Elon Musk is my hero and if you haven’t heard of him, oh my, its time to rock your world. This is probably gonna be a happy rant about this amazing man.
Simply put, Elon Musk is an investor, engineer and inventor who has done so much that it is truly inspiring. People predict he has a net worth of around $20.5 billion so that’s also pretty great. Oh yeah, and he is also only 46.
His Achievements
Since he has done so much, I am forced to skip out some of his smaller achievements but If you want to know more google him or something.
PayPal
Lets set the scene, its 2000 and Elon has been working on a project called X.com (which he co-founded). X.com is deciding to merge with Confinity which has a money transfer service called PayPal. Elon and his company decided to start working on the PayPal side of the company. Funny enough, it’s quite hard to get random strangers to trust you with their bank details so a viral marketing campaign was set up. They decided to give money to anyone who was a new customer to the service, and this started to take off. Paypal started to grow and Elon, as the CEO did as well.
Sadly, disagreements start to happen and Elon was removed from his role as CEO in October 2000. Does Elon sit on the floor and cry, does he give up on his dreams? TO HELL HE DOES. Elon Musk gets back up and, in the end, PayPal was sold to eBay. Since Musk was the company’s largest shareholder he got $165 MILLION through this sale.
Congrats Elon, you are a millionaire! DO you want to sit and relax on all your money and have a comfortable life? NOPE!
SpaceX
Musk tries to start a project called “Mars Oasis”, which basically is a project trying to land a miniature experimental greenhouse on mars to try and get the public interested in space exploration. The group working on the project met with multiple companies to make this a reality and it wasn’t easy, apparently (I’m quoting the Wiki here) “Musk was seen as a novice and was consequently spat on by one of the Russian chief designers”. This is a massive let down for the team and they are forced to return to the USA empty-handed. He returns to Russia AGAIN but is again given nothing. Two failed attempts, But does he give up?
NOPE, on the plane ride home “Musk realized that he could start a company that could build the affordable rockets he needed.” That’s right kids if you cant get someone else to do it then its time to do it yourself! Musk decided to fund SpaceX with the long-term goal of creating a “true spacefaring civilization”.
With $100 Million dollars, he funds SpaceX, making himself the CEO and the CTO. He also decided to call the first two launch vehicles Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 after the Star Wars’ Millennium Falcon which is just amazing. The third one was named the “Dragon” which is also gold.
In 2006, NASA got involved and awarded a contract to continue development on the Falcon 9 and the Dragon Spacecraft. They also gave a “Commercial Resupply Services program contract in 2008 which supplied a $1.6 Billion fund to the company.
The company continues to thrive and during of 2017, SpaceX launched 18 successful Falcon 9 flights, more than doubling the previous year of 8. Elon wants to establish a Mars colony by 2040 with a population of 80,000. They are hoping to send a manned MCT flight to mars departing in 2024.
So Elon, you have not only set up one of the leading payment companies but also created one of the only independent space exploration companies to be this successful, are you ready to have a happy retirement? NOPE!
Tesla
You have probably heard of this company, they are pretty famous for their cars. In February of 2004, Elon Musk joined the board of directors as its chairman. In 2008, he started to lead the company as CEO and product architect, which is his current job today.
Tesla Motors built the first electric sports car known as the Tesla Roadster in 2008. This sold well, selling about 2,500 vehicles to 31 countries. As well as creating a Model X and Model S, Tesla has an active role in creating electric powertrain systems for a whole range of car companies.
SO not only has Musk made changes in the way we pay for stuff, changes in the way we travel to space, Elon Musk has also revolutionised the way we drive to create a greener environment? This man just doesn’t slow down.
Other Projects
Other than the stuff I have mentioned above, Elon musk as worked on multiple different projects such as Solar City, a project to help combat global warming, Hyperloop, a high-speed transportation system which looks to be cheaper than any other mode of transportation for long distances. OpenAL, a not-for-profit artificial intelligence research company, Neuralink, a company aiming to integrate the human brain with artificial intelligence and loads of other stuff. The guy just never seems to take a break!
Conclusion
The reason I think I aspire to be like Elon Musk so much is he works towards what he believes in. He never sits down and says “this is enough, I am going to stop here”. It’s never about the money. Elon Musk wants to make a better planet for the future, he wants to make changes and he is willing to work hard to get there. He is making scientific breakthroughs and breaking records by the minute. Elon Musk, although he isn’t cool, although he isn’t well known, although he isn’t in teen magazines or whatever, I think more people should look up to Elon Musk because if more people had him as their role model, the world would be a vastly different place.
WEAReTRANS 