image by Daniel Oberhaus (2018)
Elon Musk is perhaps one of the most fascinating figure alive on this planet. He is well known for being the CEO and Co-Founder of Tesla, and CEO of SpaceX. He has a net worth of $36.5 billion as of May 2020. Called the real life iron man, Elon Musk is the personification of innovation. Not only has his creations made him one of the richest people in the world, they are also serving a purpose. Elon Musk is responsible for several inventions and projects. Let’s take a lot at what else the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX investor has been up to his entire life.
Elon Musk launched his first company, Zip2 corporation in 1995. The company basically built digital maps and directories for online newspapers. He co-founded the company with his younger brother Kimbal Musk, and worked day and night to make it success. 4 years later, Zip2 corporation was sold to PC Company Compaq for $307 million and $34 million in stock options. Musk’s share from the sale was around $22 million.
PayPal is probably one of the most famous Elon Musk projects of the past. Musk used a major chunk of the money from the sale of Zip2, to create X.com, a platform for online banking. However, there was an existing player in the market with a similar idea. Hence, Musk merged X.com with the rival company, and this is how the PayPal we know today was born.
The company went onto become one of the most famous companies in the world. E-bay bought it in 2002 for a deal valued at $1.5 billion dollars. Elon Musk pocketed a whopping $180 million from this deal courtesy of his 11% stake in the company. He went on to use this money to find Tesla and SpaceX. Today, both companies are potentially on the brink of changing the world.
One of the most fascinating inventions of Elon Musk is the Hyperloop. In August 2013, he announced the concept for a new form of transportation. Still in its development stages, Hyperloop would enable people to travel faster between cities. The body would be resistant to weather and powered by renewable energy. It will propel riders in pods through a network of low-pressure tubes at speeds reaching more than 700 mph. Elon Musk claims that Hyperloop would make travel between cities faster than a commercial flight.
One of Elon Musk companies includes The Boring Company. Its mission statement reads, “To solve the problem of soul-destroying traffic, roads must go 3D, which means either flying cars or tunnels. Unlike flying cars, tunnels are weatherproof, out of sight and won’t fall on your head.”
Musk created The Boring Company with the aim of reducing traffic by boring and digging tunnels. In May 2019, the company secured a contract worth $48.7 million dollars from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to build an underground Loop system to shuttle people around the Las Vegas Convention Center. The company later named TBR, currently has construction contracts in Chicago, Los Angeles, and California.
To facilitate the development and progression of Artificial Intelligence, Elon Musk became involved with OpenAI. He became the co-chair of the non-profit organization. The company was launched in 2015 with the aim for advancement of artificial intelligence to benefit humanity only. OpenAI develops games to teach AI systems how to learn. Musk realized the importance of Artificial Intelligence and decided contribute to its advancements. He has been vocal about how the wrong use of AI could potentially end the human race. OpenAI was founded for this very reason.
However, Elon Musk did not stop at OpenAI. He went on to create Neuralink, a company meant to augment human brain’s capabilities. The aim of this company was to enhance the human brain by the use of technology. This would help keep humans a step ahead of Artificial Intelligence as the brain will be linked to a computer. The ultimate goal of the company is to create a chip or a device that could be implanted in the brain. Musk believes keeping pace with AI in the future is essential for survival. Hence, OpenAI and Neuralink are arguably one of the most important inventions of Elon Musk.
Elon Musk has had a myriad of achievements throughout his career, and will go on to achieve even more. He is one of the most influential people in the world, and has had a tremendous impact on the advancement of technology in this world. He is indeed the real life iron man, one that we desperately need.