Elon Musk is famously known for Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink and The Boring Company. Who can forget his weird tweets that shake the Bitcoin market? He has a habit of getting into the news.
Recently, Musk was again in the spotlight for buying Twitter worth $44 billion. Musk had a rollercoaster ride in the past before becoming an icon. Although many people don’t know a lot of interesting things about this multi-billionaire. If you are one of them then this article is a must-read for you. Today, we bring the top 10 interesting facts about Elon Musk that you have not heard until now.
1. Elon Musk Tried to Sell Tesla to Google
2. Apple Got an Opportunity to Buy Tesla
3. Travelling at the Top Speed of 750 Mph in a Floating Pod
4. Turned his House into a NightClub to Pay For Rent
5. Elon Musk Dropped out of Stanford
6. Elon Musk’s First Startup
7. Invented a Space-Themed PC Game at the age of 12
8. Bought a James Bond Submarine Car for $997,000
9. Started his Own School in SpaceX for his Children
10. Robert Downey Jr Met Musk for Inspiration
1. Elon Musk Tried to Sell Tesla to Google
Elon Musk is popularly known for Tesla. The company which is producing futuristic electric cars is now making billions of profit. But, could you imagine Tesla being in the hands of Google today?
In 2013, when Tesla was nearly bankrupt Elon Musk tried to sell the electric automobile giant to Google. Musk was an old friend of Google CEO Larry Page. So, he asked his friend to buy Tesla for $6 billion.
Musk also had some other demands like Google would additionally provide $5 billion for factory expenses. He also demanded a guarantee from Google that they won’t shut down the company unless they make a third-generation electric car. Musk also wanted to run the company as its head for eight years.
Although this deal never really happened. If Google had bought Tesla then Musk would have made so much loss that you can’t even imagine.
2. Apple Got an Opportunity to Buy Tesla
Elon Musk also tried to sell Tesla to the tech giant Apple too. In 2018, during the Model 3 program Musk was facing a massive production issue. At that time Musk tried to have a meeting with Apple boss Tim Cook to discuss if they can buy Tesla (for one-tenth of the current value). Although Tim Cook refused to have a meeting.
3. Travelling at the Top Speed of 750 Mph in a Floating Pod
The concept is known as Hyperloop. In 2013, Musk popularised this concept by publishing it in a white paper. Hyperloop is an ultra-speed ground transportation system which consists of sealed and partially evacuated tubes and passengers travel in pressurized vehicles, popularly called pods. These pods don’t have regular wheels and instead float on air skis.
4. Turned his House into a NightClub to Pay For Rent
In 1992 Musk was studying at the University of Pennsylvania on scholarship. During that time he and his roommate, Adeo Ressi, rented a house off-campus and turned it into a NightClub and charged $5 per person. They would have 500 people which means that the party was done on a large scale. Ressi said that Musk wasn’t a big drinker and instead used to play games alone in his room.
5. Elon Musk Dropped out of Stanford
In 1995, when Musk was 24 years old he entered Stanford for PhD program in physics. Although within 2 days he dropped out of Stanford. He felt that the internet has a lot more power and that’s why after dropping out he launched his first company Zip2.
Mahenoor Mansuri
6. Elon Musk’s First Startup
In 1955, Musk with his brother Kimbal launched their first Startup: Zip2, online web software that created online city guides for newspapers. Compaq Computer Corporation bought this company for $350 million.
In 1999 Musk used some of this money to develop X.com, an online bank. In 2001 the company was renamed PayPal. Later, in 2002 eBay bought this company for $1.5 billion. Although in 2015, PayPal became an independent company.
7. Invented a Space-Themed PC Game at the age of 12
Elon Musk was obsessed with space from his childhood itself. At the age of just 12, he made a code for a space shooter PC game named ‘Blaster’. He sold the game code for $500 to a PC magazine.
8. Bought a James Bond Submarine Car for $997,000
In 2013, Elon Musk bought James Bond’s classic submarine car, Lotus Esprit for $997,000 at a London auction. This car was featured in the film, ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’. In the movie, the car transforms into a submarine and fires missiles.
When Elon got to know that the car in reality doesn’t turn into a submarine he was disappointed. Musk said that he will integrate a Tesla electric powertrain into the car and make it transform into a submarine for real.
9. Started his Own School in SpaceX for his Children
Musk felt that the regular schools were not training the students in the right way. He feels that students should be taught about problem-solving. In 2014, Musk started his own school in SpaceX named ‘Ad Astra’, Latin for ‘to the stars’. SpaceX employees’ children can also study in this innovative school.
In this school students are not grouped according to their age. Musk said that every student has a different aptitude and abilities and that’s why education should cater to their needs instead of forcing them to learn at the same speed as other students. There is no grading system and everything is taught in a form of games.
10. Robert Downey Jr Met Musk for Inspiration
When Musk made his MCU debut in Iron Man 2 people speculated that Musk was the inspiration for Tony Stark. This is because Robert Downey Jr’s character has a lot of resemblance to Elon Musk. Both of them are multi-billionaires who are freaking geniuses.
Although Iron Man director Jon Favreau cleared these rumours by saying that the character of Iron Man is based on comics. Robert Downey did meet Musk to know how it would feel like to be a real-life Tony Stark. Both of them had a chat and discussed different interesting things. The scene where Tony Stark meets Musk was shot in SpaceX.
Sushree Sangeeta Behera
Conclusion
We hope that you got to know some unknown interesting facts about Elon Musk. The guy had done so many weird and incredible things before becoming a multi-billionaire. Tell us in the comments which interesting fact about Musk fascinated you the most and did we miss out on any other fact.
FAQs
How did Elon Musk get so rich?
When Elon Musk sold PayPal to eBay he secured a $100 million payout which is used to start SpaceX and then later joined Tesla.
How much money does Elon Musk make?
The net worth of Elon Musk in 2022 is $273 billion which means he earns an average of $432 million per day.
How smart is Elon Musk?
Elon Musk has an IQ of between 150 and 155. To up in this perspective, Albert Einstein had an IQ of 160. This shows that Musk is very intelligent.
What did Elon Musk invent first?
In 1955, Musk with his brother Kimbal founded Zip2, online web software that created online city guides for newspapers. This company was sold for $350 million to Compaq Computer Corporation. Musk then founded X.com, an online bank which later became PayPal. In 2002, eBay bought this company for $1.5 billion. Although in 2015, PayPal became an independent company.
