By Adam Hart
Introduction
Born in the “executive” South African capital of Pretoria in 1971 on June 28, Elon Musk is many things… among them, he is a visionary, a risk taker, a businessman, an investor, and a father of 7 children. He is famously known as one of the co-founders of PayPal and the current CEO of Space X and Tesla. He is also the founder/co-founder of several other companies, such as Open AI, The Boring Company, Zip2, and Neuralink. As of January 2023, Elon Musk is the second richest person on the planet, with an estimated net worth of 146.8 billion dollars U.S.
QUICK FACTS ABOUT ELON MUSK
- Full Name: Elon Reeve Musk
- Date of Birth: June 28, 1971
- Citizenship: United States, Canada & South Africa
- Schooling: University of Pretoria, University of Pennsylvania, Queens University
- Number of Children: 8 (1 deceased as an infant)
- Parents: Errol Musk (Father) & Maye Musk (Mother)
- Siblings: Tosca Musk (sister), Kimbal Musk (brother), Lyndon Rive (cousin)
20 Facts About Elon Musk
1. Elon Musk was born in South Africa to a Canadian mother named Maye Musk. Maye Musk was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Her family moved to Pretoria, South Africa, in 1950, where Maye met Elon Musk’s father, Errol Musk.
2. When he was 17, he emigrated to Canada from South Africa. After transferring to the University of Pennsylvania, he settled in the United States.
3. Despite his business career, he has spent quite a bit of time in the classrooms, attending the University of Pretoria, the University of Pennsylvania, and Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.
4. During his time at the University of Pennsylvania, Musk and his roommate Andeo Ressi rented a house and converted it into a nightclub to cover rent.
5. His first business venture, Zip2, along with his brother Kimbal, was started after just two days at Stanford University. Newspapers are used in their business directories and maps provided by the company. Compaq acquired the company in 2004 for $307 million.
6. When he was 12 years old, Elon Musk developed and sold a video game to a magazine. PC and Office Technology magazine bought ‘Blastar,’ a space fighting game, for $500.
7. Musk nearly sold Tesla to Google for $11 billion in 2013.
8. Television appearances include The Simpsons episode “The Musk Who Fell to Earth” and The Big Bang Theory.
9. Robert Downey Jr. took inspiration from Musk when creating Tony Stark. Certain parts of Iron Man 2 were filmed inside and outside SpaceX.
10. Fun fact; Musk is a big fan of rapper Kanye West.
11. Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, was founded in 2002 by Musk. Musk believed humanity’s survival depended on its ability to become a multi-planetary species, but current rocket launch technology needed cheaper. Through the launches of Falcon 1 in 2006, Falcon 9 in 2010 and Falcon Heavy in 2018, he was able to accomplish this.
12. He confessed that he named one of his sons Xavier after Professor Xavier of the X-Men.
13. Space exploration and the discovery of clean energy are among the goals of the Musk Foundation, established by Musk. The Foundation operates a telescope in Utah as part of Musk Mars Desert Observatory.
14. Elon Musk’s annual salary from Tesla is $1.
15. It is estimated that thank’s to Elon’s SpaceX, reaching the ISS (International Space Station) now costs NASA about 60 billion dollars instead of $1 billion per mission.
16. Musk introduced his latest project in 2013 – the Hyperloop, a new form of transportation that, in theory, could transport people from San Francisco to Los Angeles in half an hour. Musk has said he will build the ring if no one else does.
17. Musk agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion on April 25, 2022, and is officially the company’s new owner.
18. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and physics.
19. Space X and Tesla are both responsible for most of Elon’s wealth, especially Tesla.
20. He has been married three times. Once to Jennifer Justine Wilson and twice to Talulah Riley.