Summary of Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson - A Biography of Elon Musk #736362

Summary of Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson

Elon Musk, born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa, is a well-known entrepreneur and business magnate known for founding, co-founding, or leading several high-profile technology companies.
Musk emigrated to the United States from South Africa in the mid-'90s and attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned degrees in both economics and physics. In 1995, he began his PhD at Stanford University but decided to pursue a business career in the field of internet, renewable energy, and outer space.
He initially entered the tech world through ventures like Zip2 Corporation, which he co-founded with his brother Kimbal. Zip2 was a city guide software for newspapers, and it was eventually sold to Compaq for nearly $300 million in 1999. Musk continued his entrepreneurial journey by co-founding X.com, an online payment company. X.com later became PayPal after a merger and was sold to eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002.
However, Musk is perhaps best known for his work with SpaceX and Tesla Motors. In 2002, he founded Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, with the goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars. SpaceX has launched numerous satellites, resupplied the International Space Station (ISS), and is working on the Starship spacecraft for missions to Mars.
Musk joined Tesla Motors, Inc. (now Tesla, Inc.) in 2004, a year after its founding, and is the CEO and product architect of the company. Under his leadership, Tesla has become a leader in electric vehicles with the Model S, Model 3, Model X, and Model Y, along with the Powerwall and Powerpack batteries for energy storage.