Elon Musk has risen to fame by founding a few of the most modern tech firms on the earth immediately, together with electrical automobile maker Tesla and house exploration firm SpaceX. At the moment, Musk ranks because the richest individual on the earth, based on Bloomberg, largely because of his roughly 13 % stake in Tesla, which was price about $74 billion as of February 2024.
However Musk’s enterprise practices are unconventional and generally controversial. In 2022, he agreed to accumulate social media firm Twitter in a $44 billion deal earlier than later attempting to again out of the deal. He in the end agreed to shut the deal at its unique phrases earlier than a Delaware trial was set to start.
Right here’s what else you must find out about Musk together with how he acquired his begin and his largest investments immediately.
Key details about Elon Musk
- Estimated internet price of $200 billion as of February 2024, making him the richest individual on the earth, based on Bloomberg. He’s about $5 billion forward of the person in second place, Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos.
- Leads 5 ventures: Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter, Neuralink and The Boring Firm.
- Born in Pretoria, South Africa and purchased his first pc at age 10.
- Graduated from the College of Pennsylvania with levels in Physics and Economics.
- In 2012, Musk joined Warren Buffett’s Giving Pledge, which asks billionaires to dedicate the vast majority of their wealth to charitable causes.
- Co-founder of on-line cost system PayPal, which was offered to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion.
- Helped launch The Boring Firm, a tunneling enterprise that hopes to alleviate city congestion and permit for high-speed, long-distance journey.
- CEO of Neuralink, which is working to develop interfaces that permit the human mind to be related to computer systems.
- Agreed in 2018 to settle securities fraud costs introduced in opposition to him by the Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) after he tweeted that he may take Tesla non-public for $420 per share and that funding had been secured, which the SEC mentioned “lacked an sufficient foundation in truth.”
- Disclosed a 9 % stake in Twitter in April 2022 earlier than agreeing to accumulate your complete firm in a $44 billion deal later that month. He later sought to again out of the deal earlier than reversing his place and finishing the deal at its unique phrases.
Elon Musk’s prime investments
Elon Musk has been concerned in some main tech firms, a few of which have grow to be among the many largest firms within the U.S.
| Firm | Worth | # of Staff |
|---|---|---|
| *Be aware: Tesla and PayPal values are as of Feb. 6, 2024. SpaceX worth is as of December 2023, The Boring Firm is as of October 2023 and Neuralink is as of November 2023.Sources: Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg, The Info and PitchBook | ||
| Tesla | $587 billion | 140,473 |
| SpaceX | $180 billion | 13,000 |
| The Boring Firm | Over $7 billion | ~200 |
| Neuralink | $3.5 billion | |
| PayPal | $68 billion | 29,900 |
PayPal/X.com
After promoting Zip2, a software program firm designed to assist newspapers construct on-line metropolis guides, to Compaq Pc in 1999, Musk used the proceeds to create X.com. He later merged the enterprise with cash switch firm Confinity they usually mixed to create PayPal.
When PayPal was offered to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion, Musk’s 11.7 % stake ended up netting him about $180 million after taxes. The sale of PayPal created vital wealth for its founders and early workers, who went on to create and spend money on new tech firms. The group of PayPal founders, which incorporates investor and political activist Peter Thiel and Affirm CEO Max Levchin, got here to be often called the “PayPal Mafia.”
Tesla
Based in 2003, Tesla has grow to be a frontrunner in electrical automobile manufacturing. Musk joined Tesla as an investor in 2004 and have become chairman of its board of administrators, finally turning into CEO in 2008. Tesla launched its first automobile in 2008, and its Mannequin S, launched in 2012, was named one of the best general automobile by Shopper Studies. Tesla turned the world’s Most worthy automobile firm in the summertime of 2020 and its market worth topped $1 trillion within the fall of 2021 earlier than falling in 2022. The corporate had a market worth of about $587 billion as of February 2024.
Musk owns a roughly 13 % stake in Tesla and has vital affect on the firm, main product design, engineering and international manufacturing for the corporate’s EVs, battery and photo voltaic power merchandise.
In 2018, Musk and Tesla agreed to every pay $20 million to settle securities fraud costs introduced by the SEC after Musk tweeted that he may take the corporate non-public for $420 per share and that funding had been secured, regardless of there being no sufficient foundation for the declare. Musk was additionally compelled to step down as chair of Tesla for 3 years as a part of the settlement.
SpaceX
Musk can be CEO and lead designer at SpaceX, which develops rockets and spacecraft for missions to Earth’s orbit and in the end, the corporate says, to different planets. Musk used the vast majority of the cash he gained from PayPal to begin SpaceX in 2002. The corporate has received contracts with NASA and the U.S. Air Pressure to design rockets.
SpaceX is a personal firm, however Musk held a 42 % stake within the enterprise by means of a belief, based on a 2022 submitting reviewed by Bloomberg.
Neuralink
Neuralink is growing ultra-high bandwidth mind machine interfaces to attach human brains to computer systems, based on the corporate’s web site. The corporate introduced it had raised $205 million in 2021 from various enterprise capital corporations and buyers together with Google.
The corporate says Musk’s objective with Neuralink is to assist folks with mind accidents within the close to time period and cut back the chance that synthetic intelligence poses to humanity in the long run. The corporate is likely one of the smallest Musk is concerned with and has fewer than 500 workers.
In January 2024, Musk introduced that the primary human had acquired a Neuralink mind implant and that the affected person was recovering effectively.
The Boring Firm
The Boring Firm seeks to mix quick, inexpensive tunneling expertise with an electrical public transportation system in an effort to ease city congestion and permit for high-speed, long-distance journey. The corporate constructed a 1.15-mile tunnel in Hawthorne, California for use for analysis and improvement and is at the moment constructing Vegas Loop, a public transportation system on the Las Vegas Conference Heart.
The corporate was valued at greater than $7 billion after an worker share sale in October 2023, based on a report from The Info. That valuation is increased than its valuation throughout a funding spherical in April 2022 when it raised $675 million. The 2022 funding was led by Vy Capital and Sequoia Capital, two main enterprise capital corporations.
DeepMind Applied sciences
Synthetic intelligence firm DeepMind Applied sciences was began in 2010 with Musk as a key investor. The corporate has developed AI methods that play video games higher than people. Musk has lengthy warned concerning the risks of AI and the chance it poses to civilization.
Google acquired DeepMind in 2014 for a reported sum of $600 million.
SolarCity
SolarCity was began in 2006 by two of Musk’s cousins and financially backed by Musk, who served on the corporate’s board. The corporate offered and put in photo voltaic era methods and different associated merchandise to residential, industrial and industrial clients.
Tesla agreed to accumulate SolarCity in a $2.6 billion deal in 2016. Some critics characterised the acquisition as a bailout for SolarCity, which had struggled to lift cash. Musk mentioned he wasn’t concerned within the valuation of the acquisition and later received a shareholder lawsuit associated to the deal.
Elon Musk’s internet price
Elon Musk has grown his internet price by creating and investing in firms. He’s been capable of flip his proceeds from the sale of PayPal early in his profession into even larger sums by redeploying the cash into ventures which have turned out enormously effectively.
His present estimated internet price of $200 billion has grown tremendously because the begin of 2020, when it stood at about $27.6 billion, based on Bloomberg. Since then, Tesla’s inventory has appreciated greater than six-fold and Musk’s internet price has risen with it, vaulting him into the place of richest individual on the earth. At his internet price of $27.6 billion initially of 2020, he’d sit at quantity 57 on the present record of billionaires.
Elon Musk and Twitter
In April 2022, Musk disclosed a 9 % stake in social media firm Twitter after years of being an energetic person with a big following. Ultimately he agreed to buy your complete firm earlier than later attempting to again out of the deal. He in the end agreed to buy the corporate on the unique deal phrases. Right here’s a timeline of how the occasions performed out:
- April 4, 2022: Musk disclosed that he holds a 9 % stake in Twitter, sending Twitter shares hovering.
- April 25, 2022: Twitter accepts Musk’s bid to take over the corporate in a $44 billion deal, which values the corporate at $54.20 per share.
- July 8, 2022: Musk seeks to terminate the merger settlement with Twitter, saying he hasn’t acquired sufficient data to know what number of faux accounts exist on the platform.
- July 12, 2022: Twitter information a lawsuit in opposition to Musk, in search of to power him to honor the merger settlement. The corporate mentioned it “bent over backwards” to offer the data he requested.
- July 19, 2022: Delaware decide grants Twitter’s request to fast-track its lawsuit, setting a five-day trial to start in October.
- August 4, 2022: In a countersuit, Musk accuses Twitter of fraud, saying the corporate misrepresented key person metrics earlier than he agreed to accumulate the corporate.
- August 6, 2022: Musk challenges Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal to a public debate concerning the share of Twitter customers which can be faux or spam accounts.
- October 4, 2022: Musk agrees to buy Twitter on the unique deal worth of $54.20/share weeks earlier than a Delaware trial was set to start.
- October 6, 2022: Delaware decide units an Oct. 28 deadline for Musk and Twitter to finish the deal.
- October 28, 2022: Musk completes deal for Twitter and instantly fires its prime executives together with its CEO and CFO.
- Might 12, 2023: Musk publicizes that he’s employed NBCUniversal govt Linda Yaccarino to be Twitter’s new CEO.
- June 5, 2023: The New York Occasions experiences that Twitter’s advert gross sales fell 59 % from April 1 by means of the primary week of Might, in comparison with the identical interval in 2022.
- July 24, 2023: Musk unveiled a brand new X brand, saying it could substitute Twitter’s blue chicken, probably organising the corporate to enter the monetary providers business.
Elon Musk and cryptocurrency
Musk has additionally been a frequent commentator and supporter of cryptocurrencies by means of his tweets. In February 2021, Tesla introduced it had bought $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and deliberate to just accept the coin as cost for its product and providers. A number of months later, Musk appeared on Saturday Evening Stay the place he referred to the cryptocurrency Dogecoin as a “hustle.” The coin fell 30 % after Musk’s feedback and has fallen even additional since.
Tesla stopped accepting Bitcoin as cost only a few months after it began resulting from environmental issues. Musk mentioned in July 2021 that Tesla would “most definitely” settle for Bitcoin once more as soon as it turns into extra eco-friendly.
In July 2022, Tesla mentioned it had transformed about 75 % of its Bitcoin holdings into fiat foreign money, regardless of touting the long-term potential of Bitcoin a 12 months earlier.
Funding recommendation from Elon Musk
- Spend money on bodily issues: Musk wrote in a tweet in March 2022 that “it’s typically higher to personal bodily issues like a house or inventory in firms you suppose make good merchandise, than {dollars} when inflation is excessive.” He added that he wouldn’t be promoting his cryptocurrency holdings similar to Bitcoin, Ethereum or Dogecoin.
- Diversification: “Purchase inventory in a number of firms that make services and products that *you* consider in,” Musk wrote to followers in 2022. By suggesting buyers select a number of firms, Musk is arguing for a diversified method, which implies you received’t be sunk if one or two of your investments carry out poorly.
- Keep calm: Musk means that the one cause to promote an funding is that if an organization’s services and products are deteriorating. “Don’t panic when the market does,” he says.
