Elon Musk | Biography, SpaceX, Tesla, Twitter

Elon_Musk (born June 28, 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa), South African-born American businessman who co-founded electronic payments company PayPal and founded SpaceX, a launch vehicle and spacecraft manufacturer. He was also an early major investor and CEO of electric car maker Tesla. Musk also acquired Twitter in 2022.

Early life:

Elon_Musk (born June 28, 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa), South African-born American businessman who co-founded electronic payments company PayPal and founded SpaceX, a launch vehicle and spacecraft manufacturer. He was also an early major investor and CEO of electric car maker Tesla. Musk also acquired Twitter in 2022.

PayPal and SpaceX:

Musk attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and in 1992 transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where he earned bachelor's degrees in physics and economics. In 1997, he enrolled for a master's degree in physics at Stanford University in California. , but left after just two days because he felt the internet had more potential for social change than physical work. In 1995, he founded Zip2, which provided maps and business directories for online newspapers. In 1999, Zip2 was acquired by computer maker Compaq for $307 million, and Musk founded the online financial services company X.com, which later became PayPal, specializing in online money transfers.Online auction company eBay bought PayPal in 2002 for $1.5 billion. Musk has long believed that in order for life to exist, humanity must become a multi-planetary species. However, he is not satisfied with the high cost of rocket launchers. In 2002, he founded Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) to make rockets more affordable.Its first two rockets, the Falcon 1 (first launched in 2006) and the larger Falcon 9 (first launched in 2010), were designed to cost significantly less than competing rockets.

The third rocket, Falcon Heavy (first launched in 2018), was designed in to carry 117,000 pounds (53,000 kg) into orbit, nearly double that of its biggest competitor, Delta IV Heavy by The Boeing Company, for one-third of the cost. . SpaceX has announced the successor to Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy: the Super Heavy-Starship system. The super-heavy first stage will be capable of lifting 100,000 kilograms (220,000 pounds) into low Earth orbit. The payload will be Starship, a spacecraft designed to provide rapid transit between cities on Earth and built bases on the Moon and Mars.SpaceX has also developed the Dragon a spacecraft that transports supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). Dragon can carry up to seven astronauts, and it already has a crewed flight carrying astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken to the ISS in 2020. The first Super Heavy–Starship system test flights made in 2020. In addition to being the CEO of SpaceX, Musk is also the main designer for the construction of Falcon, Dragon and Starship rockets. SpaceX is contracted with to build landers for astronauts to return to the Moon in 2025 as part of NASA's Artemis space program.

Tesla:

Musk has long been interested in the possibilities of electric cars, and in 2004 he became a major backer of Tesla Motors (later renamed Tesla), an electric car company led by businessman Martin Eberhard. and Marc Tarpenning founded. Tesla debuted its first vehicle, the Roadster, in 2006, with a range of 245 miles (394 kilometres). Unlike most electric cars before, which Musk considers tasteless and uninteresting, this is a sports car that can go from 0 to 60 miles (97, km) an hour in less than four seconds. . In 2010, the company's IPO raised about $226 million. Two years later, Tesla introduced the Model S, which was praised by automotive critics for its performance and design. The company received more acclaim for its Model X luxury SUV, which hit the market in 2015. The cheaper Model 3 went into production in 2017 and became the best-selling electric vehicle of all age. Not satisfied with the projected cost ($68 billion) of the high-speed rail system in California, Musk 2013 proposed another, faster system, the Hyperloop, a pneumatic tube in which a gondola carrying 28 passengers would travel 350 miles (560 km) between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 35 minutes at a top speed of 760 miles (1,220 km) per hour, roughly the speed of sound. Musk claims the Hyperloop will cost just $6 billion, and with an average of cabins departing every two minutes, the system can accommodate six million people riding this route each year. However, he said that between running SpaceX and Tesla, he couldn't spend time developing Hyperloop.

Twitter:

Musk joined the social media service Twitter in 2009 and, as @elonmusk, became one of the site's most popular accounts, with more than 85 million followers by 2022. He expressed reticence about Tesla's listing, and in August 2018 he posted a series of tweets about going private at $420 a share, noting that he had "guaranteed capital". (The $420 value is considered a joke referring to April 20, a date celebrated by cannabis enthusiasts.)

Months Later, USAThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Musk for securities fraud, accusing the tweets of being "false and misleading." Shortly after, Tesla's board rejected the SEC's proposed settlement, apparently because Musk threatened to quit. However, the news sent Tesla shares plunging and a tougher deal was finally agreed. His terms included Musk stepping down as chairman for three years, though he was still allowed to continue as CEO; His tweets had to be deleted first by Tesla's lawyers, and $20 million fines against Tesla and Musk were imposed.

Musk criticized Twitter's commitment to free speech principles, based on the company's content moderation policies.In early April 2022, Twitter's SEC filings revealed that Musk had purchased more than 9% of the company's shares. Shortly after, Twitter announced that Musk would join the company's board of directors, but Musk decided to decline and made an offer to buy back the entire company worth $54.20 per share at 44. billion USD. Twitter's board of directors accepted the deal, which would make the sole owner of the company. Musk said his plans for the company include "improving the product with new features, building an open-source algorithm for increased reliability, defeating spambots, and authenticating all humans."In July 2022, Musk announced that he would be withdrawing his offer, saying that Twitter had not provided enough information about bot accounts and that the company had "seriously violated many terms" of the contract of sale. Bret Taylor, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Twitter, responded by saying that the company is "committed to completing the transaction at the price and terms agreed with Mr. Musk." Twitter sued Musk to force him to buy the company. In September 2022, Twitter shareholders voted in favor of Musk's proposal.Facing a legal battle, Musk finally approved the deal, which was completed in October.