Falcon 9 B1046 was a reusable Falcon 9 first-stage booster manufactured by SpaceX . It flew four times between 2018 and 2020 before it was expended during a successful abort test of the Crew Dragon . It was the first rocket of the final Falcon 9 upgrade, Block 5 .
81-507: In October 2016, Elon Musk announced the Falcon 9 Block 5 , which featured revisions such as increased thrust, improved landing legs, and upgrades for easier reuse, including thermal protection on the side of the vehicle and a reusable heat shield at the base to protect the engines and plumbing. After a year of delays, B1046 was completed and transported to SpaceX's McGregor facility for testing in preparation for its maiden flight. This Falcon 9
162-456: A hyperloop high-speed vactrain transportation system. In 2015, he co-founded OpenAI, a nonprofit artificial intelligence research company. The following year Musk co-founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology company developing brain–computer interfaces , and The Boring Company, a tunnel construction company. In 2018 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Musk, alleging that he had falsely announced that he had secured funding for
243-503: A spaceflight services company, in 2002. In 2004, Musk was an early investor in electric-vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors, Inc. (later Tesla, Inc.), providing most of the initial financing and assuming the position of the company's chairman. He later became the product architect and, in 2008, the CEO. In 2006, Musk helped create SolarCity , a solar energy company that was acquired by Tesla in 2016 and became Tesla Energy . In 2013, he proposed
324-457: A " blue check ", and laid off a significant portion of the company's staff. Musk lessened content moderation, including reinstating accounts like The Babylon Bee . The Southern Poverty Law Center noted that Twitter has verified numerous extremists; hate speech also increased on the platform after his takeover. In December 2022, Musk released internal documents relating to Twitter's moderation of Hunter Biden's laptop controversy in
405-1074: A "nano-manager". The New York Times has characterized his approach as absolutist . Musk does not make formal business plans . He has forced employees to adopt the company's own jargon and launched ambitious, risky, and costly projects against his advisors' recommendations, such as removing front-facing radar from Tesla Autopilot . His insistence on vertical integration causes his companies to move most production in-house. While this resulted in saved costs for SpaceX's rocket, vertical integration (as of 2018) has caused many usability problems for Tesla's internal corporate software. Musk's handling of employees—whom he communicates with directly through mass emails—has been characterized as " carrot and stick ", rewarding those "who offer constructive criticism" while also being known to impulsively threaten, swear at, and fire his employees. Musk said he expects his employees to work for long hours, sometimes 80 hours per week. He has his new employees sign strict non-disclosure agreements and often fires in sprees, such as during
486-696: A 2005 defamation trial and the funding agreement from venture capital firm Mohr Davidow Ventures. Eventually, Zip2 obtained contracts with The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune . The brothers persuaded the board of directors to abandon a merger with CitySearch ; however, Musk's attempts to become CEO were thwarted. Compaq acquired Zip2 for $ 307 million in cash in February 1999, and Musk received $ 22 million for his 7-percent share. In March 1999, Musk co-founded X.com , an online financial services and e-mail payment company with $ 12 million of
567-572: A Bachelor of Science in economics from the university's Wharton School . He reportedly hosted large, ticketed house parties to help pay for tuition, and wrote a business plan for an electronic book-scanning service similar to Google Books . In 1994, Musk held two internships in Silicon Valley : one at energy storage startup Pinnacle Research Institute, which investigated electrolytic ultracapacitors for energy storage, and another at Palo Alto –based startup Rocket Science Games . In 1995, he
648-606: A Canadian passport through his Canadian-born mother to avoid South Africa’s mandatory military service , which would have forced him to participate in the apartheid regime, and to ease his path to immigration to the United States. While waiting for his application to be processed, he attended the University of Pretoria for five months. Musk arrived in Canada in June 1989, connected with
729-402: A Delta IV Heavy and its NRO payload awaiting launch at nearby SLC-6 . On its fourth and last mission, it launched a Crew Dragon capsule from Kennedy Space Center, up to the point of maximum dynamic pressure , where the stack separated to test the capsule's abort system in flight . Flying in expendable configuration, the booster had its engines turned off during the most challenging part of
810-432: A deal that would appoint him to Twitter's board of directors and prohibit him from acquiring more than 14.9% of the company. However, on April 13, Musk made a $ 43 billion offer to buy Twitter, launching a takeover bid to buy 100% of Twitter's stock at $ 54.20 per share. In response, Twitter's board adopted a "poison pill" shareholder rights plan to make it more expensive for any single investor to own more than 15% of
891-577: A device akin to a sewing machine that could embed threads into a human brain. In an October 2019 paper that detailed some of Neuralink's research, Musk was listed as the sole author, which rankled Neuralink researchers. At a 2020 live demonstration, Musk described one of their early devices as "a Fitbit in your skull" that could soon cure paralysis, deafness, blindness, and other disabilities. Many neuroscientists and publications criticized these claims, with MIT Technology Review describing them as "highly speculative" and "neuroscience theater". During
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#1732844851271972-543: A federal probe was launched into possible animal welfare violations by Neuralink. In September 2023, the Food and Drug Administration approved Neuralink to initiate human trials, and it plans to conduct a six-year study. In 2017, Musk founded The Boring Company to construct tunnels, and revealed plans for specialized, underground, high-occupancy vehicles that could travel up to 150 miles per hour (240 km/h) and thus circumvent above-ground traffic in major cities. Early in 2017,
1053-479: A fellow pupil, Elon was thrown down concrete steps and beaten severely by the boy and his friends, leading to him being hospitalized for his injuries. Elon described his father berating him after he was discharged from the hospital, saying, "I had to stand for an hour as he yelled at me and called me an idiot and told me that I was just worthless." Errol denied berating Elon but claimed, "The boy had just lost his father to suicide and Elon had called him stupid. Elon had
1134-425: A free Navteq database with a Palo Alto business database to create the first system. In 1996, Global Link received US$ 3 million in investments from Mohr Davidow Ventures and officially changed its name to Zip2. Davidow Ventures changed the fundamental strategy of Zip2 from localised direct to business sales to instead selling national back end software packages to newspapers to build their own directories. Elon Musk
1215-534: A majority of users wanted him to do so. Five months later, Musk stepped down from CEO and placed former NBCUniversal executive Linda Yaccarino in the position and transitioned his role to executive chairman and chief technology officer. On November 20, 2023, in a U.S. District Court in Texas, X filed a lawsuit stating that Media Matters "manipulated" the X platform, in that it used accounts that followed major brands, and "resorted to endlessly scrolling and refreshing"
1296-481: A month after announcing the takeover, Musk stated that the deal was "on hold" following a report that 5% of Twitter's daily active users were spam accounts. Although he initially affirmed his commitment to the acquisition, he sent notification of his termination of the deal in July; Twitter's board of directors responded that they were committed to holding him to the transaction. On July 12, 2022, Twitter formally sued Musk in
1377-518: A more than 10% drop in Tesla's stock price; at the time, SolarCity was facing liquidity issues. Multiple shareholder groups filed a lawsuit against Musk and Tesla's directors, stating that the purchase of SolarCity was done solely to benefit Musk and came at the expense of Tesla and its shareholders. Tesla directors settled the lawsuit in January 2020, leaving Musk the sole remaining defendant. Two years later,
1458-637: A private takeover of Tesla. To settle the case Musk stepped down as the chairman of Tesla and paid a $ 20 million fine. In 2022, he acquired Twitter for $ 44 billion, merged the company into the newly-created X Corp. and rebranded the service as X the following year. In March 2023, Musk founded xAI, an artificial-intelligence company. Musk's actions and expressed views have made him a polarizing figure. He has been criticized for making unscientific and misleading statements, including COVID-19 misinformation , promoting right-wing conspiracy theories , and endorsing an antisemitic trope ; he has since apologized for
1539-473: A rental lodge at the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve . Elon has a younger brother, Kimbal , and a younger sister, Tosca . Elon has four paternal half-siblings. The family was wealthy during Elon's youth. Despite both Elon and Errol previously stating that Errol was a part owner of a Zambian emerald mine, in 2023, Errol recounted that the deal he made was to receive "a portion of
1620-570: A rough ride while traveling at suboptimal speeds. Two tunnel projects announced in 2018, in Chicago and West Los Angeles, have been canceled. However, a tunnel beneath the Las Vegas Convention Center was completed in early 2021. Local officials have approved further expansions of the tunnel system. I made an offer https://sec.gov/Archives/edgar... Musk expressed interest in buying Twitter as early as 2017, and had questioned
1701-573: A second cousin in Saskatchewan, and worked odd jobs including at a farm and a lumber mill. In 1990, he entered Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario . Two years later, he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania , where he studied until 1995. Although Musk has said that he earned his degrees in 1995, the University of Pennsylvania did not award them until 1997 – a Bachelor of Arts in physics and
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#17328448512711782-508: A small group of angel investors , plus US$ 8,000 from Kouri. In Ashlee Vance 's biography of Elon Musk, it is claimed that their father, Errol Musk , provided the brothers with US$ 28,000 during this time, but Elon Musk later denied this. He later said that his dad provided around 10% of US$ 200,000 as part of a later funding round. Initially, Global Link provided local businesses with an Internet presence by linking their services to searchers and providing directions. Elon Musk combined
1863-464: A small rented office in Palo Alto , with Musk coding the website every night. Musk and his brother's immigration statuses during this period was described by Musk as a "gray area", although Kimbal maintained they were working as illegal immigrants. A Washington Post exposé from October 2024 reported Musk worked illegally while building the company, citing an email from Musk submitted as evidence during
1944-585: A tendency to call people stupid. How could I possibly blame that child?". After the incident, Elon was enrolled in private school. Elon was an enthusiastic reader of books, later attributing his success in part to having read The Lord of the Rings , the Foundation series , and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy . At age ten, he developed an interest in computing and video games, teaching himself how to program from
2025-508: A tweet by Musk regarding Tesla stock price ("too high imo ") violated the agreement. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)-released records showed that the SEC concluded Musk had subsequently violated the agreement twice by tweeting regarding " Tesla's solar roof production volumes and its stock price". Musk provided the initial concept and financial capital for SolarCity , which his cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive founded in 2006. By 2013, SolarCity
2106-401: A tweet that Tesla would build half a million cars that year. The SEC reacted by asking a court to hold him in contempt for violating the terms of the 2018 settlement agreement. A joint agreement between Musk and the SEC eventually clarified the previous agreement details, including a list of topics about which Musk needed preclearance. In 2020, a judge blocked a lawsuit that claimed
2187-575: A week, and a total of $ 16.4 billion by year end, reaching the 10% target. In February 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that both Musk and his brother Kimbal were under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for possible insider trading related to the sale. In 2022, Musk unveiled Optimus , a robot being developed by Tesla. In June 2023, Musk met with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi in New York City , stating he
2268-723: The Editor & Publisher . By 1998, the company had partnered with about 160 newspapers to develop guides to cities, either locally or at full scale. According to chairman and co-founder Elon Musk, twenty of those newspapers led to full-scale city guides. The New York Times reported that Zip2 also provided newspapers with an online directory, calendar, and email alongside their core offering. Zip2 allowed for two-way communication between users and advertisers. Users could message advertisers and have that message forwarded to their fax machine. Likewise, advertisers could fax users and users could view that fax using specific URLs. One Zip2 product
2349-487: The Chancery Court of Delaware for breaching a legally binding agreement to purchase Twitter. In October 2022, Musk reversed again, offering to purchase Twitter at $ 54.20 per share. The acquisition was officially completed on October 27. Immediately after the acquisition, Musk fired several top Twitter executives including CEO Parag Agrawal ; Musk became the CEO instead. He instituted a $ 7.99 monthly subscription for
2430-603: The International Astronomical Union , have alleged that Starlink blocks the view of the sky and poses a collision threat to spacecraft. During the March 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , Musk sent Starlink terminals to Ukraine to provide Internet access and communication. In October 2022, Musk stated that about 20,000 satellite terminals had been donated to Ukraine, together with free data transfer subscriptions, which cost SpaceX $ 80 million. After asking
2511-469: The Series A round of investment in February 2004; he invested $ 6.35 million, became the majority shareholder, and joined Tesla's board of directors as chairman. Musk took an active role within the company and oversaw Roadster product design, but was not deeply involved in day-to-day business operations. Following a series of escalating conflicts in 2007, and the financial crisis of 2007–2008 , Eberhard
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2592-485: The United States Department of Defense to pay for further units and future subscriptions on behalf of Ukraine, Musk publicly stated that SpaceX would continue to provide Starlink to Ukraine for free, at a yearly cost to itself of $ 400 million. At the same time, Musk refused to block Russian state media on Starlink, declaring himself "a free speech absolutist". In September 2023, Ukraine asked for
2673-469: The University of Pretoria before immigrating to Canada at the age of 18, acquiring citizenship through his Canadian-born mother. Two years later, he matriculated at Queen's University at Kingston in Canada. Musk later transferred to the University of Pennsylvania and received bachelor's degrees in economics and physics. He moved to California in 1995 to attend Stanford University but never enrolled in classes, and with his brother Kimbal co-founded
2754-520: The VIC-20 user manual. At age twelve, Elon sold his BASIC -based game Blastar to PC and Office Technology magazine for approximately $ 500. Musk attended Waterkloof House Preparatory School , Bryanston High School , and then Pretoria Boys High School , where he graduated. Musk was a good but not exceptional student, earning a 61 in Afrikaans and a B on his senior math certification. Musk applied for
2835-469: The first stage of a Falcon 9 on a land platform. Later landings were achieved on autonomous spaceport drone ships , an ocean-based recovery platform. In 2018, SpaceX launched the Falcon Heavy ; the inaugural mission carried Musk's personal Tesla Roadster as a dummy payload . Since 2019, SpaceX has been developing Starship , a fully-reusable , super-heavy-lift launch vehicle intended to replace
2916-500: The 25th successful landing of the Falcon 9. After inspection and refurbishment, B1046 was launched a second time on August 7, 2018, carrying the Telkom-4 (Merah Putih) satellite from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Telkom-4 mission marked the first time an orbital-class rocket booster launched two GTO missions. This was also the first re-flight of a Block 5 booster. Four months after
2997-697: The Falcon 1 into orbit in 2008. Later that year, SpaceX received a $ 1.6 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract from NASA for 12 flights of its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS), replacing the Space Shuttle after its 2011 retirement . In 2012, the Dragon vehicle docked with the ISS , a first for a commercial spacecraft. Working towards its goal of reusable rockets , in 2015 SpaceX successfully landed
3078-612: The Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy. In 2020, SpaceX launched its first crewed flight, the Demo-2 , becoming the first private company to place astronauts into orbit and dock a crewed spacecraft with the ISS. In 2024, NASA awarded SpaceX an $ 843 million contract to deorbit the ISS at the end of its lifespan. In 2015, SpaceX began development of the Starlink constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites to provide satellite Internet access , with
3159-480: The Model 3 "production hell" in 2018. In 2022, Musk revealed plans to fire 10 percent of Tesla's workforce, due to his concerns about the economy. That same month, he suspended remote work at SpaceX and Tesla and threatened to fire employees who do not work 40 hours per week in the office. He laid off more than 10 percent of the Tesla workforce in early 2024. Musk's leadership has been praised by some, who credit it with
3240-563: The Roadster, an electric sports car, in 2008. With sales of about 2,500 vehicles, it was the first serial production all-electric car to use lithium-ion battery cells. Tesla began delivery of its four-door Model S sedan in 2012. A crossover , the Model X was launched in 2015. A mass-market sedan, the Model 3 , was released in 2017. In 2020, the Model 3 became the all-time bestselling plug-in electric car worldwide, and in June 2021 it became
3321-430: The SEC's allegations. As a result, Musk and Tesla were fined $ 20 million each, and Musk was forced to step down for three years as Tesla chairman but was able to remain as CEO. Shareholders filed a lawsuit over the tweet, and in February 2023, a jury found Musk and Tesla not liable. Musk has stated in interviews that he does not regret posting the tweet that triggered the SEC investigation. In 2019, Musk stated in
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3402-553: The Telkom-4 mission, B1046 arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base to support the SSO-A mission. Following delays for additional satellite checks, liftoff occurred from SLC-4E on December 3, 2018. This marked the first time that the same orbital-class booster flew three times. While the mission profile allowed for the booster to return to the launch site, it landed offshore on the drone ship Just Read The Instructions due to vibration concerns for
3483-480: The activation of Starlink satellites over Crimea to attack Russian naval vessels located at the port Sevastopol ; Musk denied the request, citing concerns that Russia would respond with a nuclear attack. Tesla, Inc. , originally Tesla Motors, was incorporated in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning . Both men played active roles in the company's early development prior to Musk's involvement. Musk led
3564-399: The company began discussions with regulatory bodies and initiated construction of a 30-foot (9.1 m) wide, 50-foot (15 m) long, and 15-foot (4.6 m) deep "test trench" on the premises of SpaceX's offices, as that required no permits. The Los Angeles tunnel , less than two miles (3.2 km) in length, debuted to journalists in 2018. It used Tesla Model Xs and was reported to be
3645-413: The company had lost $ 24 billion in equity value, "a vaporization of wealth that has little parallel outside the realm of economic or industry-specific crashes, or devastating corporate scandals". Two years after the acquisition, Fidelity Investments estimated the value of its stake in X that implied the company had lost 79% of its value. Musk is often described as a micromanager and has called himself
3726-514: The company that operates the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) , and his role in the founding of the Boring Company , xAI , Neuralink , and OpenAI . Musk is the wealthiest individual in the world ; as of November 2024 , Forbes estimates his net worth to be US$ 323 billion. A member of the wealthy South African Musk family , Musk was born in Pretoria and briefly attended
3807-568: The company without board approval. Nevertheless, by the end of the month Musk had successfully concluded his bid for approximately $ 44 billion. This included about $ 12.5 billion in loans against his Tesla stock and $ 21 billion in equity financing . Tesla's stock market value sank by over $ 100 billion the next day in reaction to the deal. He subsequently tweeted to his 86 million followers criticism of Twitter executive Vijaya Gadde 's policies, which led to some of them engaging in sexist and racist harassment against her. Exactly
3888-423: The company's CEO and chief engineer. SpaceX attempted its first launch of the Falcon 1 rocket in 2006. Although the rocket failed to reach Earth orbit , it was awarded a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program contract from NASA , now led by Michael D. Griffin as Administrator. After two more failed attempts that nearly caused Musk and his companies to go bankrupt, SpaceX succeeded in launching
3969-614: The court ruled in Musk's favor. In 2016, Musk co-founded Neuralink , a neurotechnology startup company, with an investment of $ 100 million. Neuralink aims to integrate the human brain with artificial intelligence (AI) by creating devices that are embedded in the brain. Such technology could enhance memory or allow the devices to communicate with software. The company also hopes to develop devices with which to treat neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's disease , dementia , and spinal cord injuries . In 2019, Musk announced work on
4050-403: The demonstration, Musk revealed a pig with a Neuralink implant that tracked neural activity related to smell. In 2022, Neuralink announced that clinical trials would begin by the end of the year. Neuralink has conducted further animal testing on macaque monkeys at the University of California, Davis ' Primate Research Center . In 2021, the company released a video in which a Macaque played
4131-516: The documents, Taibbi said he had found no evidence to support the allegation, and Twitter attorneys denied the allegation in a subsequent court filing. The United States House Committee on the Judiciary held hearings on the Twitter Files on March 9, 2023, at which Taibbi and Shellenberger gave testimony. In late 2022, Musk promised to step down as CEO after a Twitter poll posted by Musk found that
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#17328448512714212-516: The emeralds produced at three small mines". Errol was elected to the Pretoria City Council as a representative of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party and has said that his children shared their father's dislike of apartheid . Elon's maternal grandfather, Joshua N. Haldeman , was an American-born Canadian who took his family on record-breaking journeys to Africa and Australia in a single-engine Bellanca airplane; Haldeman died when Elon
4293-670: The feed until it found ads next to extremist posts. The Wall Street Journal reported in August 2024 that the $ 13 billion Musk borrowed to buy Twitter "is now considered the worst deal in merger finance that banks have participated in since the 2008 to '09 financial crisis ", adding that "the allure of banking Elon Musk, providing capital for him to buy a company, not only would reward them handsomely if things went according to plan" but "you can certainly say things have not gone according to plan". The Washington Post reported in September 2024 that
4374-672: The first electric car to sell 1 million units globally. A fifth vehicle, the Model Y crossover, was launched in 2020, and in December 2023, became the best-selling vehicle of any type, as well as the all-time best-selling electric car. The Cybertruck , an all-electric pickup truck, was unveiled in 2019, and delivered in November 2023. Under Musk, Tesla has also constructed multiple lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle factories, named Gigafactories . Since its initial public offering in 2010, Tesla stock has risen significantly; it became
4455-454: The first two prototype satellites launched in February 2018. A second set of test satellites, and the first large deployment of a piece of the constellation, occurred in May 2019, when the first 60 operational satellites were launched. The total cost of the decade-long project to design, build, and deploy the constellation was estimated by SpaceX in 2020 to be $ 10 billion. Some critics, including
4536-414: The flight to imitate a critical anomaly, after which the Dragon successfully activated its escape engines. The booster was subsequently destroyed. Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk FRS ( / ˈ iː l ɒ n / ; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman known for his key roles in the space company SpaceX and the automotive company Tesla, Inc. His other involvements include ownership of X Corp. ,
4617-457: The initial business idea from a summer internship in 1994. A Yellow Pages salesman came into his employer's office to pitch buying an online business listing in addition to the traditional listing in the Yellow Pages book. Global Link Information Network, Inc. was incorporated in November 1995 by brothers Elon and Kimbal Musk and Greg Kouri in Palo Alto, California with money raised from
4698-890: The latter. His ownership of Twitter has been controversial because of the layoffs of large numbers of employees, an increase in hate speech , misinformation and disinformation posts on the website, and changes to website features, including verification . In early 2024, Musk became active in American politics as a vocal and financial supporter of Donald Trump, becoming Trump's second-largest individual donor in October 2024. In November 2024, Trump announced that he had chosen Musk along with Vivek Ramaswamy to co-lead Trump's planned Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) advisory board which will make recommendations on improving government efficiency through measures such as slashing "excess regulations" and cutting "wasteful expenditures". Elon Reeve Musk
4779-503: The leadup to the 2020 presidential election . Comments on these internal documents by journalists Matt Taibbi , Bari Weiss , Michael Shellenberger and others were posted on Twitter as the Twitter Files . Musk and many Republicans alleged the documents showed the FBI had engaged in government censorship by ordering Twitter to suppress a New York Post story about the laptop. Upon review of
4860-404: The merged company. His preference for Microsoft - over Unix -based software caused a rift among the company's employees, and eventually led Confinity co-founder Peter Thiel to resign. With the company suffering from compounding technological issues and the lack of a cohesive business model, the board ousted Musk and replaced him with Thiel in September 2000. Under Thiel, the company focused on
4941-513: The money he made from the Compaq acquisition. X.com was one of the first online banks that was federally insured , and over 200,000 customers joined in its initial months of operation. Musk's friends expressed skepticism about the naming of the online bank, fearing it might have been mistaken for a pornographic site. Musk brushed off their concerns, emphasizing that the name was meant to be straightforward, memorable, and easy to type. Additionally, he
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#17328448512715022-449: The money-transfer service and was renamed PayPal in 2001. In 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for $ 1.5 billion in stock, of which Musk—PayPal's largest shareholder with 11.7% of shares—received $ 176 million. In 2017, more than 15 years later, Musk purchased the X.com domain from PayPal for its "sentimental value". In 2022, Musk discussed a goal of creating "X, the everything app". In early 2001, Musk became involved with
5103-501: The most valuable carmaker in summer 2020, and it entered the S&;P 500 later that year. In October 2021, it reached a market capitalization of $ 1 trillion, the sixth company in US history to do so. In November 2021, Musk proposed on Twitter to sell some of his Tesla stock. After more than 3.5 million Twitter accounts supported the sale, Musk sold $ 6.9 billion of Tesla stock within
5184-445: The nonprofit Mars Society and discussed funding plans to place a growth-chamber for plants on Mars . In October of the same year, he traveled to Moscow, Russia with Jim Cantrell , Adeo Ressi , and future NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin to buy refurbished intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that could send the greenhouse payloads into space. He met with the companies NPO Lavochkin and Kosmotras ; however, Musk
5265-420: The online city guide software company Zip2 . The startup was acquired by Compaq for $ 307 million in 1999. That same year, Musk co-founded X.com , a direct bank . X.com merged with Confinity in 2000 to form PayPal . In 2002, Musk acquired US citizenship , and that October eBay acquired PayPal for $ 1.5 billion. Using $ 100 million of the money he made from the sale of PayPal, Musk founded SpaceX,
5346-451: The platform's commitment to freedom of speech . Additionally, his ex-wife Talulah Riley had urged him to buy Twitter to stop the " woke-ism ". In January 2022, Musk started purchasing Twitter shares, reaching a 9.2% stake by April, making him the largest shareholder. When this was publicly disclosed, Twitter shares experienced the largest intraday price surge since the company's 2013 initial public offering . On April 4, Musk agreed to
5427-517: The success of Tesla and his other endeavors, and criticized by others, who see him as callous and his managerial decisions as "show[ing] a lack of human understanding". The 2021 book Power Play contains anecdotes of Musk berating employees. The Wall Street Journal reported that, after Musk insisted on branding his vehicles as "self-driving", he faced criticism from his engineers for putting customer "lives at risk", with some employees resigning in 2017 in consequence. Zip2 Zip2 Corp.
5508-502: The video game Pong via a Neuralink implant. The company's animal trials—which have caused the deaths of some monkeys—have led to claims of animal cruelty . The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has alleged that Neuralink's animal trials have violated the Animal Welfare Act . Employees have complained that pressure from Musk to accelerate development has led to botched experiments and unnecessary animal deaths. In 2022,
5589-465: Was a company that provided and licensed online city guide software to newspapers. The company was founded in Palo Alto, California as Global Link Information Network, Inc. on November 9, 1995, by Greg Kouri and brothers Elon and Kimbal Musk. Initially, Global Link provided local businesses with an Internet presence, but later began to assist newspapers in designing online city guides before being purchased by Compaq Computer in 2000. Elon got
5670-461: Was accepted to a graduate program in materials science at Stanford University , but did not enroll. Musk decided to join the Internet boom , applying for a job at Netscape , to which he reportedly never received a response. The Washington Post reported that Musk lacked legal authorization to remain and work in the United States after failing to enroll at Stanford. In response, Musk claimed he
5751-459: Was allowed to work at that time and that his student visa transitioned to an H1-B . According to numerous former business associates and shareholders, Musk claimed he was on a student visa at the time. In 1995, Musk, his brother Kimbal, and Greg Kouri founded Global Link Information Network, later renamed Zip2 . The company developed an Internet city guide with maps, directions, and yellow pages , and marketed it to newspapers. They worked at
5832-542: Was appointed the Chief Technology Officer and Rich Sorkin became the chief executive officer. Zip2 trademarked "We Power the Press" as its official slogan and continued to grow. Zip2 struck deals with The New York Times , Knight Ridder , and Hearst Corporation , and its collaboration with newspapers made it a major component of "the U.S. newspaper industry's response to the online city guide industry", according to
5913-536: Was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria , South Africa's administrative capital. He is of British and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry. His mother, Maye ( née Haldeman ), is a model and dietitian born in Saskatchewan , Canada, and raised in South Africa. His father, Errol Musk, is a South African electromechanical engineer , pilot, sailor, consultant, emerald dealer, and property developer, who partly owned
5994-415: Was called "Auto Guide". AutoGuide connected online newspaper users with local dealership or private party car sellers. In April 1998, Zip2 attempted to merge with CitySearch , its main competitor. While Musk initially supported the merger, he persuaded the board of directors not to proceed with it. According to The New York Times , the two companies "cited incompatibilities in cultures and technology" as
6075-430: Was first launched on May 11, 2018. It carried Bangabandhu-1 , Bangladesh's first geostationary communications satellite, from Kennedy Space Center. This marked the 54th flight of the Falcon 9 and the first flight of the Falcon 9 Block 5. After completing a successful ascent, B1046 separated from the second stage and landed on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You . This marked the 11th successful landing on OCISLY and
6156-414: Was fond of the email addresses derived from it, such as "e@x.com". Although Musk founded the company, investors regarded him as inexperienced and replaced him with Intuit CEO Bill Harris by the end of the year. In 2000, X.com merged with the online bank Confinity to avoid competition, as the latter's money-transfer service PayPal was more popular than X.com's service. Musk then returned as CEO of
6237-481: Was interested in investing in India "as soon as humanly possible". In 2018, Musk was sued by the SEC for a tweet stating that funding had been secured for potentially taking Tesla private. The lawsuit characterized the tweet as false, misleading, and damaging to investors, and sought to bar Musk from serving as CEO of publicly traded companies . Two days later, Musk settled with the SEC, without admitting or denying
6318-434: Was ousted from the firm. Musk assumed leadership of the company as CEO and product architect in 2008. A 2009 lawsuit settlement with Eberhard designated Musk as a Tesla co-founder, along with Tarpenning and two others. As of 2019, Musk was the longest-tenured CEO of any automotive manufacturer globally. In 2021, Musk nominally changed his title to "Technoking" while retaining his position as CEO. Tesla began delivery of
6399-466: Was seen as a novice and the group returned to the United States without an agreement to purchase Russian launch services. In February 2002, the group returned to Russia to look for three ICBMs. They had another meeting with Kosmotras and were offered one rocket for $ 8 million, which Musk rejected. He instead decided to start a company that could build affordable rockets. With $ 100 million of his own money, Musk founded SpaceX in May 2002 and became
6480-503: Was still a toddler. Elon has recounted trips to a wilderness school that he described as a "paramilitary Lord of the Flies " where "bullying was a virtue" and children were encouraged to fight over rations. After his parents divorced in 1980, Elon chose to live primarily with his father. Elon later regretted his decision and became estranged from his father. Elon attended Bryanston High School . In one incident, after an altercation with
6561-591: Was the second largest provider of solar power systems in the United States. In 2014, Musk promoted the idea of SolarCity building an advanced production facility in Buffalo , New York, triple the size of the largest solar plant in the United States. Construction of the factory started in 2014 and was completed in 2017. It operated as a joint venture with Panasonic until early 2020. Tesla acquired SolarCity for $ 2 billion in 2016 and merged it with its battery unit to create Tesla Energy . The deal's announcement resulted in
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