Hyperloop idea, he hopes that something can be done about it, but thinks that it’s probably going to be impossible to get help from government institutions and agencies.

The Hyperloop in Theory

              The development of high-speed rails and transports has been impeded throughout history because of the difficulties encountered in controlling air resistance and friction –– both of which are important factors to consider when vehicles go at very high speeds. In theory, a vacuum train concept will eliminate these issues by making use of trains that magnetically levitate in evacuated (or airless) tunnels or tubes. This type of set-up will theoretically allow vehicles to operate at great speeds –– around thousands of miles per hour. However, the costs of building a “maglev” are very high and it is difficult to properly sustain a vacuum over a large distance.

              The Hyperloop is planned to be operated by sending specialized pods or capsules through a steel tube that functions on a partial vacuum. Each of these pods float on a layer of air provided to air-bearing skis, similar to how an air hockey table moves or suspends a puck. This eliminates the use of “maglev” but it still allows speeds which cannot be sustained by wheels. Without rolling resistance, and with air resistance mostly out of the equation, theoretically speaking the pods will be able to glide across the track for most of the journey.

              Given Musk’s track record of achievements and his unwavering desire to pursue his concepts and visions, it very likely that at some point in the future he will be able to find the support and resources needed to get the Hyperloop moving. Elon Musk has this “think bigger” mentality, and he is always coming up with ideas so big that it can become terrifying. However, if these very ideas are what would make things better, then for Musk, they are absolutely worth trying out.

Getting Personal with Elon Musk

Elon Musk is known as one of the greatest entrepreneurs and visionaries who ever lived. He builds the future by imagining what he wants it to be like –– a lot like the protagonist in a story whose fantasies become true to the touch. The only difference, perhaps, is that he doesn’t do this with magic –– he does so by translating huge, worldly concepts into simple yet meaningful ones. In the previous chapters, much about his companies, failures and almost failures, and successes were discussed. This time, we go more personal and see what Elon is like outside the world of business.

A Bit About His Mother, Maye Musk

              When Maye Musk was younger, she used to visit the library at least twice a week because she loved reading and the sciences. Like Elon, she too got picked on by others –– fortunately, her twin sister defended her from her classmates’ taunts. Her mom’s friend owned a modeling agency, and later on Maye found herself joining beauty pageants. She obtained a degree in dietetics from the University of Pretoria and married the man who would be Elon’s father, engineer Errol Musk, when she was 22. She then opened up a counseling practice to make her schedule flexible, allowing her to spend more time with her kids.

Maye is now over 60 years old but she is still actively working as a fashion model. That’s probably how most people know her as, but her other achievements also make her a clear source of Elon’s intelligence and ingenuity. Aside from her bachelor’s degree, she also has two master’s degrees in nutritional sciences and dietetics. She is a registered dietitian in three different countries, in which she took the South African exam in the Afrikaans language.

While Elon thought that school was “boring”, Maye said that Elon always had a book in hand and that his content retention was impressive. As a kid, he devoured anything related to space and astronomy, so it no longer came as a surprise to her when Elon eventually founded SpaceX. For quite a while, Elon’s introversion led Maye to believe that her son might be deaf. However, she soon understood that his silence simply meant that he was in deep thought.

Maye’s children all grew up to be smart and successful. Elon’s sister, Tosca, is an actress and a film producer, while his brother, Kimbal, is a chef and restaurant owner as well as a board member of Tesla. Ever since they were young, the three of them have always done their own thing, in their own preferred ways.

Family and Marriages

              Musk has been married two times –– first, to Justine Wilson, his college sweetheart, and then later on to British actress Talulah Riley who is 14 years younger than him. Justine is a fantasy novelist best known for the book, BloodAngel. She described her married life with Elon as a “dream lifestyle”, but beneath the privileges, one couldn’t hide the emptiness that grew at the core. Musk was too focused on his work to the point that even when he was at home, his mind didn’t seem to be there at all.

Although they tried to work things out, his marriage to Justine eventually ended up in a very public and messy divorce in 2008. After their divorce, news circulated regarding settlements, where Musk said that he lived on loans from his associates and was therefore “broke”. This caused a ruckus among Musk’s critics who spent their time speculating that perhaps he didn’t know how to manage his money. That year indeed had been hard for Musk, for it was the same year when SpaceX and Tesla were almost pushed off the edge.

Musk met his second wife, Talulah Riley, at a London nightclub. The actress was 23 years old at that time, and it was reported that they were engaged just six weeks after he filed for divorce from his first wife. Elon Musk and Talulah Riley got married in 2010 at Skibo Castle in Scotland. The marriage didn’t last long and Riley filed for divorce in 2012. Musk even announced their separation in Twitter, in which he tweeted: “@rileytalulah It was an amazing four years. I will love you forever. You will make someone very happy one day.” However, as of March 2014, Elon and Talulah were living together again with his sons.

His first marriage bore him five sons –– a set of twins (Griffin and Xavier) and a set of triplets (Damian, Kai, and Saxon). While running his businesses and traveling between them keep his hands full, he always finds the time to be with his children. He spends time with them every weekend and goes to Disneyland with them often.

The Future

Elon Musk is constantly gaining knowledge and applying everything he learned from venture to venture. He has demonstrated over and over again how driven he truly is when it comes to his goals. He has this uncanny ability to invest hundreds of millions in projects that many others would be doubtful of –– and still persist and succeed. Things always didn’t go so well for him and his businesses –– he might have done the wrong things at certain points –– but despite the mistakes, he has consistently chosen the “right projects”. Because of this, he has become so dependable to the point that his association with projects can readily make others believe that it is feasible.

What would Elon Musk be up to next? SpaceX’s mission schedule is already filled until 2018, and Tesla Motors is about to release their newer models by 2015. We know that he would like to travel to Mars and possibly retire there someday –– not on impact, of course –– but until that happens, we can continue to expect him to change how the world consumes energy, how we close the distance between places, and how we travel into space.

Conclusion

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For the past few decades, humanity has kept its focus on the smaller problems instead of the much bigger ones. We have once thought that the world has already gotten smaller because of technology, but it seems that if we look at things on a larger scale, we may actually be moving slower than we’re supposed to. More than a hundred years have passed and we still rely heavily on expensive, dangerous, and finite sources of energy, and if we find out that our planet is about to collapse soon, we literally have nowhere to go.

But someone out there cares about these bigger issues, and he is grabbing every available opportunity to have them solved. That man is Elon Musk. If all his visions were to come true one day, we would wake up to a world that primarily runs on solar power, where electric cars instead of gasoline cars are driven, and where people can travel between big cities using the Hyperloop. Rockets that could take humans to Mars would already have been made, and as more people become interested in moving to the new world on Mars, other companies would begin building their own space cruisers to compete with the quickly evolving space technologies first introduced by SpaceX.

Musk is the kind of person who wants to see his ideas realized. He is still busy figuring things out, and we don’t know if he will ever stop. All we know is that no matter how crazy his visions may seem, nothing can ever stop him from pursuing them. And now, while he juggles work between his world-changing companies, the rest of mankind just needs to wait it out and see things through.

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