[...] All told, Musk and SpaceX gave out roughly US$250,000 in the 2012 election cycle. [19][21][25] His maternal grandfather, Joshua Haldeman, was an American-born Canadian. I will be on the line with everyone else. "[233] On July 16, Unsworth stated that he was considering legal action in relation to Musk's comments. [61] Musk received US$22 million for his 7 percent share from the sale. [81], Musk believed the key to making space travel affordable was to make rockets reusable, though space industry experts[who?] [304] In June 2016, when asked whether he thinks humans live in a computer simulation, perhaps controlled by a vast AI, he stated that "the odds that we're in 'base reality' is one in billions. Elon Reeve Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa. The lawsuit claimed that verbal discussions Musk held with foreign investors in July 2018 did not confirm key deal terms[151] and thus characterized the tweet as false, misleading, and damaging to investors, and sought to bar Musk from serving as CEO of publicly traded companies. [109], During discourse with his peers when the technology of SpaceX was criticized or had the potential to cause fatalities, Elon Musk has described himself as the company's responsible chief engineer/designer, while giving the entire team at SpaceX credit for its success. [179] The Tesla Gigafactory 2 is a photovoltaic (PV) cell factory, leased by Tesla subsidiary SolarCity in Buffalo, New York. [citation needed] On May 25, 2012, the SpaceX Dragon vehicle berthed with the ISS, making history as the first commercial company to launch and berth a vehicle to the International Space Station. [76] Musk is CEO and CTO of the Hawthorne, California-based company. [402], In 2016, Musk voiced himself in several episodes of South Park including the episode "Members Only". Entrepreneur Elon Musk is a man with many plans. Elon Musk – Education, Tesla & SpaceX – Biography In pages 181-211 we see the financial struggles of SpaceX and Tesla. And I think there is a business reason for it. "[247] The defamation case began on December 4, 2019, in Los Angeles, with Unsworth seeking $190 million in damages. [85], In 2017 SpaceX launched 18 successful missions, more than doubling their highest previous year of 8. "[290] Author Michael Shellenberger argued that "in the case of Musk, it is hard not to read that as a kind of defensiveness. [123] Tesla began delivery of its four-door Model S sedan on June 22, 2012. [62][57], In March 1999, Musk co-founded X.com, an online financial services and e-mail payment company, with US$10 million from the sale of Zip2. "[291], In 2015, Musk's statements were subject to further scrutiny when an Los Angeles Times article claimed that SpaceX, Tesla, SolarCity, and buyers of their products had or were projected to receive together an estimated US$4.9 billion in government subsidies over twenty years. In 2004, he contributed US$2,000 to President George W. Bush's reelection campaign, maxing out (over US$100,000)[272] to Barack Obama's reelection campaign and donated US$5,000 to Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who represents Florida, a state critical to the space industry. And there's like a bunch of random strangers, one of who might be a serial killer, OK, great. . "The unfortunate reality is electric car programs (or programs for any vehicle that doesn't burn hydrocarbons) at the major manufacturers are small to non-existent, constituting an average of far less than 1% of their total vehicle sales," Musk said. [254] Guardian critic Alexi Petridis described it as "indistinguishable... from umpteen competent but unthrilling bits of bedroom electronica posted elsewhere on Soundcloud"[255] and TechCrunch said it was "not a bad representation of the genre". [d][395], In Iron Man 2 (2010), Musk met Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in a restaurant, and had a brief line regarding an "idea for an electric jet. The Washington Post observed that, "In the media's hands, it became a story about Musk's growing instability. [citation needed] The inaugural mission carried a Tesla Roadster belonging to Musk as a dummy payload. Starship will have a 9-meter (30 ft) core diameter. [329][330] Musk has additionally been criticized for tweeting contentious claims on the disease, including that "Kids are essentially immune, but elderly with existing conditions are vulnerable", which he accompanied with a graphic showing that no children had died in Italy by March 15[331][332][333] and for saying "Based on current trends, probably close to zero new cases in US too by end of April. In 2006, he helped create SolarCity, a solar energy services company (now a subsidiary of Tesla). "[264] Prompted by the emergence of artificial intelligence, Musk has voiced support for a universal basic income;[265] he additionally backs direct democracy and has stated he thinks the government on Mars will be a direct democracy. [204][205], Musk sees Neuralink and OpenAI as related: "OpenAI is a nonprofit dedicated to minimizing the dangers of artificial intelligence, while Neuralink is working on ways to implant technology into our brains to create mind-computer interfaces. I think there is potentially a dangerous outcome there. [318][319][320] Musk responded with "You're an idiot", later saying "Sorry ... Meant to say 'sanctimonious idiot'. [182], Tesla acquired SolarCity for over $2 billion in 2016 and converted it into its solar division; the announcement of the deal resulted in a more than 10% drop in Tesla's stock price. Musk is a world famous and highly educated engineer, inventor and business magnate. [375][376][377], In 2008, Musk began dating English actress Talulah Riley, and in 2010, the couple married. [393] The child was eventually named "X AE A-XII", with "X" as a first name and "AE A-XII" as a middle name. [220] Richard Stanton, leader of the international rescue diving team, also urged Musk to continue construction of the mini-submarine as a back-up, in case flooding worsened. [383], On May 7, 2018, Musk and Canadian musician Grimes revealed that they had begun dating. [314][315], His comment sparked widespread criticism from both public and transit experts. This all came back to me when I was listening to an Elon Musk interview recently where he talked about what education was missing. "[261][262], Politically, Musk has described himself as "half Democrat, half Republican" and "I'm somewhere in the middle, socially liberal and fiscally conservative. [373] They later had five sons through in vitro fertilization[374]—twins in 2004, followed by triplets in 2006. [154], Musk has stated in several interviews since that he does not regret sending the tweet that triggered the SEC investigation. On the flight back from Moscow, Musk realized that he could start a company that could build the affordable rockets he needed. [193], Musk's proposal, if technologically feasible at the costs he has cited, would make Hyperloop travel cheaper than any other mode of transport for such long distances. [199], In December 2015, Musk announced the creation of OpenAI, a not-for-profit artificial intelligence (AI) research company. [135], Anticipating that the global lithium-ion battery supply was insufficient for their planned electric car output, a lithium-ion battery factory that would more than double existing global output was planned. Elon Musk has one of the most incredible minds around.How did he get so smart? In 2014, Slate's Adam Elkus argued that current AIs were as intelligent as a toddler, and only in certain fields, going on to say that Musk's "summoning the demon" analogy may be harmful because it could result in significant cuts to AI research budgets. [127], Musk favored building a more affordable Tesla model; this led to the Model 3 that was unveiled in 2016, with a planned base price of US$35,000. What's Elon Musk’s educational background, and how did it shape his career? [324] He has been accused of spreading misinformation about the virus by Angela Rasmussen, a virologist and associate research scientist at the Center of Infection and Immunity at the Columbia University School of Public Health. [113] Musk led the Series A round of investment in February 2004, joining Tesla's board of directors as its chairman. While journalist and author Jim Motavalli, who interviewed Musk for High Voltage, his 2011 book about the electric vehicle industry, speculated that "Elon is now looking at it from the point of view of a winner, and he doesn't want to see other people win because they get government money—I do think there is a tendency of people, once they have succeeded, to want to pull the ladder up after them. [124][125][126] In addition to its own cars, Tesla sold electric powertrain systems to Daimler (for the Smart EV, Mercedes B-Class Electric Drive and Mercedes A Class), and to Toyota (for the RAV4 EV). "[275] Following Donald Trump's inauguration, Musk expressed approval of Trump's choice of Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State and accepted an invitation to participate in two councils advising President Trump. [53], In 1995, Musk and his brother Kimbal along with Greg Kouri started Zip2, a web software company, with money raised from a small group of angel investors. [381][382] The divorce was finalized in late 2016. Birth Cert Proves It", "Elon Musk and Grimes saved a surprise for son X Æ A-12's birth certificate", "10 Awkward Hollywood Cameos by Tech Founders", "Tesla CEO Elon Musk To Appear on Upcoming Episode of the Big Bang Theory", "Young Sheldon Episode 6 recap: Sheldon discovers physics", "Tesla Stars In "Racing Extinction" Documentary", "Werner Herzog Hacks the Horrors of Connectivity in 'Lo and Behold, "Elon Musk uses 'South Park' to fire back at trolls", "Elon Musk Joins The Short List Of 'South Park' Guest Stars To Voice Themselves", "New Girl plays to its weaknesses and "Es Good, "How Elon Musk goes down in history with the Wright Brothers", "Elon Musk pokes fun at himself while hosting PewDiePie's popular Meme Review", "Elon Musk's Rick and Morty Cameo Finally Explains His 'Elon Tusk' Twitter Joke", "Elon Musk shows up on Rick and Morty as Elon Tusk, head of Tuskla", Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, SpaceX reusable launch system development program, SpaceX Mars transportation infrastructure, Existential risk from artificial general intelligence, Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence, Center for Security and Emerging Technology, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, Artificial intelligence as a global catastrophic risk, Controversies and dangers of artificial general intelligence, Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elon_Musk&oldid=993643146, American chief executives in the automobile industry, American chief executives of energy companies, American chief executives of manufacturing companies, American founders of automobile manufacturers, American railroad executives of the 21st century, California Institute of Technology trustees, Naturalized citizens of the United States, Royal Aeronautical Society Gold Medal winners, South African emigrants to the United States, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni, Pages with non-numeric formatnum arguments, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from December 2020, Wikipedia extended-confirmed-protected pages, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Pages using Template:Post-nominals with missing parameters, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2020, Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from December 2020, Articles lacking reliable references from May 2020, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from December 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2020, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from May 2020, Articles with incomplete citations from May 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2020, Articles containing potentially dated statements from March 2020, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles containing potentially dated statements from January 2016, Articles containing potentially dated statements from December 2019, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers, Wikipedia articles with ORCID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Chantilly, Houston, Seattle, Washington DC, This page was last edited on 11 December 2020, at 18:21. The group had another meeting with Kosmotras and were offered one rocket for US$8 million. At the age of 19, Musk was accepted into Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario for undergraduate. [181] The factory was operated as a joint venture with Panasonic until early 2020. [14] As CEO of Tesla, he is the longest tenured CEO in history of any automotive manufacturer globally. Musk was born to a Canadian mother and South African father and raised in Pretoria, South Africa. [139], In July 2016, Musk released Tesla's "master plan part 2":[140]. [95] In Ashlee Vance's biography, Musk stated that he wants to establish a Mars colony by 2040, with a population of 80,000 humans. * denotes unflown vehicles or engines, and future missions or sites. He has called physics “a good framework for thinking,” and Tesla’s abilities in software and battery technology are admired by rival automakers. His parents divorced when he was about 10. In November 2020, he became the world's second-richest person after his net worth surpassed that of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. You might be killed. [245][246] In his defense, Musk argued that in slang usage "'pedo guy' was a common insult used in South Africa when I was growing up... synonymous with 'creepy old man' and is used to insult a person's appearance and demeanor. [257][258] Fortune wondered if the cannabis use could have ramifications for SpaceX contracts with the United States Air Force, though a USAF spokesperson told The Verge that there was no investigation being carried out and that the Air Force is still processing the situation. Use that money to build an affordable car. The team members will report "directly" to Musk and "meet/email/text" with Musk "almost every day." "[201] Musk has stated he wants to counteract the concentration of power. [141][142][143], In September 2017, Musk arranged a contract with the government of South Australia for Tesla Energy to install the Hornsdale power reserve (which was then the world's largest lithium ion battery pack) to help alleviate energy blackouts in the state. [346], In March and April 2020, Musk offered to donate ventilators built by Tesla to third-world countries: "We will give away all our ventilators, whether we buy them or build them. There have been movies about this, you know, like Terminator. [184][185] During a June 2019 court deposition, Musk acknowledged that the company reallocated every possible employee from the solar division to work on the Model 3, and, according to Musk, "as a result, solar suffered." [86], On February 6, 2018, SpaceX successfully launched the Falcon Heavy, the fourth-highest capacity rocket ever built (after Saturn V, Energia and N1). Induced demand? [401] Musk also appeared in the Werner Herzog-directed documentary Lo and Behold (2016). "[406] Also in 2016, Musk was referenced by Dr. Martin Stein on The CW time-travel TV show DC's Legends of Tomorrow. Musk graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Physics, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the Wharton School. [147][148], In September 2018, Musk was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a tweet claiming that funding had been secured for potentially taking Tesla private[149] (at a price of $420 a share, an alleged reference to marijuana[150]). I know a lot of people like weed and that's fine, but I don't find that is very good for productivity... not for me." [357], Musk is chairman of the Musk Foundation, which states its purpose is to provide solar-power energy systems in disaster areas as well as other goals. Here are some of my favourites for posterity—please enjoy & share! Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa, on June 28, 1971. [251] The track was performed by Yung Jake, written by Yung Jake and Caroline Polachek, and produced by BloodPop. When the Alameda County Sheriff ordered all non-essential businesses to shut down, Musk and Tesla initially refused to comply, arguing that vehicle manufacturing and energy infrastructure are critical sectors, citing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. [270][271] A 2012 report from the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan group that tracks government spending, found that since 2002, SpaceX had spent more than US$4 million on lobbying the United States Congress and more than US$800,000 in political contributions to Democrats and Republicans. [130] Musk originally intended to name the Model 3 as the Model E but was blocked by Ford which held the trademark, with Musk concluding that "Ford was killing SEX". One example given is New York state, which is spending $750 million to build a solar panel factory in Buffalo which will be leased to SolarCity for $1 a year. 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