Elon Musk has been one of if not the biggest names in the technology sector over the past decade. His brilliance in mind is likened to people like Steve Jobs and he’s said to be an engineering genius. Most recently he was endorsed by Google CEO Larry Page who was quoted as saying if he were to leave all his money to one person in the world it would be Elon Musk.
Recently Scott Pelley of 60 minutes sat down with the founder of Tesla and SpaceX to get into some more details about the company, the founder himself, and his views on the future. The segment, called “Fast Cars and Rocket Ships” gave us more than a glimpse into what many consider to be one of the greatest minds of the 21st century.
That said, we wanted to take some time to highlight 10 things you might not now about Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk:
Elon Musk Net Worth
Currently the CEO of Tesla Motors is worth an estimated $8.4 Billion. He sold his first commercial computer program by the time he was 12. The first company he founded, Zip2 was acquired by AltaVista for $340 million in cash and stock. He would eventually go on to co-found PayPal, SpaceX, and Tesla Motors, among other entities. Currently Musk owns 28% of Tesla which has a market cap of nearly $20 Billion.
He began Paypal and sold it for $1.5 Billion to Ebay
When eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion in October 2002, Musk’s 11.7% earned him a $165 million payday. Not bad for a guy in his twenties.
0 to 60 in four seconds
Apparently the Tesla Model S is fast and smoke-free. It’s powered by 7,000 battery cells linked to an electric motor. No engine, no transmission, no tailpipe. Also, the dash is dominated by a computer that’s constantly connected to the Internet. This revolutionary car has spawned millions of fans who flock to the internet to talk about Tesla and the revolutionary mind of Musk. The Tesla will go about 250 miles on a charge. And Musk is building a network of charging stations where the driver pays nothing for a fill up. He hopes to make the stations largely solar powered one day.
Over $500 Million in loans from U.S. taxpayers
Most companies, when funding themselves, take on large amounts of debt. Many don’t know that Tesla took on over $500 million in loans from U.S. taxpayers. In fact if it weren’t for these loans he says the company would have never survived. Since taking out the loans, Musk has stated he’s paid them back in full and with interest. Musk stated he does “not like to be in debt.”
Zombie Apocolypse Warranty
When asked about his amazing Tesla model and the power saving Musk said, “You can drive for free, forever, on pure sunlight. That’s the, you know, message we’re trying to convey. So even if, like, there’s a zombie apocalypse and the grid breaks down, you’ll still be able to charge your car.” Pelley then responded with “so there’s a zombie apocalypse warranty?” to which Musk responded “yes.”
He had success when he was 12 just years old
At only the young age of 12 Musk wrote software for a video game and sold it. Eventually Musk would move to Silicon Valley (despite his parents not being so sure).
He slept in an office
When Musk moved to Silicon Valley he would sleep in the floor of an office and take showers at the YMCA. In that office, Musk invented a program that gave step by step directions between addresses. Today, that technology is common in most cars. However in 1995 it was revolutionary. In four years he made $22 million. His next venture would be Paypal.
Three major failures in 2008
Musk, like many CEOs who have persevered to achieve high levels of success had a very tough 2008. At the time, the American economy was tanking. His ventures to get SpaceX into space were failing. Three attempts into space had failed. His car company,Tesla, was losing money hand over fist. And to add to all of that, Musk was going through a rough divorce at the time. He said it was closest he’d ever been to having a nervous break down. Adding to this list was the fact the Musk was effectively broke in the winter of 2008. Investors didn’t want to hand over any cash and prospects were extremely dim.
A $1.5 Billion Contract from NASA
This is what essentially saved Musk’s career. On the fourth attempt to launch into Space, his company SpaceX was successful and Musk got a call from NASA. When he heard about the contract he actually said “I love you to them.” Two days later, on Christmas Eve, Tesla’s investors decided to pour in more money.
His Twitter Following
Currently Elon Musk has almost 600K followers on Twitter (597K at the time of this writing)
Here’s the video from 60 minutes:
Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for The New York Times
