Surprising Facts About Elon Musk: The richest person in the world has had major success with Tesla, SpaceX, and PayPal. But you probably don’t know this about him.
Surprising Facts About Elon Musk, Elon Musk is an outspoken and charismatic CEO, a role that is rarely seen as flashy at most companies. Then again, most companies aren’t electric car pioneers like Tesla or space exploration companies like SpaceX. Despite Musk’s fame, there are things you likely do not know about the world’s richest person, including using many of the strategies the 1% use to deal with inflation. Here are 20 of them.
1. He almost sold Tesla to Google
Surprising Facts About Elon Musk, At a dire time in Tesla’s history, Musk reached out to Google CEO Larry Page about buying the failing car company, according to Ashlee Vance’s book “Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future.” The two allegedly initially agreed in 2013 to a sale price of $6 billion, but it never came to be.
2. He dropped out of Stanford
Musk lasted two days at Stanford before dropping out of school. He was there initially to pursue a doctorate in physics. Instead, he left the school to start up his first company, Zip2, which he sold four years later for more than $300 million.
3. He owns a James Bond car
Surprising Facts About Elon Musk, In 2013, Musk bought a Lotus Esprit for almost $1 million. Why so much? Because it was a 1976 version that had been fixed up to become an underwater car for James Bond in the movie “The Spy Who Loved Me.” Musk later admitted that he used the car for inspiration when designing his Tesla Cybertruck.
4. He has lots of kids
Musk has seven children — five with his ex-wife, Justine, and two with the musician Grimes. He also had a son, Nevada, who died of SIDS in 2002. In an interview with “The Wall Street Journal” in 2021, he said civilization is going to crumble if people don’t have more children. “I’m trying to set a good example. Yeah. Got to practice what I preach,” he said.
5. He’s made cameos in movies and TV
Surprising Facts About Elon Musk, Yes, Musk has an IMDb page. His first cameo was in the 2010 movie “Iron Man 2” and he played himself on TV’s “The Big Bang Theory.” And if live-action isn’t your thing, Musk has also become a cartoon version of himself in “The Simpsons,” “South Park,” and “Rick and Morty.”
6. He provided inspiration for Tony Stark
When Robert Downey Jr. was preparing for his role as Tony Stark in “Iron Man,” he turned to Musk for some inspiration. The two men met and Musk helped Downey add some mannerisms to his version of Stark that made the movies extra exciting.
7. He’s from South Africa
Surprising Facts About Elon Musk, Musk was born in South Africa and lived there until he was 17. His family then moved to Canada, and he started his collegiate career at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.
8. He used to work at PayPal
Musk co-founded X.com, an online bank that merged with another company to form PayPal. The ecommerce company eBay bought PayPal in 2002 for $1.5 billion. Musk, who was one of PayPal’s largest shareholders, made at least $175 million on the deal.
9. He’s the richest person in the world
Surprising Facts About Elon Musk, Musk’s ventures have made him very, very rich. He currently sits atop the list of the richest people in the world, with an estimated wealth of more than $200 billion. Yes, billion. His estimated worth has fluctuated recently due to changes in the stock market, as some of his wealth is tied up in shares of Tesla.
10. He wasn’t the founder of Tesla
Surprising Facts About Elon Musk: The richest person in the world has had major success with Tesla, SpaceX, and PayPal. But you probably don’t know this about him. Musk’s most successful venture may be Tesla, but the company wasn’t his idea. Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning founded the company in 2003 and brought Musk and his money aboard a year later. Musk invested $6.35 million in Tesla’s first round of venture funding in 2004. He’s now CEO of the company.
11. He used his PayPal money to create SpaceX
Surprising Facts About Elon Musk, Musk created SpaceX in 2002 and the aerospace company now launches spacecraft to the International Space Station with both supplies and astronauts. Musk was able to start the company with $100 million he earned when eBay acquired PayPal.
12. He inspired the creation of a solar-energy company
Surprising Facts About Elon Musk, SolarCity was founded in 2006 by two of Musk’s cousins, Peter and Lyndon Rive, and Musk invested $10 million into the company early on. He also held a seat on the company’s board. Tesla eventually acquired the solar company in 2016 for $2.6 billion and rebranded it as Tesla Energy.
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