At this day and age, we always wonder what our future will bring. And when we think about our future, we thought of Elon Musk, the pioneer for anything futuristic. Unlike Apple, who overcharges anyone who uses their tech, Musk believes in creating futuristic technology for everyone. So here’s some fun facts about him which gets a little awkward towards the end:
#1
Though he’s famous for starting Tesla Motors and SpaceX, he actually made his fortune as the co-founder of PayPal.
#2
At 12, Musk taught himself computer programming and created his own video game called Blastar which he sold for $500.”[It was] a trivial game … but better than Flappy Bird,” Musk told WaitButWhy.
#3
After graduating, Musk began graduate school in physics at Stanford University, but after just 2 days, he dropped out and decided to take advantage of the Internet boom instead – which was in full swing at the time. Talk about taking the right opportunities!
#4
Musk started his first company, Zip2, which provided online newspapers with maps and business directories. He later sold the company in 1999 for $307 million.
#5
He then co-founded X.com which later became PayPal. It was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion in stock. And if one were to check this, they’d know that other forms of digital currencies followed suit in their incipience. And if you were to check out https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2019/05/what-is-blockchain-technology, you’d know what really constituted the base for the above enumerated cryptocurrencies.
#6
The Tesla Model S was awarded a 5.4-out-of-5 safety rating from the National Highway Safety Administration – the highest rating ever given to an automobile.
#7
Musk is one of the most important people behind SolarCity, a company founded by his cousins, and he’s also the largest shareholder of the company.
#8
Musk founded SpaceX with the aim to reduce the cost of space flight in hopes of expanding human life beyond Earth.
#9
Musk went against every single piece of business advice with SpaceX, channelling all his own money into the company when other investors saw it as a pipedream.
#10
Musk has already reduced the cost of reaching the International Space Station by 90%, bringing it from $1 billion per million to just $60 million.
#11
SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to resuppy – and eventually ferry people to – the International Space Station, and replace the Space Shuttle.
#12
Musk aspires to build his Falcon rocket one day and make space tourism and the colonisation of Mars a realistic goal for all of us.
#13
Yes, the rocket’s name comes from the Star Wars’ ‘Millennium Falcon’.
#14
SpaceX is the first commercial company to ever successfully recover a spacecraft from Earth’s orbit with its Dragon spacecraft being the first commercial vehicle to attach to the International Space Station.
#15
Two of his current companies came very close to failing; Tesla’s first electric car, the Roadster, faced an ongoing string of production problems, and SpaceX had 3 launch failure before its next one was a success.
#16
Musk had received the FAI Gold Space Medal – the organisation’s higest award – in 2010 for designing the first privately developed rocket to reach orbit by the Federation Aronautique Internationale.
#17
Musk established the Musk Foundation, a group committed to space exploration and discovering clean energy sources. It also runs a simulated Mars environment that allows visitors to experience what life on Mars would be life. I guess where I’m going for my next holiday!
18#
Musk is a strong advocate for fighting against global warming and is working towards a sustainable energy use, citing it as his primary incentive for founding Tesla Motors and SolarCity.
#19
Musk has signed the Giving Pledge, in which pledges promises to donate the majority of their wealth to philanthropic efforts. This pledge is also signed by Bill Gates, Sir Richard Branson, Warren Buffet, and Mark Zuckerberg among others.
#20
In 2013, Must introduced his latest endeavour- the Hyperloop, which is a new form of transportation that could theoretically send people from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 30 minutes through pressurized tubes. He added that if no one else will build it, he would do it himself. Is it me or I’m thinking about those transportation tubes in Futurama?
Warning: This is where it gets weirder!
#21
He has a dirty sense of humour (my, I think I’ve met my soul-mate). When naming the Tesla Model 3, he originally wanted to call it the Model E “for dumb obvious humour reasons”, which was that if he had his way, the cars would be Models S, E, and X. Sadly, due to Ford trademark lawsuit, he settled for Model 3 instead. Which is pretty equally funny if you ask me.
#22
He used to drink 96 ounces of Diet Coke per day… plus some coffee. It was his way of staying awake and focused during his 100-hour work weeks while in the midst of building and launching his companies. I have 5 Red Bulls and I’m already like the Chipmunks on coffee. “I got so freaking jacked that I seriously started to feel like I was losing my peripheral vision,” he said.
#23
When a Reddit user asked him what was his daily habit that had the largest positive impact on his life, Musk replied “showering.”
#24
He once proposed to nuking Mars. Though in his defence it was regarding his ideas on colonising mars, stating that one could transform Mars into an Earth-like planet by warming it up with the fastest way being to drop thermonuclear weapons over the poles. Later, he clarified that his idea would be to create 2 Sun near Mars via nuclear fusion. Talk about going all the way!
#25
Whilst studying in college, he would throw house parties and charge a cover fee of $5 just to help him pay his rent. His roommates and him lived in a 10-bedroom frat house, and during those parties, Musk would stay sober to ensure everything is under control. In fact once, his mother Maye actually worked the front door! Man, I wished my mom was that cool
