Musk was born to a Canadian mother and South African father and raised in Pretoria, South Africa. He briefly attended the University of Pretoria before moving to Canada when he was 17 to attend Queen's University. He transferred to the University of Pennsylvania two years later, where he received dual bachelor's degrees in economics and physics. He moved to California in 1995 to begin a Ph.D. in applied physics and material sciences at Stanford University, but dropped out after two days to pursue a business career. He co-founded Zip2, a web software company, which was acquired by Compaq for $307 million in 1999. Musk then founded X.com, an online bank. It merged with Confinity in 2000, which had launched PayPal the previous year and was subsequently bought by eBay for $1.5 billion in October 2002.
In May 2002, Musk founded SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company, of which he is CEO and lead designer. He joined Tesla Motors, Inc. (now Tesla, Inc.), an electric vehicle manufacturer, in 2004, the year after it was founded, becoming its product architect that year and its CEO in 2008. In 2006, he helped create SolarCity, a solar energy services company (now a subsidiary of Tesla). In 2015, he co-founded OpenAI, a nonprofit research company that aims to promote friendly artificial intelligence. In July 2016, he co-founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology company focused on developing brain–computer interfaces. In December 2016, Musk founded The Boring Company, an infrastructure and tunnel construction company focused on tunnels optimized for electric vehicles. In addition to his primary business pursuits, he envisioned an open-source high-speed transportation system known as the Hyperloop based on the concept of a vactrain.
Musk has also been the subject of criticism due to unorthodox or unscientific stances and highly publicized controversies. Following the rejection of a prototype submarine from Tesla that Musk had offered to be used in the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue, he insulted a diver who advised in the rescue and disparaged the prototype and in response the diver sued for defamation; a California jury ruled in favor of Musk. Also in 2018, he falsely tweeted that he had secured funding for a private takeover of Tesla at $420 a share. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued him for the comment. He settled with the SEC, temporarily stepping down from his chairmanship and accepting limitations on his Twitter usage. Musk has received substantial criticism for some of his views, particularly those on artificial intelligence (AI), public transportation, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Early life
Childhood and family
Elon Reeve Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa.[12][13] His mother is Maye Musk (née Haldeman), a model and dietitian born in Saskatchewan, Canada,[14][15][16] but raised in South Africa. His father is Errol Musk, a South African electromechanical engineer, pilot, sailor, consultant, and property developer.[17] He has a younger brother, Kimbal (born 1972), and a younger sister, Tosca (born 1974).[16][18][22] His maternal grandfather, Joshua Haldeman, was an American-born Canadian.[23] His paternal grandmother had British and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry.[24][25]
After his parents divorced in 1980, Musk lived mostly with his father in the suburbs of Pretoria,[24] a choice he made two years after the divorce and subsequently regretted.[26] Musk has become estranged from his father, whom he has described as "a terrible human being... Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done."[26] He has a half-sister and a half-brother on his father's side.[27][28]
Although his father insisted that he attend college in Pretoria, Musk was determined to move to the United States, saying, "I remember thinking and seeing that America is where great things are possible, more than any other country in the world."[35] Aware that it would be easier to enter the United States from Canada,[36][37] he applied for a Canadian passport through his Canadian-born mother.[37][38]
In 1994, Musk held two internships in Silicon Valley during the summer: at an energy storage start-up called Pinnacle Research Institute, which researched electrolytic ultracapacitors for energy storage, and at the Palo Alto-based start-up Rocket Science Games.[47]Bruce Leak, the former lead engineer behind Apple's QuickTime who had hired Musk, noted: "He had boundless energy. Kids these days have no idea about hardware or how stuff works, but he had a PC hacker background and was not afraid to just go figure things out."[48] In 1995, Musk was accepted to a Ph.D. program in energy physics/materials science at Stanford University in California.[49] Musk attempted to get a job at Netscape, but he says that he never received a response to his job inquiries.[37] He dropped out of Stanford after two days, deciding instead to join the Internet boom and launch an internet startup.[50]
In 1995, Musk, his brother Kimbal, and Greg Kouri founded web software company Zip2 with funds from a group of angel investors.[26] They housed the venture at a small rented office in Palo Alto.[51] The company developed and marketed an internet city guide for the newspaper publishing industry, with maps, directions, and yellow pages.[52] Before the company became successful, Musk could not afford an apartment, instead sleeping on the office couch and showering at the YMCA. They could only afford one computer and, according to Musk, "The website was up during the day and I was coding it at night, seven days a week, all the time."[51]
Their efforts materialized when the Musk brothers obtained contracts with The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune,[53] and persuaded the board of directors to abandon plans for a merger with CitySearch.[54] Musk's attempts to become CEO were thwarted by the board.[55]Compaq acquired Zip2 for $307 million in cash[56] in February 1999.[57] Musk received $22 million for his 7 percent share from the sale.[53][58]
In March 1999, Musk co-founded X.com, an online financial services and e-mail payment company, with $10 million from the sale of Zip2.[53][59] One year later, the company merged with Confinity,[51][60] which had a money-transfer service called PayPal.[53] The merged company focused on the PayPal service and was renamed PayPal in 2001.[61] Musk was ousted in October 2000 from his role as CEO (although he remained on the board) due to disagreements with other company executives over his desire to move PayPal's Unix-based infrastructure to a Microsoft one.[62] In October 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion in stock, of which Musk received $165 million.[63] Before its sale, Musk, who was the company's largest shareholder, owned 11.7% of PayPal's shares.[64][65]
In 2017, Musk purchased the domain X.com from PayPal for an undisclosed amount, explaining that it had sentimental value to him.[66][67]
In 2001, Musk conceived Mars Oasis, in which a miniature greenhouse on Mars would grow food crops and reawaken public interest in space exploration.[68][69] In October 2001, Musk traveled with a group to Moscow to buy refurbished DneprIntercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that could send the greenhouse payloads into space. He met with companies such as NPO Lavochkin and Kosmotras; however, Musk was seen as a novice and was even spat on by one of the Russian chief designers.[70] The group returned to the United States empty-handed. 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. Musk instead decided to start a company that could build affordable rockets.[70]
With $100 million of his early fortune,[71] Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies Corp., traded as SpaceX, in May 2002.[72]
In 2006, NASA announced that the company was one of two selected to provide crew and cargo resupply demonstration contracts to the International Space Station (ISS),[73] followed by a $1.6 billion Commercial Resupply Services program contract on December 23, 2008, for 12 flights of its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to the Space Station, replacing the USSpace Shuttle after it retired in 2011.[74] 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.[75]
Starting in 2011, SpaceX received funding under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program to develop the Dragon 2 crew capsule.[76] A contract to provide crew flights to the ISS was awarded in 2014.[77][78]
Working towards its goal of reusable rockets, in December 2015, SpaceX successfully landed the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket back near the launch pad, the first time this had been achieved by an orbital rocket.[79] Landings were later achieved on an autonomous spaceport drone ship, an ocean-based recovery platform.[80] Starting in 2017 boosters were reflown on further missions,[81] with booster reuse becoming more common than new boosters from 2018 on.[82]
SpaceX began development of the Starlink constellation of low Earth orbit satellites in 2015 to provide satellite Internet access, with 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.[86][87] The total cost of the decade-long project to design, build, and deploy the constellation is estimated by SpaceX to be about $10 billion,[88] including nearly $900 million in Federal Communications Commission subsidies.[89][90]
In late 2017, SpaceX unveiled the design for its next-generation launch vehicle and spacecraft system, Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), that would support all SpaceX launch service provider capabilities with a single set of very large vehicles: Earth-orbit, Lunar-orbit, interplanetary missions, and even intercontinental passenger transport on Earth, and totally replace the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Dragon vehicles in the 2020s. Starship will have a 9-meter (30 ft) core diameter. Significant development on the vehicles began in 2017, with an initial prototype unveiled in September 2019,[91] while the new rocket engine (Raptor) development began in 2012,[92][93] with a first test flight performed in August 2019.[94][better source needed]
In a September 2018 announcement of a planned 2023 lunar circumnavigation mission, a private flight called #dearMoon project,[95] Musk showed a redesigned concept for the BFR second stage and spaceship with three rear fins and two front canard fins added for atmospheric entry, replacing the previous delta wing and split flaps shown a year earlier. The revised BFR design was to use seven identically-sized Raptor engines in the second stage; the same engine model as would be used on the first stage. The second stage design had two small actuating canard fins near the nose of the ship, and three large fins at the base, two of which would actuate, with all three serving as landing legs.[96] The two major parts of the re-designed BFR were given descriptive names in November: "Starship" for the upper stage[c] and "Super Heavy" for the booster stage.[97] As of October 2020[update], Musk was spending most of his time at the company's Boca Chica launch site leading the engineering work on Starship development.[98]
In May 2020, SpaceX launched its first manned flight, the Demo-2, becoming the first private company to both place a person into orbit and dock a crewed space-craft with the ISS.[99] Furthermore, it marked the first time an American astronaut was launched from American soil on an American rocket since the end of the Space Shuttle program.[100]
Long-term goals
SpaceX's goal is to reduce the cost of human spaceflight by a factor of 10.[101] In a 2011 interview, Musk said he hopes to send humans to Mars' surface within 10–20 years.[102] In Ashlee Vance's biography, Musk stated that he wants to establish a Mars colony by 2040, with a population of 80,000 humans.[29] Musk stated that, since Mars' atmosphere lacks oxygen, all transportation would have to be electric (electric cars, electric trains, Hyperloop, electric aircraft).[103] Musk stated in June 2016 that the first unmanned flight of the larger Interplanetary Spaceship was aimed for departure to the red planet in 2022, to be followed by the first manned ITS Mars flight departing in 2024.[104] In September 2016, Musk revealed details of his architecture to explore and colonize Mars.[105]
Musk observing an assembly demo at the reopening of the NUMMI plant, now known as the Tesla Factory in 2010
Tesla, Inc. (originally Tesla Motors) was incorporated in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, who financed the company until the Series A round of funding.[106]
Both men played active roles in the company's early development prior to Musk's involvement.[107] Musk led the Series A round of investment in February 2004, joining Tesla's board of directors as its chairman.[108][109][110][111] Musk took an active role within the company and oversaw Roadster product design at a detailed level, but was not deeply involved in day-to-day business operations.[112] Following the financial crisis in 2008 and after a series of escalating conflicts in 2007, Eberhard was ousted from the firm.[113][114] Musk assumed leadership of the company as CEO and product architect in 2008, positions he still holds today. As of 2019[update], Elon Musk is the longest tenured CEO of any automotive manufacturer globally.[115]
Tesla first built an electric sports car, the Tesla Roadster, in 2008, with sales of about 2,500 vehicles to 31 countries. It was the first serial production all-electric car to use lithium-ion battery cells.[116] Tesla began delivery of its four-door Model S sedan in June 2012. Although it unveiled its third product, the Model X, in February 2012, the launch was delayed until September 2015.[117][118][119] In addition to its own cars, Tesla sold electric powertrain systems to Daimler and Toyota, both of which Musk was able to bring in as long-term investors in Tesla.[120]
Musk standing in front of a Tesla Model S in 2011
Product line expansion and master plan part two
In an interview, Musk favored building a more affordable Tesla model, at around $30,000.[121] Initial deliveries began in 2017, with the $35,000 base model becoming available in February 2019.[122][123] As of March 2020[update], the Tesla Model 3 is the world's best-selling electric car, with more than 500,000 units delivered.[124] Musk originally intended to name the Model 3 the Model E but was blocked by Ford which held the trademark, with Musk concluding that "Ford was killing SEX".[125][126][127]
In 2014, Musk announced that Tesla would allow its technology patents to be used by anyone in good faith in a bid to entice automobile manufacturers to speed up the development of electric cars.[128]
Musk with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in San Jose, California in 2015
In July 2016, the first phase of Gigafactory 1, a lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle subassembly factory, was officially opened near Reno, Nevada, by Tesla in partnership with Panasonic.[129][130] As of May 2020[update], Gigafactory 1 produces 35 GWh/year of batteries.[131]
In July 2016, Tesla began developing Autopilot, their advanced driver-assistance system, in-house after Mobileye ended its partnership with Tesla, citing safety concerns following a fatal crash in which the driver of a Model S using Autopilot was killed.[132][133][134]
In January 2019, Musk traveled to China for the groundbreaking of Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory, the company's first large-scale plant outside the U.S.[135] In November 2019, Musk unveiled the Tesla Cybertruck, an all-electric pickup truck.[136][137] The Cybertruck is slated to start commercial production in late 2021.[138]
SEC lawsuit
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[139] (at a price of $420 a share, an alleged reference to marijuana[140]). The lawsuit claimed that verbal discussions Musk held with foreign investors in July 2018 did not confirm key deal terms[141] 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.[139][142] Musk called the allegations unjustified and that he had never compromised his integrity.[143] Two days later, Musk settled with the SEC, without admitting or denying 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.[144]
Musk has stated in interviews that he does not regret the tweet that triggered the SEC investigation.[145][146][147] On February 19, 2019, Musk stated in a tweet that Tesla would build half a million cars in 2019.[148] The SEC reacted to Musk's tweet by filing in court, initially asking the court to hold him in contempt for violating the terms of a settlement agreement with such a tweet, which was disputed by Musk. This was eventually settled by a joint agreement between Musk and the SEC clarifying the previous agreement details.[149] The agreement included a list of topics that Musk would need preclearance before tweeting about.[150] In May 2020, a judge prevented a lawsuit from proceeding that claimed a May 1 tweet by Musk regarding Tesla stock price ("too high imo") violated the agreement.[151][152]
Ownership of Tesla
As of January 29, 2016[update], Musk owned about 28.9 million Tesla shares, which equated to about 22% of the company.[153][154] In January 2018, Musk was granted an option to buy up to 20.3 million shares if Tesla's market value were to rise to $650 billion. Majority shareholder approval for this package was approved in March 2018.[155] The grant was also meant to end speculation about Musk's potential departure from Tesla to devote more time to his other business ventures.[156] A report by advisory firm Glass Lewis & Co. to its clients argued against granting the options.[157] As of December 31, 2019[update], Musk owns 38,658,670 shares or 20.8% of all Tesla shares.[158]
Musk provided the initial concept and financial capital for SolarCity, which his cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive co-founded in 2006.[159][160] By 2013, SolarCity was the second largest provider of solar power systems in the United States.[161] In 2012, Musk announced that SolarCity and Tesla would collaborate to use electric vehicle batteries to smooth the impact of rooftop solar on the power grid, with the program going live in 2013.[162]
In June 2014, Musk committed to building a SolarCity advanced production facility in Buffalo, New York, that would triple the size of the largest solar plant in the United States. Musk stated the plant will be "one of the single largest solar panel production plants in the world," and it will be followed by one or more even bigger facilities in subsequent years.[163] The Tesla Gigafactory 2 is a photovoltaic (PV) cell factory, leased by Tesla subsidiary SolarCity in Buffalo, New York. Construction on the factory started in 2014 and was completed in 2017.[164] Tesla accepted $750 million in public funds from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as part of the Buffalo Billion project—a plan to invest money to help the economy of the Buffalo, New York area—to build the factory and infrastructure.[165] The factory was operated as a joint venture with Panasonic until early 2020.[166]
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. At the time, SolarCity was facing liquidity issues; however, Tesla shareholders were not informed.[167] Consequently, multiple shareholder groups have filed a lawsuit against Musk and Tesla's directors, claiming that the purchase of SolarCity was done solely to benefit Musk and came at the expense of Tesla and its shareholders.[168][169] 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." This had not previously been disclosed to shareholders. Court documents unsealed in 2019 have confirmed that Musk was also aware of the company's liquidity issues.[167] Tesla directors settled the lawsuit in January 2020, leaving Musk the sole remaining defendant.[170][171]
Musk discussing a Neuralink device during a live demonstration in August 2020
In 2016, Musk co-founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology start-up company to integrate the human brain with AI. The company is centered on creating devices that can be implanted in the human brain, with the eventual purpose of helping human beings merge with software and keep pace with advancements in artificial intelligence. These enhancements could improve memory or allow more direct interfacing with computing devices.[172][173]
At a live demonstration in August 2020, Musk described one of their early devices as "a Fitbit in your skull" which could soon cure paralysis, deafness, blindness, and other disabilities. Many neuroscientists and publications criticized these claims.[174][175][176] For example, MIT Technology Review described them as "highly speculative" and "neuroscience theater".[174]
On December 17, 2016, while stuck in traffic, Musk tweeted "[I] am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging..." He then founded 'The Boring Company' (TBC).[177] On January 21, 2017, Musk tweeted "Exciting progress on the tunnel front. Plan to start digging in a month or so."[178] Discussions with regulatory bodies began in January 2017.[179]
In February 2017, the company began digging 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 Space X's offices in Los Angeles, since the construction requires no permits.[180][181] A tunnel beneath the Las Vegas Convention Center was completed in early 2020. Local officials have approved further expansions of the tunnel system.[182]
As a merchandising and publicity stunt, Musk said TBC sold 2,000 "flamethrowers" in 2018,[183][184] allegedly inspired by the Mel Brooks-directed film Spaceballs (1987).[185][186]
On August 12, 2013, Musk unveiled a concept for a high-speed transportation system incorporating reduced-pressure tubes in which pressurized capsules ride on an air cushion driven by linear induction motors and air compressors.[187] The alpha design for the system was published in a whitepaper posted to the Tesla and SpaceX blogs.[188][189][190] The document scoped out the technology and outlined a notional route where such a transport system might be built: between the Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area,[191] at an estimated total cost of $6 billion.[192]
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.[193]
Musk had envisioned the system in approximately 2011, and assigned a dozen engineers from Tesla and SpaceX who worked part-time for nine months, establishing the conceptual foundations and creating the designs which resulted in the 2013 whitepaper.[194][195]
In June 2015, Musk announced a design competition for students and others to build Hyperloop pods to operate on a SpaceX-sponsored mile-long track in a 2015–2017 Hyperloop pod competition. The track was used in January 2017, and Musk also started building a tunnel.[196]
In December 2015, Musk announced the creation of OpenAI, a not-for-profit AI research company. OpenAI aims to develop artificial general intelligence in a way that is safe and beneficial to humanity.[198]
By making AI available to everyone, OpenAI wants to "counteract large corporations who may gain too much power by owning super-intelligence systems devoted to profits, as well as governments which may use AI to gain power and even oppress their citizenry."[199] Musk has stated he wants to counteract the concentration of power.[26] In 2018 Musk left the OpenAI board to avoid possible future conflicts with his role as CEO of Tesla as Tesla increasingly became involved in AI through Tesla Autopilot.[200]
In an interview with Joe Rogan in September 2018, Musk expressed his concerns about the dangers of developing AI indiscriminately. In January 2019, Mark Harris of The Guardian noted that the Musk foundation had "added a line to its website, stating its support for the "development of safe artificial intelligence to benefit humanity".[201]
Workers position pipes to pump water from the Tham Luang cave
In July 2018, Musk arranged for his employees to build a small rescue pod to assist rescuers during the Tham Luang cave rescue. Musk, responding to requests for help from Twitter users,[202] offered help and his The Boring Company contacted the Thai government.[203]
Named "Wild Boar" after the children's soccer team,[204] its design, based on dive team feedback, was a five-foot (1.5 m)-long, twelve-inch (300 mm)-inch wide sealed tube weighing about 90 pounds (41 kg) propelled manually by divers in the front and back with segmented compartments to place diver weights to adjust buoyancy,[205][206] intended to solve the problem of safely transporting the children who might have had difficulty learning the scuba skills required to exit the cave on their own without panicking. In case the mini-submarine could not fit through the cave system, Elon Musk also requested Wing Inflatables, a California-based inflatable boat manufacturer, to build inflatable escape pods. Engineers at Musk's companies SpaceX and The Boring Company built the mini-submarine out of a Falcon 9 liquid oxygen transfer tube[207] in 8 hours and personally delivered it to Thailand.[205] However, by this time, eight of the twelve children had already been rescued using full face masks and oxygen under anesthesia[208] and Thai authorities did not to use the submarine.[209]
The supervisor of the rescue operation Narongsak Osatanakorn stated that the submarine was "technologically sophisticated, [but] it doesn't fit with our mission to go in the cave".[212][213] Vernon Unsworth, a recreational caver who had been exploring the cave for the previous six years and played a key advisory role in the rescue, criticized the submarine on CNN as amounting to nothing more than a public relations effort with no chance of success, and that Musk "had no conception of what the cave passage was like" and "can stick his submarine where it hurts". Musk asserted on Twitter that the device would have worked and referred to Unsworth as "pedo guy", causing backlash against Musk.[214][215] He subsequently deleted the tweets, along with an earlier tweet in which he told another critic of the device, "Stay tuned jackass."[215] On July 16, Unsworth stated that he was considering legal action.[216][217]
Two days later, Musk issued an apology for his remarks.[218][219] Then, on August 28, 2018, in response to criticism from a writer on Twitter, Musk tweeted "You don't think it's strange he hasn't sued me?"[220] The following day, a letter from L. Lin Wood, the rescuer's attorney, dated August 6, emerged, showing that he had been making preparations for a libel lawsuit.[221][222]
Around this time, James Howard-Higgins emailed Musk claiming to be a private investigator and with an offer to "dig deep" into Unsworth's past, which Musk accepted; Higgins was later revealed to be a convicted felon with multiple counts of fraud.[223][224] On August 30, using details produced during the alleged investigation,[225] Musk sent a BuzzFeed News reporter who had written about the controversy an email prefaced with "off the record" and claimed that Unsworth is a "single white guy from England who's been traveling to or living in Thailand for 30 to 40 years... until moving to Chiang Rai for a child bride who was about 12 years old at the time." On September 5, the reporter tweeted a screenshot of the email, saying that "Off the record is a two-party agreement," which he "did not agree to."[226]
In mid-September, Unsworth filed a defamation suit in Los Angeles federal court.[227][228] 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."[229] The defamation case began in December 2019, with Unsworth seeking $190 million in damages.[230] During the trial Musk apologized to Unsworth again for the tweet. On December 6 the jury found in favor of Musk and ruled he was not liable; Musk commented: "My faith in humanity is restored."[231][232]
2018 Joe Rogan podcast appearance
Musk, before a microphone and wearing headphones, is surrounded by smoke from a cigar, which he holds in his handMusk takes a puff of a cigar laced with cannabis on The Joe Rogan Experience in September 2018
On September 6, 2018, Musk appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast and discussed various topics for over two hours. One of the highest profile and controversial aspects of the program was Musk's sampling a single puff from a cigar consisting, Rogan claimed, of tobacco laced with cannabis. To Rogan's inquiry on how often he smoked cannabis, Musk replied: "Almost never. 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." The Washington Post observed that, "In the media's hands, it became a story about Musk's growing instability."[233]
Tesla stock dropped after the incident, which coincided with the confirmation of the departure of Tesla's Vice President of Worldwide Finance earlier that day.[234][235]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 and that the Air Force was still processing the situation.[236][237] In a 60 Minutes interview, Musk said of the incident: "I do not smoke pot. As anybody who watched that podcast could tell, I have no idea how to smoke pot."[238][239]
Music ventures
On March 30, 2019, Musk released a rap track, "RIP Harambe", on SoundCloud under the name "Emo G Records".[240] The track was performed by Yung Jake, written by Yung Jake and Caroline Polachek, and produced by BloodPop.[241][242] On January 30, 2020, Musk released an EDM track, "Don't Doubt Ur Vibe", featuring his own lyrics and vocals.[243] While Guardian critic Alexi Petridis described it as "indistinguishable... from umpteen competent but unthrilling bits of bedroom electronica posted elsewhere on Soundcloud",[244]TechCrunch said it was "not a bad representation of the genre".[243]
Politically, Musk has described himself as "half Democrat, half Republican" and "I'm somewhere in the middle, socially liberal and fiscally conservative."[245] He additionally backs direct democracy and has stated he thinks the government on Mars should be a direct democracy.[246] He has described himself as a "socialist", in that he "seeks greatest good for all."[247] In an interview with The Washington Post, Musk stated he was a "significant (though not top-tier) donor to Democrats," but that he also gives heavily to Republicans. Musk further stated that political contributions are a requirement in order to have a voice in the United States government.[248][249]
Musk, a longtime opponent of short-selling, has repeatedly criticized the practice and argued it should be illegal.[260] He has engaged with short-selling critics via social media[261] and used Tesla merchandise as a means of mocking those who short the Tesla stock.[262] In lighter moments, Musk has openly joked with well-known short-seller David Einhorn using puns on "short" and arranged to sell commemorative short shorts on Tesla's website for $69.42.[263][264]
Musk has stated that he does not believe the U.S. government should provide subsidies to companies but should instead use a carbon tax to price in the negative externality of climate change and discourage poor behavior. Musk says that the free market would achieve the best solution, and that producing environmentally unfriendly vehicles should come with its own consequences.[265] His stance has been called hypocritical as his businesses have received billions of dollars in subsidies.[266][267][268]
In July 2020, Musk tweeted "Pronouns suck" to significant backlash on Twitter, including from his partner Grimes.[269][270][271][272][273] The tweet has been perceived by some as transphobic and an attack on non-binary identities.[274] In a series of December 2020 tweets, Musk again mocked the use of pronouns. The Human Rights Campaign, which had previously given Tesla the number one ranking on its Corporate Equality Index, criticized his tweets and called for him to apologize.[275][276][277]
Musk predicted that there would be "close to zero new cases in US too by end of April."[279][293]Politico later labelled this statement one of "the most audacious, confident and spectacularly incorrect prognostications [in 2020]."[294] In November 2020, the phrase "Space Karen" trended on Twitter in connection with Musk after he criticized the effectiveness of COVID-19 testing.[295][296][297]
In spring 2020, Musk offered to donate ventilators built by Tesla.[298] Multiple hospitals noted that the devices eventually donated were not the promised "full ventilators" but BiPAP or CPAP machines.[299][300]
Artificial intelligence & public transit
Musk has frequently spoken about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI), repeatedly calling it the greatest threat to humanity. [301][302] Musk's opinions about AI have provoked controversy.[303] Consequently, according to CNBC, Musk is "not always looked upon favorably" by the AI research community.[304] Musk and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg have clashed on the issue, with Zuckerberg calling his warnings "pretty irresponsible."[305][306][307][308][309] Musk's claims that humans live in a computer simulation have also been criticized.[310][311]
Musk has criticized public transportation,[312][313] a stance that has been called elitist.[314] His comments have sparked widespread criticism from both transportation and urban planning experts.[315][316]
Personal life
Family, relationships, and residence
Musk is currently in a relationship with Canadian musician Grimes.
In 2008, Musk began dating English actress Talulah Riley, and in 2010, the couple married. In January 2012, Musk announced that he had ended his four-year relationship with Riley,[21][323] tweeting to Riley, "It was an amazing four years. I will love you forever. You will make someone very happy one day."[324] In July 2013, Musk and Riley remarried. In December 2014, Musk filed for a second divorce from Riley; however, the action was withdrawn.[325] The media announced in March 2016 that divorce proceedings were again underway, this time with Riley filing for divorce from Musk.[326][327] The divorce was finalized in late 2016.[328]
On May 7, 2018, Musk and Canadian musician Grimes revealed that they were dating.[329][330][331] On January 8, 2020, Grimes announced that she was pregnant with a child.[332][333] Grimes gave birth to a son on May 4, 2020.[334][335] According to Musk and Grimes, his name was "X Æ A-12" (pronounced /ˈɛks.æʃˌeɪ.twɛlv/EKS-ash-AY-twelv[336]); however, the name was deemed illegal under California law, because it contained characters that are not in the modern English alphabet,[337][338] and was then changed to "X Æ A-Xii". This drew more confusion, as Æ is not a letter in the modern English alphabet.[339] The child was eventually named "X AE A-XII", with "X" as a first name and "AE A-XII" as a middle name.[340]
Musk resides in Texas, publicly revealed in December 2020 when he stated that he had moved from California to Texas.[341][342][343] Earlier in 2020, he had promised to sell his "physical possessions" and subsequently signed letters of intent to sell several of his California residences.[344][345]
From the early 2000s until late 2020, he resided in the Los Angeles area of California where both Tesla and SpaceX were founded and where their headquarters are still located.[341]
Philanthropy
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.[346][201] Since 2002, the foundation has made over 350 contributions. Around half were to scientific research or education nonprofits. Notable beneficiaries include the Wikimedia Foundation, his alma mater the University of Pennsylvania, and his brother Kimball's Big Green.[347] Musk is a trustee of the X Prize Foundation,[348][349] and, in 2012, signed The Giving Pledge, promising to give at least half of his fortune to charity.[350][347]
In July 2014, Musk was asked by cartoonistMatthew Inman and William Terbo, the grandnephew of Nikola Tesla, to donate $8 million toward the construction of the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe.[351] Ultimately, Musk agreed to donate $1 million toward the project and additionally pledged to build a Tesla Supercharger in the museum car park.[352] In January 2015, Musk donated $10 million to the Future of Life Institute to run a global research program aimed at keeping AI beneficial to humanity.[353][354][355]
In October 2018, in an effort to help solve the Flint water crisis, Musk and the Musk Foundation donated over $480,000 to install new water fountains with filtration systems for access to clean water at all Flint, Michigan schools.[356] As of 2019[update], approximately 30,000 children in all 12 area schools have free, safe drinking water from the water filtration systems.[357] Musk has been a top donor for the ACLU.[358] In October 2019, Musk donated $1 million to '#TeamTrees' a tree planting initiative to plant 20 million trees led by the YouTube community and in collaboration with Arbor Day Foundation.[359][360]
^A lawsuit settlement agreed to by Eberhard and Tesla in September 2009 designated five people as company founders, including Musk, Eberhard, JB Straubel, Mark Tarpenning, and Ian Wright.[4][5]
^The entire launch stack has also been called Starship since September 2019.
^LaMonica, Martin. "Tesla Motors founders: Now there are five". CNET. Retrieved April 17, 2020. Tesla Motors and co-founder Martin Eberhard announced an agreement over who can claim to be a founder of the company on Monday.
^Schwartz, Ariel (September 21, 2009). "Tesla Lawsuit Drama Ends as Five Company Founders Emerge". Fast Company. Retrieved April 14, 2020. Eberhard and Musk have reached a rather unexpected resolution–instead of agreeing to share the title of "founder", the pair has designated five people as company founders, including Musk, Eberhard, JB Straubel, Mark Tarpenning, and Ian Wright.
^Keating Jr., Joseph C. (September 1995). "Joshua N Haldeman, DC: the Canadian Years, 1926–1950". The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association. PMC2485067.
^"Starship Update". September 28, 2019. Archived from the original on December 13, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
^Elon Musk (September 29, 2017). Becoming a Multiplanet Species (video). 68th annual meeting of the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia: SpaceX. Retrieved December 31, 2017 – via YouTube.((cite AV media)): CS1 maint: location (link)
^Burns, Matt (October 8, 2014). "A Brief History of Tesla". TechCrunch. TechCrunch.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
^Burns, Matt (October 8, 2014). "A Brief History of Tesla". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on July 17, 2015. Retrieved July 17, 2015. Tesla was founded not by Elon Musk, but rather by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in July 2003. The two bootstrapped the fledgling auto company until Elon Musk led the company's US$7.5 million Series A financing round in February 2004.
^Schilling, Melissa (2018). Quirky: The remarkable story of the traits, foibles, and genius of breakthrough innovators who changed the world. PublicAffairs.
^Morrison, Chris (October 15, 2008). "Musk steps in as CEO". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 4, 2016. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
^Shahan, Zachary (April 26, 2015). "Electric Car Evolution". Clean Technica. Archived from the original on September 18, 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
^Musk, Elon (March 31, 2007). "Interview with Elon Musk". Wired Science (Interview). Archived from the original on December 27, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2021. Model 3 is intended to be around a $30,000 price point, so that's really affordable by almost everyone who can buy new cars
^Chafkin, Max (February 16, 2017). "Elon Musk Is Really Boring". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
Belfiore, Michael (2007). Rocketeers. New York City: HarperCollins. ISBN9780061149023.
Jackson, Erik (2004). The PayPal Wars. Los Angeles: World Ahead Publishing.
Kidder, David; Hoffman, Reid (2013). The Startup Playbook: Secrets of the Fastest Growing Start-Ups from the founding Entrepreneurs. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN9781452105048.
Vance, Ashlee (2015). Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping Our Future. HarperCollinsPublishers. ISBN9780753555637.
Further reading
Davenport, Christian. The Space Barons; Elon Musk. Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos. PublicAffairs (2018). ISBN978-1610398299
Fernholz, Tim. Rocket Billionaires: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the New Space Race. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2018). ISBN978-1-328-66223-1
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