After making headlines as SpaceX’s youngest engineer, a 16-year-old youngster is now entering the banking industry. After joining SpaceX shortly after graduating with a degree in computer science and engineering at the age of 14, Kairan Quazi has chosen to accept a new position with Citadel Securities in New York City.
He contributed to production-critical systems that managed how satellites directed their beams to deliver internet access throughout his two years of employment on the Starlink project. His efforts helped to increase Starlink services’ dependability and speed.
From SpaceX to Wall Street
Quazi made the decision to depart SpaceX and pursue a career in financial technology in 2025. He will now work as a quantitative developer for Citadel Securities, a worldwide trading company that handles roughly 35% of US retail stock trades.
After two years at SpaceX, Quazi told Business Insider that he felt prepared to take on new challenges and broaden his skill set in a different high-performance setting. Citadel’s “ambitious culture” and access to a “completely new domain” were what drew him in, he continued. Quazi turned down offers from large tech businesses and AI research laboratories in favour of financing.
Why He Chose Finance Over Big Tech?
He gave Business Insider an explanation for his choice, saying that quantum finance offers a unique blend of intricacy and intellectual challenge that AI research also delivers, but at a far faster rate. Instead of months or years, as is the case in many study settings, he will be able to observe quantifiable impact in a matter of days. He will be working on creating technologies at Citadel that facilitate rapid international trade.
Early Career & Academic Achievements
Before graduating from college, Quazi started his career early by working as an intern at Intel Labs when he was ten years old. In 2022, he was also employed at Blackbird.AI. His interest in finance was influenced by his mother’s job in mergers and acquisitions.
Challenges at a Young Age
Quazi’s age has presented difficulties despite his accomplishments. He attacked LinkedIn’s 2023 decision to ban his account for being underage as “illogical, primitive nonsense,” pointing out the difference between being permitted to work at SpaceX and being denied access to a professional networking site.
Family & Influences
Kairan Quazi was raised in a tech- and finance-related family in the San Francisco Bay Area. His father, Mustahid Quazi, is a chemical engineer, and his mother, Jullia Quazi, is employed on Wall Street. Early academic exposure sparked Quazi’s interest in technology, computer science, and mathematics.
He graduated from Las Positas College with an Associate of Science in Mathematics at the age of eleven. He earned a degree in computer science and engineering at the age of 14, making him the youngest graduate in Santa Clara University’s 170-year history.
Quick
Shots
•Kairan Quazi, a 16-year-old
Bengali-American, became the youngest engineer at Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
•Worked on Starlink systems to boost
satellite internet speed and reliability.
•He has now joined Citadel Securities
in New York as a Quantitative Developer.
•Chose finance over Big Tech & AI
labs for faster real-world impact and new challenges.
Uncertainty surrounds the fate of a Japanese private lunar lander that lost communication on 6 June while descending to the moon.
The lander, dubbed Resilience, successfully left lunar orbit, according to Tokyo-based iSpace, but communication was lost during the hour-long descent phase. At crucial points, the company’s broadcast abruptly ended.
As Mission Control worked to reconnect, a commentator in Japanese stated that there was still no confirmation of the landing. According to a Japanese media report, one of the commentators stated in Japanese, “We haven’t been able to confirm,” and that Mission Control “will continuously attempt to communicate with the lander.”
After an unsuccessful trip two years prior, this was iSpace’s second attempt to land on the moon. As a tribute to their tenacity, the firm had given this new craft the name Resilience.
The lander carried a miniature red house made by a Swedish artist and a small rover intended to gather lunar material. Since 2019, private companies have joined government space agencies to explore the moon, with varying degrees of success.
Launched from Florida in January, Resilience travelled on Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost, the first private craft to land on the moon safely earlier this year, before reaching lunar orbit.
ispace’s Lander Targeted Mare Frigoris
Mare Frigoris (Sea of Cold), a crater-rich area with ancient lava flows on the moon’s northern near side, was the objective of iSpace’s lander. It was anticipated that the 2.3-metre-tall Resilience would deploy its rover over the weekend and start sending pictures soon after landing.
Tenacious, a five-kilogram rover manufactured in Europe, was made of plastic reinforced with carbon fibre. It had a shovel that NASA had commissioned and a high-definition camera. With a targeted range of up to one kilometre over a two-week operating window, the rover was intended to remain close to the lander while travelling at a modest pace of centimetres per second.
The Moonhouse, a little red residence designed by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg and intended for installation on the lunar surface, was also transported by the rover as a symbolic act. Takeshi Hakamada, CEO of iSpace, described the expedition as a first step towards next endeavours, including the development of a larger lander in collaboration with NASA for a planned trip in 2027.
Hakamada had stated his faith in the lessons learnt from the first failed mission before the landing attempt. In a statement, CFO Jumpei Nozaki reaffirmed the company’s commitment to lunar exploration “regardless of outcomes”.
However, Jeremy Fix, chief engineer of ispace’s US division, admitted the financial realities at a recent space industry conference, stating that the organisation “cannot sustain repeated failures”. Although the new mission’s cost was not made public, it was said to be less than their first, which cost more than $100 million.
Other Private Firms Pushing their Moon Mission
There are other private companies that are still striving for success. Astrobotic Technology and Blue Origin are preparing missions for the year-end. After failing to reach the moon in 2024, Astrobotic returned to Earth’s atmosphere.
Only five countries have accomplished robotic moon landings to date: the US, China, India, Japan, and Russia. With 12 NASA astronauts stepping on the moon between 1969 and 1972, the US is the only country to have landed humans.
Next year, NASA plans to send humans back into lunar orbit and use SpaceX’s Starship to make a commanded landing. Additionally, by 2030, China intends to send humans to the moon.
On board SpaceX’s Transporter-12 mission, Digantara, a space surveillance business located in Bengaluru, is scheduled to launch its first dedicated surveillance satellite, SCOT (space camera for object tracking). Notably, SCOT fills in the gaps in the current global space surveillance systems by being built to track resident space objects (RSOs) with high frequency and accuracy. In low earth orbit (LEO), the satellite can track objects as tiny as 5 cm and provide continuous monitoring that is not impacted by weather or geographical restrictions. Digantara CEO Anirudh Sharma stated that the company is taking a significant step towards attaining surveillance superiority with SCOT, guaranteeing not only a more secure and sustainable space environment but also protecting sovereign assets in the face of a space domain that is becoming more and more disputed.
Facilitating Safer Spacecraft Operations
By maintaining a sun-synchronous orbit, the satellite will facilitate safer spacecraft operations and allow for ongoing monitoring of the near-Earth environment. Digantara, which was founded in 2018 by Anirudh Sharma, Rahul Rawat, and Tanveer Ahmed, is developing an end-to-end space operations infrastructure with the goal of assisting stakeholders throughout a spacecraft mission’s whole value chain and life cycle. The business wants to build a constellation of satellites to follow things as small as 1 cm, and its flagship product is its own space debris detector. The startup’s Series A1 investment round ended last year with a final close of $12 million. Digantara has garnered $14.5 million in capital to date, supported by companies such as Aditya Birla Ventures, Peak XV Partners, and the state-backed Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).
The Ever Expanding Indian Spacetech Market
Digantara is part of the broader Indian spacetech industry, which has grown significantly in recent years due to government initiatives and a sizable influx of venture funding. As a result, domestic companies like Agnikul, Bellatrix, Pixxel, and Skyroot have emerged at different stages of the space value chain. By 2030, the Indian spacetech market is expected to grow to a size of $77 billion, according to various media reports. Even though there were more agreements last year—14 in 2024 compared to 11 in 2023—the total amount of money raised by Indian spacetech businesses dropped 35% year over year to $81 million, according to the Indian Startup Funding Report 2024.
Two other Indian space businesses, in addition to Digantara, contributed satellites to SpaceX’s Transporter-12 rocket, which took off from Vandenberg, California, in the United States. Together with ELEVATION-1, a satellite for the US-based Almagest Space Corporation that was entirely planned and produced by Hyderabad-based XDLINX Spacelabs, Bengaluru-based Pixxel launched the first three satellites of its Firefly constellation.
On December 18, 2024, sources notified a media outlet that Manipur’s security forces had retrieved Starlink internet devices from the Imphal East district, along with sniper guns, pistols, grenades, and other weapons. According to the report, the retrieval took place on December 13 during a concerted operation in multiple districts, including Churachandpur, Chandel, Imphal East, and Kangpokpi. The first satellite constellation in the world, Starlink is owned by US tech tycoon Elon Musk’s aerospace company, SpaceX, and offers broadband internet anywhere in the world where the service has a licence to operate.
Refuting the Claims
When asked if militants in India use Starlink, Musk responded that the claims are “false” and that Starlink satellite beams are switched off over India. Security authorities said the recovery of the Starlink gadget has led the appropriate agencies to look into how the technology got to the state that is riven by conflict. Starlink is not authorised to conduct business in India. The discovery of sophisticated satellite internet gear represents a concerning increase in insurgent capabilities, even though such seizures usually contain weapons and ammunition. The insurgents’ use of Starlink, which offers high-speed satellite internet, suggests a possible change in their operating approach by allowing them to get past conventional communication obstacles.
The Security Consequences of Startlink
In India’s insurgency-prone areas, Starlink’s capacity to deliver dependable internet connection in isolated and disconnected locations presents a special risk. The satellite internet provides end-to-end encryption, which makes it more difficult for intelligence services to monitor rebel conversations than traditional communication systems that are susceptible to disruption or interception. The Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF) and its armed component, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), one of the most active rebel groups in Manipur, were identified by markings on the discovered device.
Given that Starlink does not currently have a satellite broadband licence in India, the use of such technology sparked concerns about how the terrorists obtained the gadget. Security experts think that in order to get around restrictions, the device might have been smuggled into the nation or activated using phoney geotagging. According to a senior officer, this is more than just a technological seizure; it’s a window into the evolution of insurgency groups. The official also noted that the ability to access high-speed internet from distant locations alters the dynamics of coordination and communication for these organisations.
Additional Consequences of Security Agencies
Counterinsurgency operations face a number of difficulties when militants use satellite internet. Now, insurgent organisations may share real-time intelligence, run propaganda campaigns, and more efficiently coordinate operations across vast places.
Conventional techniques for tracking insurgent communications, like phone interceptions and internet usage surveillance, might lose their effectiveness. Instead of depending on local networks, rebels may use Starlink to communicate directly with outside organisations, sponsors, or supporters.
The civilian population may potentially be at risk from this trend, according to security experts. Insurgents’ unfettered access to the world internet creates opportunities for cyberattacks, the dissemination of false information, and even recruitment efforts aimed at young people who are particularly vulnerable.
On 10 September 2024, four private individuals embarked on a five-day mission called Polaris Dawn in a modified SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. The mission’s goals include conducting the first private spacewalk and testing new types of spacesuits.
Takeoff occurred at approximately 5:23 a.m. EST (0923 GMT) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The crew consisted of a billionaire entrepreneur, a retired military fighter pilot, and two workers of SpaceX.
After around ninety-five minutes, the spacecraft entered orbit, and as the crew began to feel the effects of free fall, or zero gravity, they playfully tossed a small plush astronaut toy dog around. Three minutes later, the Crew Dragon spacecraft detached from its supporting trunk, and the cameras inside showed an amazing picture of the Earth lit up by the sun.
By radio, SpaceX Launch Director Frank Messina reminded the crew that their bravery illuminates the path for future explorers as they looked towards the North Star. “Sending you hugs from the ground, we have faith in your abilities, courage, and collaboration to complete the upcoming task,” he said.
The Most Dangerous Mission of Crew Dragon
This special mission is the fifth and most dangerous one that Crew Dragon has undertaken. By the time the spacecraft reaches its final orbital phase, it will have traveled the furthest any human has gone since the Apollo moon landings in 1972, with a range of 190 km (118 miles) near Earth and 1,400 km (870 miles) beyond.
A minor helium leak in ground equipment on SpaceX’s launchpad caused the postponement of a launch attempt last month, just hours before liftoff. After SpaceX repaired the leak, the launch of Polaris was further delayed when U.S. regulators grounded the company’s Falcon 9 due to a booster recovery failure on an unrelated mission.
Previous spacewalks were conducted solely by government astronauts who were highly trained and financially supported. Since its establishment in 2000, there have been around 270 astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS), with 16 of those astronauts hailing from China and stationed on Beijing’s Tiangong space station.
Third-Day Spacewalk Scheduled
On the third day of the mission, at an altitude of 700 km, the Polaris Dawn spacewalk is scheduled to take place, and it is expected to last approximately 20 minutes. All four men will depend on their slimmed-down, SpaceX-built spacesuits for oxygen as the entire cabin of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon craft is gradually depressurised.
The vessel lacks an airlock, unlike the International Space Station. Similar to the method intended for Polaris Dawn, the first U.S. spacewalk was place in 1965 aboard a Gemini spacecraft. The astronaut in a spacesuit was tethered to the outside when the hatch was opened and the pressure within the capsule was reduced.
There are over a billion successful startups in the world, every startup strives hard to be successful and reach the top, but only a few make it to the list of most valuable startups in the world.
Being the most valuable startup is a perk in itself because the funds they possess happen to be much more compared to their rivals and other companies giving them an extra edge to grow.
Here’s a list of the Top 15 Highest Valued Startups in the world:
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, SoftBank Group, Sequoia Capital, General Atlantic, and Hillhouse Capital Group.
Products and services
Toutiao, TikTok, BuzzVideo, Vigo Video, Helo, Xigua Video
Lark, Babe
Valuation
$300 Bn (2022)
Bytedance Founder | Zhang Yiming
Bytedance is the most valued startup in the world with a current valuation of $300 billion.
ByteDance Ltd. is a Chinese multinational internet technology company headquartered in Beijing, ByteDance was founded by Zhang Yiming in 2012. ByteDance operates a range of content platforms that inform, educate, entertain, and encourage people across languages, cultures, religions, etc.
ByteDance is the parent company of famous video-sharing social networking services TikTok and Vigo Video and many more, where the infamous app Tiktok crossed 2.6 billion downloads globally on the App Store and Google Play. As of now, it has over 1 billion monthly active users worldwide.
Bytedance is also the parent company of Toutiao which is a news aggregator app that uses AI algorithms to track the habits of the reader and deliver relevant content.
Kuaishou is a short video social platform that is not much popular in western countries. It is a short video-sharing platform that has over 363.4 million daily active users and 626 million monthly active users in 2022. It is listed on most downloaded apps on google play and apps store outside of china, Kuaishou is often referred to as Kwai in overseas markets.
Kuaishou was founded by Su Hua and Cheng Yixiao in march 2011. The direct competitor of Kuaishou is the infamous app Tiktok.
Warburg, Carlyle Group Inc, General Atlantic, Silver Lake Partners LP
Products and services
Online payments platform services, money market fund, Zhima credit, and more
Valuation
$70 Bn – $151 Bn (2022)
Ant Group Founder | Jack Ma
Ant Group is an affiliate company of Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba. Previously known as Ant Financial and Alipay, Ant Group is the owner of the largest digital payments platform, Alipay, in China. The latter boasts of serving around 80 million merchants and approximately 1.3 billion users worldwide.
The company is currently valued between $70 billion and $151 billion.
Greylock Partners, SV Angel, Sequoia Capital, Keith Rabois, Ashton Kutcher, Elad Gil, Jeremy Stoppelman, Y Ventures
Products and services
Lodging and Hospitality
Valuation
$57.54 Bn (2022)
Airbnb Founders | Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk
Airbnb is nothing but an accommodation marketplace that provides access to over 6 million unique places to stay comfortably and at their leisure in 220+ countries and regions. The company does not own any of the real estate listings, it just acts as a broker and earns a commission from each booking.
Airbnb was founded by Brian CheskyJoe, Gebbia Nathan, and Blecharczyk in August 2008. Airbnb’s valuation dropped to $57.54 billion in 2022 from $130 billion (2021).
Stripe Founders | Patrick Collison and John Collison
Stripe is an online payment processing platform for internet businesses. Stripe provides an API to web developers so that they can integrate payment processing on their websites and mobile applications. Stripe was founded by Patrick Collison and John Collison in 2009 in San Francisco, California, and the United States.
Stripe allows other companies to receive payments over the internet with the help of its platform. Square, Adyen, PayPal, WePay, etc are the competitors of Stripe. As of 2022, 8,000 employees are working for the company.
Google, Fidelity, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Founders Fund, Valor Equity Partners, and Capricorn.
Products and services
Launch vehicles, rocket engines, Dragon capsules Starship (in development), Starlink, ASDS landing platforms, Orbital rocket launch
Valuation
$127 Bn (2022)
SpaceX Founder | Elon Musk
It’s no surprise that SpaceX made it to the list of the top 10 most valuable startups in the world. SpaceX is a private American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company that manufactures rocket engines and thrusters. SpaceX has developed several launch vehicles and spacecraft.
SpaceX was founded by Elon musk who also owns Tesla and PayPal, he founded SpaceX on 6 May 2002 which is now headquartered in Hawthorne, California, United States. SpaceX became the first private space company to launch humans into space. The main aim of SpaceX is to reduce space transportation costs and colonize Mars.
Taxi, Express, Premier, Luxe, Bus, Designated Driving, Enterprise Solutions, Bike Sharing, E-bike Sharing, Automobile Solutions, and Food delivery
Valuation
$17.91 Bn (2022)
Didi Chuxing Founder | Cheng Wei
Didi Chuxing is a world-leading mobile transportation platform. DiDi provides automobile services, including sales, leasing, financing, maintenance, fleet operation, electric vehicle charging, and co-development of vehicles with automakers. Didi uses artificial intelligence technologies and machine learning to optimize the dispatch system and route planning services of the platform.
Didi is similar to the transportation service Uber, but it offers cheaper rides than Uber, DiDi platform provides over 10 billion passenger trips a year. The subsidiaries of Didi include 99, Uber (China) Ltd, DIDI Bus, Xiaoju, Automobile Solutions Co., AssureSec, Qingju Bike, Shanghai Dahuangfeng, Network Information Technology Co. Ltd, Shanghai Shiyuan Technology Co., Ltd.
Klarna, Sweden
Startup Name
Klarna
Headquarter
Stockholm, Sweden
Industry
Online payments, fintech, financial services
Founders
Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Niklas Adalberth, and Victor Jacobsson
Founded
2005
Investors
Sequoia Capital, Silver Lake, Bestseller Group, Dragoneer, Permira, Visa, Ant Group
Klarna Founders | Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Niklas Adalberth, and Victor Jacobsson
Klarna is a Stockholm, Sweden-based fintech company that offers online payment services to empower digital payments like payments for online storefronts and other direct payments, including post-purchase payments.
In 2021, it raised funds valued at $639 Mn led by Softbank Vision Fund II and some other investors, which had shot its valuation to $46 Bn. But Klarna’s valuation dropped to $6.7 Bn from $45.6 Bn in July 2022.
Andreessen Horowitz, Greenspring Associates, Temasek Holdings, Tencent Holdings, Greylock Partners, Tiger Global Management, Index Ventures, Meritech Capital Partners, and Kleiner Perkins
Products and services
Games and Roblox
Valuation
$15.18 Bn (2022)
Roblox Corporation Founders | David Baszucki, and Erik Cassel
Roblox Corporation is a video game developer from America with headquarters in San Mateo, California. Roblox Corporation is best known for developing Roblox, an online gaming platform and game creation system, in 2006.
Roblox’s valuation dropped to $15.18 billion in 2022 from $41.9 billion (2021).
Grab is a multinational ride-hailing company based in Singapore. It operates in South Asian countries and it is dubbed as its region’sfirst Decacorn (a startup with a valuation of over $10 billion). It provides services like transportation, on-demand delivery, and financial services on a single mobile platform.
Canva online and app for graphic designing, Canva Pro, Canva for Enterprise
Valuation
$26 Bn (2022)
Canva Founders | Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht, and Cameron Adams
Canva is a graphics design platform founded by Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht, and Cameron Adams in Perth and headquartered in Sydney, Australia. The users can use this platform to design their website banners, presentations, social media, documents, or any other visual content online or through the Canva app. Canva also provides a wide range of templates for free. Furthermore, the app also offers paid subscriptions like Canva Pro and Canva for Enterprise containing a broad spectrum of additional content and other functionalities.
Instacart Founders | Apoorva Mehta, Max Mullen, and Brandon Leonardo
Instacart is a popular grocery delivery and pick-up service renowned for its services in the USA and Canada. With the wide range of grocery retailers that Instacart collaborates with customers need not wait for too long to order their groceries online and shop smoothly and conveniently with the help of a personal shopper.
Ali Ghodsi, Andy Konwinski, Ion Stoica, Matei Zaharia, Patrick Wendell, Reynold Xin, and Scott Shenker
Founded
2013
Investors
Microsoft, Andreessen Horowitz, Alkeon Capital Management
Products and services
Helps in pulling data from Azure Blob Storage, AWS S3, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Azure Data Lake Store, and numerous other NoSQL data stores
Valuation
$38 Bn (2022)
Databricks Founders | Ali Ghodsi, Andy Konwinski, Ion Stoica, Matei Zaharia, Patrick Wendell, Reynold Xin, and Scott Shenker
Created by Apache Spark, Databricks is an enterprise software company that acts as a web-based platform that works with Spark, thereby offering automated cluster management services and IPython-style notebooks. Some of the open-source projects that the company has created include Delta Lake, MLflow, and Koalas, mostly spanning data engineering, data science, and machine learning.
AI Center Action Center Apps, Assistant Automation Hub, Automation Platform, Document Understanding Insights, Orchestrator Process Mining, StudioX Test Suite
Valuation
$6.89 Bn (2022)
UiPath Founders | Daniel Dines, and Marius Tîrcă
The Romanian company UiPath is a global software company headquartered in New York City, USA. UiPath uses Robotic process automation (RPA) and monitors user activities, to help automate repetitive tasks in both the front and the back ends of companies. UiPath’s automation is including but is not limited to customer relationship management.
Banking services including GBP and EUR bank accounts, debit cards, fee-free currency exchange, stock trading, cryptocurrency exchange, and peer-to-peer payments
Valuation
$33+ Bn (2022)
Revolut Founders | Nikolay Storonsky, and Vlad Yatsenko
Headquartered in London, England, Revolut is a financial technology company that offers banking services. Revolut offers a wide range of services including accounts featuring currency exchange, debit cards, virtual cards, Apple Pay, interest-bearing “vaults”, commission-free stock trading, crypto, commodities, and more. Founded in 2015 Revolut has shown incredible growth throughout the years and expanded to various markets across countries including Japan. Furthermore, it has also been successful in amassing around 3500 employees, who work for the organization.
With $5.10 billion, as estimated in November 2020, Revolut emerged as the UK’s most valuable fintech. The company is presently valued at $33+ billion, which makes it Europe’s most-valued startup, surpassing Checkout.com.
Conclusion
This is the list of the Top 15 Highest Valued Startups in the world. Hope you have enjoyed reading it. Feel free to let us know what you think about our content and also mention any more content ideas that you think might be helpful for readers, budding startups, entrepreneurs, and other individuals!
FAQs
Which is the most valued startup in the world?
With over $300 billion valuation, ByteDance – the parent company of TikTok, is the most valued startup in the world.
Which types of startups are most profitable?
Some of the most profitable startups are:
E-commerce
Business Consulting
Tech Support and Consulting
Real Estate
Online courses
Website, Logo, and Graphic Design Services
What types of startups are in demand?
Some of the startups in demand are:
Vehicle Renting Services
Trucking & Delivery Services
Food Delivery Services
Grocery Delivery Services
Vacation Rental Services
Learning Apps
Do 90% of startups fail?
Yes, 90% of startups fail. Only a few startups are successful by overcoming the obstacles and challenges on their way.
Today when we talk about the world’s most influential and richest entrepreneurs, Elon Musk comes to our minds for sure. He has always been in the news, let it be his new venture, his way of working, or his net worth.
Elon Musk’s tweets catch the attention of the masses; be it Elon Musk naming his baby X Æ A-12, which created a lot of buzz around the globe, or the “How Strange. Well, back to work…” one after Bloomberg announced him the richest person in the world, but only a few know about his life story.
Elon Reeve Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa. Elon Musk is an innovative business person, financial specialist, and engineer who is one of the most popular entrepreneurs in the world. He holds South African, Canadian, and U.S. citizenship. Elon Musk is the founder, CEO, and lead planner of SpaceX as well as a fellow benefactor, CEO, and item engineer ofTesla, Inc.
Elon Musk became the Richest Man in the World on January 7, 2021, after Tesla’s share price surged by 7.9%. It helped him to surpass Jeff Bezos. Musk was featured on the top of the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, a list of the top 500 richest people in the world, on 7th January 2021. Musk had added more than $122 billion to his fortune in the year 2021, which pushed his net worth to $292 billion, according to the reports dated October 2021. This made Elon Musk the first person to be the owner of such a huge fortune. Elon Musk’s net worth was then estimated to be $195 billion, which is currently estimated to be over $220 billion. He debuted on the list of the world’s richest persons back in 2012, when his net worth was estimated at $2 billion.
The tech tycoon went ahead with a bid to buy out Twitter by acquiring 100% of the Twitter stakes on April 26, 2022, in a deal worth $44 billion. However, the deal is still pending and the popular social media platform is yet to turn into a privately held entity.
To know more about the entrepreneur Elon Musk, Elon Musk biography, the answers to “what has Elon Musk studied?”, “what companies has Elon Musk founded?”, “what is Elon Musk famous for?” and more, stay glued!
Founder, CEO, and Chief Engineer at SpaceX; CEO and Product Architect of Tesla, Inc.; Founder of The Boring Company; and Co-founder of Neuralink and OpenAI
Elon Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa, to a White South African electromechanics Engineer, pilot, sailor, consultant and product developer, who was his father and a Canadian Dietitian and model mother. Errol and Maye Musk divorced in 1980. Though Musk initially started to live with his father in Pretoria and elsewhere immediately after the separation of his parents, Elon later regretted his choice and started to be estranged from his father. Elon Musk has been described as an awkward and introverted child throughout his childhood and he has also been a victim of regular bullies in his school days. In one such incident, Musk was pushed by a group of boys down a flight of stairs and he was hospitalised later.
Elon Musk – Career
Elon Musk joined Anglican Sunday school in his youth. He later entered Queen’s University, in Kingston, Ontario in 1990. He was soon transferred to the University of Pennsylvania after 2 years, from where he graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor’s degree in Physics and Economics.
While still enrolled in his course, Musk then held 2 internships in the summer of 1994 in Silicon Valley, at the Pinnacle Research Institute and Rocket Science Games. He then was accepted as a PhD scholar in Materials Science at Stanford University in California in 1995. However, Musk later dropped out of the course and decided to join the internet boom and launch an internet-based startup.
Elon Musk – Personal Life
Elon Musk is the eldest of the three siblings, Kimbal and Toska, who are the younger brother and sisters of Musk. Elon’s adenoids were removed when he was a child because his parents were apprehensive that he was deaf, however, they discovered later on that it wasn’t true. His parents divorced in 1980. After their divorce, though Musk initially gravitated towards his father, he chose his mother later.
Musk’s marital life started with Justine Wilson, a Canadian author, whom he married in 2000 when he was at Queen’s University. They first had a son, who died of SIDS at 10 weeks. After that, the couple gave birth to a twin and a triplet. Talulah Riley was the second wife of Musk. However, they eventually got divorced and then remarried, and again got divorced for the second time. After ending this marriage, Musk dated Canadian musician Grimes, who later gave birth to a son in May 2020. Their son was named X AE A-XII.
How Elon Musk started his Journey?
Musk developed an interest in computing and video games from a very early age. He acquired Commodore VIC-20 when he was only 10. He started learning computer programming using a manual and successfully sold the code of a BASIC-based video game called Blastar to PC and Office Technology magazine for $500, which he created, at the tender age of 12.
At 17, Elon Musk chose to move to the United States for finishing his auxiliary tutoring. Rather, Musk left for Canada and got selected at Queen’s University in Ontario at 19 years old. His calling came when he got a grant from the University of Pennsylvania. Then, he moved to the United States and acquired a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics. He proceeded with his training further, acquiring himself a Bachelors of Science qualification from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
He started with a PhD programme at Stanford University in 1995 yet dropped out just after 2 days to seek an enterprising vocation. As published in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, Elon Musk accepted that the internet, sustainable power sources, and space travel would be the ones having the greatest effect on the lives of individuals in the future.
As chosen, the three noteworthy subjects of worry for giving his life’s central goal, Elon Musk, alongside his brother Kimbal Musk, began an organization named ‘Zip2’. Elon Musk dropped out of the Applied Physics and Material Science program at Stanford University after two days in the wake of beginning this new pursuit known as Zip2.
Elon Musk story
Elon Musk’s Business Ventures
Elon Musk has evolved different and distinct categories in his comprehensive business field. From automobile miracles to secured money handful-application, from artificial intelligence (AI) research organizations to uplifted propagation throughout the space, Musk has achieved huge feats everywhere with his proficient signature and discretion. Those catalysts of his supremacy are listed below-
Zip2
Zip2 logo
In 1995, Musk with his brother Kimbal Musk began a web programming organization – Zip2, with cash raised from a little gathering of holy messenger investors. The organization created and advertised an Internet city control for the newspaper distributing industry with maps, directions, and yellow pages. Zip2 enabled all real print distributions to offer extra business administrations to their clients.
Musk got contracts with The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. Musk convinced the governing body to devise plans for a merger with CitySearch. While at Zip2, Musk wanted to move toward becoming CEO but the board members opposed it.
In February 1999, Compaq, a noteworthy web crawler at that point, procured this IT organization – Zip2 for $307 million in cash and $34 million in stock options. The deal made it one of the greatest money acquisitions in those days. Musk got $22 million for his 7% share from the sale.
X.com and PayPal
Logo of x.com and PayPal
In March 1999, Musk established X.com, an online budgetary administration and email payment company with $10 million from the closeout of Zip2. One year later, the organization merged with Confinity, which had a payment service application called PayPal.
After merging, they concentrated on the PayPal administration and were renamed PayPalin 2001. PayPal’s initial development was driven essentially by a viral showcasing effort where new clients were selected when they got cash through the service. Musk was removed in October 2000 from his job as CEO because of conflicts with other organization authorities.
Musk wished to move PayPal’s Unix-based foundation to Microsoft Windows, which was opposed by all. In October 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion in stock, of which Musk got $165 million. Before its deal, Musk, who was the organization’s biggest investor, claimed 11.7% of PayPal’s shares.
In July 2017, Musk bought the domain X.com back from PayPal for an undisclosed sum, expressing that it has sentimental value to him.
SpaceX
In 2001, Musk considered Mars Oasis, an undertaking to send a small test nursery on Mars, in the hopes of revolutionizing the aerospace industry and making affordable spaceflight a reality. In February 2002, Elon Musk came to Russia to search for three ICBMs (missiles), bringing along Mike Griffin. Griffin had worked for the CIA’s investment arm, In-Q-Tel, just as NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and was simply leaving Orbital Sciences, a producer of satellites and rockets.
Kosmotras, a Russian Space Company, offered one rocket for $8 million. But Musk found it excessively costly and refused to purchase it. While on the trip back from Moscow, Musk understood that he could begin an organization that could manufacture the moderate rockets he needed. Musk calculated that the raw materials needed to structure a rocket really were just 3% of the commercial cost of a rocket at the time.
In 2002, Musk ultimately established SpaceX with the long-term objective of making a genuine spacefaring civilization. With US$100 million of his initial fortune, Musk established Space Exploration Technologies or SpaceX, in May 2002. Musk is CEO and boss of innovation official (CTO) of the California-based SpaceX organization.
Logo of SpaceX
SpaceX creates and makes space dispatch vehicles with an emphasis on propelling the condition of rocket innovation. The organization’s initial two dispatch vehicles were the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets (a gesture to Star Wars Millennium Falcon) and its first shuttle is the Dragon (a gesture to Puff the Magic Dragon).
In seven years, SpaceX planned the group of Falcon dispatch vehicles and the Dragon multipurpose spacecraft. In September 2008, SpaceX’s Falcon 1 rocket turned into the main privately financed fluid-powered vehicle to place a satellite into Earth orbit. On May 25, 2012, the SpaceX Dragon vehicle berthed with the International Space Station (ISS), impacting the world forever as the primary business organization to dispatch and compartment a vehicle to the ISS.
In 2006, SpaceX was granted an agreement from NASA to proceed with the improvement and trial of the SpaceX Falcon 9 dispatch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft so as to ship freight to the International Space Station. It was followed by a $1.6 billion NASA Commercial Resupply Services program contract on December 23, 2008, for 12 flights of its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon shuttle to the Space Station.
On December 22, 2015, SpaceX effectively handled the principal phase of its Falcon rocket back at the platform. This was the first run in history such an accomplishment had been accomplished by an orbital rocket. It became the first step towards rocket reusability, bringing down the expenses of access to space.
In the entire year of 2017, SpaceX launched its eighteen Falcon 9 flights, successfully, which are more than the previous year’s 8 flights. On February 6, 2018, SpaceX effectively launched the Falcon Heavy, the fourth-highest capacity rocket ever built and the most powerful rocket in activity in 2018. The debut mission carried a Musk’s Tesla Roadster as a dummy payload.
Today, SpaceX is both the biggest private maker of rocket motors on the planet and holder of the record for the most noteworthy push-to-weight proportion for a rocket motor (the Merlin 1D). SpaceX has created in excess of 100 operational Merlin 1D motors. Every Merlin 1D motor can vertically lift the heaviness of 40 normal family vehicles.
Tesla Motors
Logo of Tesla, Inc.
Tesla, Inc. (initially Tesla Motors) was established in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. They financed the organization until the Series A funding. The two men were actively involved in the company’s development. In February 2004, Musk joined Tesla’s board of directors as its chairman and led the Series A round of investment.
Musk played a functioning job inside the organization and supervised the Roadster item structure at a definite level, yet was not profoundly engaged with everyday business operations. Following the money-related emergency in 2008 and after a progression of raising clashes in 2007, Eberhard was expelled from the firm. Musk expected initiative of the organization as CEO and item engineer, positions which he holds even today.
In 2008, Tesla Motors initially built an electric sports car, the Tesla Roadster, with sales of 2,500 vehicles to 31 nations. On June 22, 2012, Tesla started the conveyance of its four-door Model S car. On February 9, 2012, it uncovered its third item, the Model X for the SUV/minivan market but Model X dispatch was postponed until September 2015.
Tesla’s income in 2018 was $21.46 billion. In 2013, Tesla’s Model S was the first electric vehicle to get the Car of the Year Award by Motor Trend. Over the most recent four months of 2018, Tesla’s US piece of the overall industry was about 2%. It costs $13.66 to completely charge a Tesla Model X at home.
The general Tesla total assets were evaluated to be $2.2 billion in 2018, dependent on its income and benefits. Nearly 75% of every single electric vehicle sold in the US in 2019’s first quarter were Teslas. Tesla saw an income of $21.461 billion in 2018. The total assets of Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, were $18.1 billion as of May 2019.
Tesla recently saw a surge of 4.8% in the share price helping Elon Musk surpass Jeff Bezos to become the richest man in the world.
Neuralink Corporation is another company of which Elon Musk is the co-founder. Founded in July 2016, Neuralink is a neurotechnology company that is engaged in developing implantable brain-machine interfaces (BMIs). Headquartered in Pioneer Building, San Francisco, California, Neuralink shares its office with OpenAI.
In an hour-long interview on Joe Rogan’s podcast, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that his neuro-tech company Neuralink is going to launch the first product that can make any brain function as a superhuman AI. San Francisco-headquartered Neuralink is developing implantable brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) or Cyborg that could improve memory or allow for more direct interfacing with computing devices.
Neuralink Corporation is an American neurotechnology company founded by Elon Musk in 2016. Elon Musk claims that the moto of Neuralink is a human enhancement and the technology, which will be able to merge the computers with the human brain. Thus, it will obtain a symbiotic relationship between the human brain and Artificial Intelligence.
“ If your biological self-dies, you can upload into a new unit. Literally. It will enable anyone who wants to have superhuman reasoning and intelligence.” – Elon Musk
Developing such implantable brain-computer interfaces(BCIs) or cyborg will be quite a challenge and to be on top of the game, Elon Musk needs to stay ahead of Neuralink’s competitors with a heavy focus on applied engineering. BCIs must incorporate features that are a thousand times better than the existing interfaces with no surgery, no aesthetics, and definitely no drilling holes in the skull.
Elon Musk further points out that there has been a significant advancement in the field stating, “I think Neuralink will have something interesting to announce in a few months that’s at least an order of magnitude better than anything else, probably better than anyone thinks is possible.”
You can see the podcast here:
Elon Musk’s Interview with Joe Rogan
In early 2017, he made a jaw-dropping revelation stating that robots will disrupt our job scenario and that there’s nothing much that can be done and the competition between the countries with the most sophisticated AI will be the reason for World War 3. Probably to him, the merging seems like a better option which might give a human a better chance of surviving. “The merge scenario with AI is the one that seems like probably the best. If you can’t beat it, join it,” Musk said.
OpenAI
OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research laboratory that consists of OpenAI LP, which is a for-profit organization, and OpenAI Inc, its parent company. OpenAI is another Elon Musk-founded company, which he founded in December 2015, along with Sam Altman, Ilya Sutskever, Greg Brockman, Wojciech Zaremba, and John Schulman. OpenAI was founded with an aim of promoting and developing a friendly AI that will benefit humanity as a whole. The collective pledging of $1 billion by Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and others resulted in the birth of the company. It is important to note that Musk has already resigned from the Board of the company in February 2018, but he still remains a donor.
The Boring Company
Logo of The Boring Company
In December 2016, Elon Musk founded the infrastructure and tunnel construction services company, The Boring Company is also known as TBC. Musk has experienced difficulty with Los Angeles traffic and limitations with the current two-dimensional transportation network. This led to the inspiration for the project.
The Boring Company currently has active construction and is planning future projects in the Los Angeles and Baltimore–Washington areas. They have also been selected to build a downtown-to-airport loop by a government program for high-speed transport in Chicago. There have been three boring tunnel projects proposed in the Los Angeles area out of which one test tunnel was completed in November 2018.
Though The Boring Company was initially formed in December 2016 as a subsidiary of SpaceX, it become a separate and fully independent company in 2018. In this, 90% of the equity was owned by Musk and 6% held by SpaceX in return for the use of SpaceX resources during the initial startup of the company. Outside investments during 2019 have changed the equity split.
Twitter
Twitter Logo – A firm owned by Elon Musk
Elon Musk is one of the most famous tweeps who almost keeps his audience hooked with his Twitter profile. Musk has always been an avid Twitter user and was on the brink of becoming a 100% owner of Twitter, the bid for which he placed on April 26, 2022, where he was looking forward to acquiring 100% stakes in Twitter in an all-cash deal worth around $44 billion. However, he finally turned down the deal, citing multiple breaches of the deal.
Musk first expressed his interest in buying the platform in 2017. In the wake of 2022, Musk started materialising this dream of his by buying significant stakes in Twitter first on January 31, 2022, which reached 5% on March 14, 2022. He became the largest stakeholder in Twitter on April 1, 2022, owning over 9% of its stakes. Musk then agreed to a deal on April 4, 2022, which prohibited his possession of more than 14.9% of the shares of his company and would assert his joining the board of directors of Twitter. However, Musk decided to not join the board before April 9, 2022, when the appointment became effective. Elon Musk then placed a bid to buy 100% of Twitter’s shares on April 13th at $54.20 per share. This bid was granted by the Twitter board and would have made Elon Musk the owner of 100% of Twitter’s shares in a deal worth $44 bn if Musk didn’t walk away from the deal. There was also a breakup fee of $1 bn if the deal falls apart. Elon Musk threatened to blow up the deal over the bot issue on June 10, 2022, and ultimately terminated the deal in the first week of July 2022. In reply to this, Twitter sued Musk on July 12, 2022.
In the case filed at the Court of Chancery, Delaware, the acquisition deal was to be forced to go through, as per the decision by Chief Judge McCormick, thereby being ruled against Elon Musk.
Elon Musk – Investments
Elon Musk has 7 investments to date, all of which are personal investments. Here’s a list of the Elon Musk investments:
Elon Musk is recognised for his fight against global warming and Tesla is one of the examples of it. Some of the awards and recognition that he has received are:
For his advocacy, he has received Global Green Award and National Wildlife Federation’s Connie Award.
He has received the Entrepreneur of the award of Inc Magazine and is also known as the Living Legend of Aviation by Kitty Hawk Foundation.
Musk has also been ranked 1 on Forbes’ Billionaires list. Musk is a receiver of the Axel Springer Award.
In 2010, Musk received FAI Gold Space Medal from the Federation Aronautique Internationale.
Elon Musk – Controversies
The richest person on the planet has some fair share of controversies as well. Elon Musk is said to be quite blunt with the tweets that often surround him with controversies. Some of them are:
Right after he was all set for the Twitter acquisition, Musk said that he will buy Coca-Cola and put cocaine back in the beverage.
Musk named the cars from the Model 3 series of Tesla first as Model S, Model E and Model X. However, when Ford allegedly warned Tesla about a lawsuit for using Model E, Tesla changed its name to Model 3, which still made the models together sound like S.3.X
Elon Musk smoked weed on the Joe Rogan podcast and was surrounded by memes and controversies
Musk joked about sending space dragons with lasers to help Ukraine fight the Russians after an article stated that Musk would send flame-throwing electric tanks to Ukraine
During Canada’s trucker protest, Elon Musk compared Hitler with Canadian President Justin Trudeau.
Musk got Sued by Twitter
Elon Musk was legally sued by Twitter for “hypocrisy”, reported The Verge at Delaware’s Court of Chancery on July 12, 2022, after he decided to terminate the Twitter acquisition deal. This opened another chapter of Musk’s life where he will resist his claim in court against the social media giant Twitter.
Elon Musk – Unknown Facts
The richest man is not only unique but interesting as well. Some of the unknown facts about Elon Musk are:
When Musk was 12 years old, he created a video game called Blaster and sold it to a magazine.
Musk named his son Xavier after the character of Professor Xavier from the movie X-Men.
Musk also had a cameo in The Simpsons, along with those in South Park, The Big Bang Theory, Rick and Morty, and more.
Musk’s first venture was Zip2 which was created in 1995.
Musk doesn’t like Facebook and is concerned about its privacy issues.
Elon Musk gets a $1 salary from Tesla.
Musk is called Thrillionaire. It means an entrepreneur who is turning reality into science fiction.
Elon Musk – Quotes
Some of the most popular quotes from Elon Musk are:
When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favour.
Some people don’t like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is a disaster.
If something’s important enough, you should try. Even if – the probable outcome is a failure.
People work better when they know what the goal is and why. It is important that people look forward to coming to work in the morning and enjoy working.
If you’re trying to create a company, it’s like baking a cake. You have to have all the ingredients in the right proportion.
Elon Musk – Future Plans
Elon Musk has never made his desire to make people “multi-planetary animal types”. Colonizing Mars would be a decent start as per Musk. In September 2017, at the 68th International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide he unveiled his arrangement to send payload delivers there in the following 5 years. By expansion, he trusts that people will settle the planet when 2024.
Elon’s Hyperloop has been contrasted by him with a “cross between a Concorde, a railgun, and an air hockey table”. The plan is to eventually give a method for a movement that should have the option to surpass 1124 km/h and all underground.
At present two courses are being developed – between Los Angeles and San Francisco and between New York and Washington D.C. When complete these excursions should take close to 30 minutes utilizing Hyperloop.
At the point when 12 youngsters and their football (soccer) mentor were caught in an overwhelmed collapse in Thailand, Elon and his group developed an apparently insane thought. The arrangement, clearly, was to construct a tyke-estimated submarine. The sub was structured and worked in record time utilizing extra rocket parts. Regardless of this, the salvage groups esteemed it unrealistic and finished the mission without it. “Pedo fellow” aftermath aside Thai military authorities accept the submarine could have utility in the future.
Elon Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa, and was raised in Pretoria and the regions nearby the capital of South Africa.
What did Elon Musk study?
Elon Musk has a Bachelor’s degree in both Physics and Economics.
What’s Elon Musk’s IQ?
Elon Musk’s IQ is estimated to be ranging between 150-155.
What is Elon Reeve Musk famous for?
Elon Musk has founded the electronic payment firm PayPal and spacecraft company SpaceX. He is the CEO of the electric-car maker company Tesla. Musk is also the owner of the social media platform Twitter and the world’s richest person, as of April 2022.
Did Elon Musk acquire Twitter?
Elon Musk was about to acquire 100% stakes in Twitter and become the owner of Twitter. He asserted to buy out all of the stocks of Twitter in a deal worth $44 billion on April 26, 2022, but then he refused, leaving the deal pending.
What companies has Elon Musk founded?
Elon Musk founded many companies to date including SpaceX, The Boring Company, X.com, Neuralink, OpenAI, and Zip2.
Did Elon Musk create Paypal?
No, Elon Musk is not the founder of Paypal, nor did he create it. However, Elon Musk indeed found the company known as X.com. This company later merged with Confinity Inc., which was the creator of the product Paypal.
Is Elon Musk an entrepreneur?
Elon Musk is indeed an entrepreneur. The world’s richest person nourished his entrepreneurial dream right after he graduated from college.
What companies has Elon Musk founded?
SpaceX, SolarCity, and Tesla are some of the prominent companies that Elon Musk founded.
Is Elon Musk a real person? What is Elon Musk’s academic background?
Yes, Elon Musk is a real person. Going by the academic background of Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO has a Bachelor’s degree in Physics and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.
How did Elon Musk start his career?
Elon Musk started his career by dropping out of Stanford University in just 2 days to start his company Zip2.
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.
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
Hyperloop
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.
Elon Musk with his friend Adeo Ressi
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.
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.
Zip2 Logo
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
Blaster Game by Elon Musk
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
Lotus Esprit
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
Elon Musk in Iron Man 2
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.
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.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by SpaceX.
Love the word ‘space’? Passionate about astronauts? Like newly designed products? Want to gain knowledge about the launching of rockets? Then you have a chance to know all about it by learning about the spacetech industry. SpaceX is right in the centre of events that occurs in the spacetech ecosystem.
Technology is evolving, which is bringing in all the change and the space that was unknown to all of us, is now brought closer to us by many organizations that are researching and making steps to make space exploration possible and hassle-free. SpaceX is one of such companies that is bringing in the change or the revolution, as we might fittingly call it.
SpaceX is a private aerospace company. It was launched in the year 2002. It is a very successful startup. It has been in the list of multibillion-dollar startups right from the first and with a valuation of $100 bn, which it touched in October 2021, the Elon Musk-led company is now the second-most valuable private company.
Read the SpaceX success story below to know all about the Elon Musk-founded company along with everything about its Founder and Team, Industry, Business and Revneue Model, Mission and Vision, Growth and more.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., trading as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company. It is a strong brand now. It is a well known and well-established company. Elon Musk is the man behind the company’s prominence. They started with a mission to reduce space transportation costs and have since developed various launching vehicles. It is the first private company known to all, which sent a spacecraft to the International Space Station in the year 2012. It is also the first private company to reuse an orbital rocket. The company is significantly advancing in space technology.
SpaceX – Industry
SpaceX belongs to the spacetech industry. A little was known of the spacetech industry before SpaceX was founded and started to take giant strides towards bringing the space that surrounds us, near us. The spacetech industry has been deemed to be constantly growing, and as per the last (FY21 Q3) reports, the same sector was valued at $4.7 trillion in 2021 and will further grow to $10 trillion by the year 2030.
Elon Musk is an engineer, technology entrepreneur, industrial engineer, philanthropist, and meme lord on Twitter. He is the founder and CEO and chief designer of SpaceX. He looks after the development of rockets and spacecraft specially designed for missions to Earth’s orbit and also to other planets. Musk was born in the year 1971 on 28th June. Adding to all these, he is also the non-executive chairman and principal shareholder of SolarCity. SolarCity is a company that is presently the leading provider of solar power systems in the United States. The founder of SpaceX and arguably the biggest entrepreneur in the world today, is now also the owner of Twitter, one of the most popular social media platforms.
Elon Musk, CEO, Founder, SpaceX
SpaceX – Startup Story
The SpaceX startup story began in 2002 by Elon Musk, an entrepreneur, who is the world’s richest person now. He started the private company with hopes of revolutionizing the aerospace industry and making affordable spacecraft into a reality. In the beginning, the company started in a 75,000 square feet warehouse in El Segundo, California. 15 months after the company started there was a plan to launch Falcon 1 in November 2003. In the year 2009, SpaceX announced the opening of its Astronaut Safety and Mission Assurance Department. They also hired Ken Bowersox, a former NASA astronaut. He was appointed as the Vice President of the company to look after the new department.
SpaceX – Mission and Vision
SpaceX’s mission statement is “The Company was founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.”
Human spaceflight remains the core mission of SpaceX. The company takes seriously the responsibility that NASA has entrusted in them, and believes in safely carrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
“To advance the future,” is the vision statement of SpaceX.
SpaceX – Logo
SpaceX Logo
SpaceX – Business Model
The business model of SpaceX lies in a special customer segment. SpaceX offers a deal to the public and private organisations that they want to transport items to space. Projects like commercial satellite launch, space station resupply and government national security missions are included here. The company has created accessibility to space travel which is relatively inexpensive. This idea has enabled opportunities for many organisations looking for exploration.
The company has got a value-driven structure. The main motive of the company is to provide a proposition through product enhancements and private service. The largest cost-driven area of the company is the cost of the raw materials. Other major areas are development, research, marketing, and sales. SpaceX earns through its branded T-shirts and accessories. Products have got a wide range of varieties available on the company’s website as well as in the stores. Sales of the satellites, rockets, and merchandise that it manufactures are a part of the SpaceX revenue model as well.
Branded T-shirts, SpaceX
SpaceX – Funding and Investors
SpaceX has raised a total amount of $7.8 billion over 63 funding rounds that it saw to date.
Date
Transaction Name
Money Raised
Lead Investor
April 21, 2022
Grant
$70 Million
NASA
December 30, 2021
Venture Round
$337.4 Million
–
October 18, 2021
Secondary Market
–
–
October 14, 2021
Venture Round
–
–
October 8, 2021
Secondary Market
$755 Million
–
September 24, 2021
Grant
$14.5 Million
United States Space Force
August 25, 2021
Secondary Market
–
–
July 30, 2021
Secondary Market
–
–
April 14, 2021
Venture Round
$350 Billion
–
April 14, 2021
Funding Round
–
–
February 16, 2021
Venture Round
$850 million
–
November 1, 2020
Secondary Market
–
–
September 1, 2020
Venture Round
–
–
August 18, 2020
Venture Round
$1.9 billion
–
May 26, 2020
Venture Round
$346.2 million
–
April 6, 2020
Secondary Market
–
–
October 3, 2019
Grant
$3 million
NASA
August 9, 2019
Secondary Market
–
–
June 27, 2019
Venture Round
–
Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan
May 24, 2019
Venture Round
$535.7 million
–
December 19, 2018
Series J
$486.2 million
Baillie Gifford
November 20, 2018
Debt Financing
$250 million
Bank of America
SpaceX is funded by over 65 investors. Stack Capital and NASA are the most recent investors.
SpaceX – Growth
Being a revolutionary idea from a genius entrepreneur, Elon Musk, SpaceX has seen quite a growth since it was founded in May 2002. SpaceX started with only a few employees, the count of which was estimated to be 160 in 2015. This grew year-on-year to become 500+ by 2008, 1100+ in 2010, 1800+ in early 2012, and 3000+ in early 2013. The total employees of SpaceX has long crossed the 5000 mark, back in 2015-2016.
In the year 2019, the company launched 2 NASA astronauts. A significant progress is seen even in the launching segment. The company is currently valued over $100 bn, whcih means it has scaled extremely well today, standing as the second most-valued private company.
According to the SpaceX API data, 1919+ satellites of SpaceX are revolving around the Earth today. In the past 18 months, a report dated March 1, 2022, said that the company had increased its internet satellites by over 185%. Starlink by SpaceX, the largest satellite internet constellation planned by Elon Musk, is now expected to provide high-speed internet connection to over 60 million US people living in the urban and rural areas of the United States.
The Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy have been launched by SpaceX 153 times. This resulted in 151 full mission successes, 1 partial success, and 1 in-flight failure.
Billionaire entrepreneur, Yusaku Maezawa, was announced to be the first commercial passenger to a flyby around the moon. This mission is to be taking place not before 2023, as per the latest updates.
After sending Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on the first manned flight of the Falcon 9 on May 30, 2020, SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk revealed the first private customer to ride around the Moon in his project called Dear Moon on SpaceX’s future massive rocket, the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), woudl be Yusaku. On September 17, 2018, SpaceX announced fashion innovator and globally recognized art curator Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese billionaire and founder of Zozotown, will be SpaceX’s first private passenger to fly around the Moon in 2023 after successful Falcon 9 voyage.
This first private lunar passenger flight, featuring a flyby of the Moon as part of a week-long mission, will help fund development of SpaceX’s Starship and Super Heavy. It will be an important step in enabling access for everyday people who dream of flying to space. You can watch Elon Musk announcing the details about first private space voyage around the Moon in following video:
Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese retail entrepreneur and art collector’s first words were “I choose to go to the moon.” Standing in front of a small crowd in SpaceX’s corporate office, he announced that he wants artists of different background and specialities – director, painter, dancer, novelist, musician, fashion designer, sculptor, photographer, and architect, to accompany him to the moon. He is yet to select the invitees on the trip which will take about a week.
The Japanese billionaire, Yusaku Maezawa said, “I would like to invite six to eight artists from around the world to join me on this mission to the Moon. These artists will be asked to create something after they return to Earth, and these masterpieces will inspire the dreamer within all of us.”
Maezawa didn’t comment on how much he paid but said that the trip will be free for the artists accompanying him. According to Forbes, Yusaku Maezawa is the 18th-richest person, with a net worth estimated at $2.7 billion, in Japan and the head of the e-commerce company Start Today, which is worth $12 billion. Earlier this July Maezawa’s Zozotown unveiled its first in-house line of clothes in 72 countries, including the US.
The estimated cost of the BFR is around $5 billion and SpaceX have heaps of work to complete before the aspiration can be materialized. “We have to set some kind of date. If everything goes 100 percent right, then this is the date. But there are many uncertainties,” Elon Musk said.
The SpaceX’s latest variation of the BFR has the payload capacity to Earth orbit of at least 100,000 kg which makes it a super-heavy-lift launch vehicle.
Elon Musk has always been outspoken about his aspiration for human beings to colonize Mars. The idea was conceived by the conceptualization of Mars Oasis, a project to land miniature versions of experimental greenhouse and grow plants on Mars in a bid to make the planet habitable.
SpaceX – Acquisitions
SpaceX has acquired 1 company to date, which goes by the name, Swarm Technologies.
Name of the Acquired Company
Date of Acquisition
Deal Value
Swarm Technologies
August 6, 2021
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SpaceX – Competitors
The top competitors of the company are Boeing, BlueOrigin and VirginGalactic.
Boeing is one of the top competitors of SpaceX. The company was founded in Chicago, Illinois in the year 2016. This company generates more revenue than SpaceX.
Blue Origin is the #2 competitor of SpaceX. It is headquartered in Washington. This company competes with SpaceX in the Aerospace industry. It has got fewer employees than SpaceX.
Virgin Galactic is the #3 competitor of SpaceX. It is headquartered in New Mexico and was founded in the year 2004.
Life on Mars is still a dream of many scientists and common people. There are people in the world who want to wake up in the morning and listen, “life on Mars is possible!” For such people as well and as well as for the company Elon Musk has plans to send a rocket to Mars with cargo by the year 2022. They want to build a city on Mars. For the year 2024, he has plans to send crew along with the cargo to Mars. And by 2050, he wants to send millions of people to the planet Mars. And Just recently, NASA picked SpaceX to win their $2.9 Billion contracr for moon lading which is just one step closer to Elon Musk’s goal!
FAQs
What is SpaceX?
SpaceX is a spacetech company founded by Elon Musk in May 2002.
Where is SpaceX headquartered?
SpaceX is headquartered in Hawthorne, California, United States.
What is Starlink?
Starlink is a satellite internet constellation being constructed by SpaceX providing satellite Internet access.
When was SpaceX founded?
SpaceX was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk.
What is the Falcon 9?
Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond. Falcon 9 is the world’s first orbital-class reusable rocket. It has been launched a total of 112 times to date (April 2021).
Technology is the current force in the 21st century. We survive in the world of technology and it is constantly making an impact in our life, that we are now aiming for space. A newspaper once said that “we live in the world, which is getting smaller day-by-day, because of the technologies and the improvement in them.
The 21st century is the ‘Mother of Technologies’ since scientists constantly improving space technologies and the hefty investment by entrepreneurs. Today, the world business market is dominated by technology-based entrepreneurs and their business ventures in space. Let’s look at top space companies in the world.
Elon Musk has made living the dream to create a colony on Mars and he is creating the dream via his company SpaceX. SpaceX is a private American aerospace manufacturer and space transport service company headquarters in Hawthorne, California. It has made over 100 launches on its manifest representing about $12 billion in contract revenue.
In June 2019, SpaceX started to raise $300 million of investment from Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, which has $191.1 billion in assets under management. It owns a test site in Texas and operates three launch sites, with another under development.
2. Boeing
Boeing CST-100
The Boeing Company is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells aeroplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. It provides leasing and product support services.
It is one of the largest global aerospace manufacturers and is the world’s fifth-largest defence contractor in the world. It is marching forward with Apollo-style CST-100, a seven-person capsule, which was fully unveiled in 2014. It was ranked US$93.3 billion in sales, ranked 24th on the Fortune Magazine Fortune 500 list in 2018 and ranked 19th on the “World Most Admired Companies list (2018).
3. Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galatic Spaceship Two
Virgin Galactic is one of the leading space companies in the world. It is a spaceflight company within the Virgin Group. It was founded in 2004 and has its headquarters in Mojave, California. It is developing commercial spaceflights for space tourists and suborbital launches for the space science mission. It also plans to provide orbital human spaceflights. The founder Richard Branson and 3 astronauts took a flight to the edge of space and back. The plane used for the flight was SpaceShipTwo.
In 2007, February, Virgin announced that they have signed a memorandum of understanding with NASA to explore the potential for collaboration but they have only received a small contract in 2011 of up to $4.5 million for research flights and also, launched an investment into the OneWeb Satellite Constellation, which provides world internet access service of WorldVu.
4. Sierra Nevada Corporation
SNC Dream Chaser
This space tech company is a private American company which provides electronic systems providers and systems integrator specializing in microsatellites, telemedicine, and commercial orbital transportation services.
The company has contracts with the United States Armed Forces, NASA, and private spaceflights. It has 34 locations in 19 U.S states and rests in England, Germany, and Turkey. It was founded in 1963 by John Chisholm and was started as a small business with a few employees and later was acquired by Fatih and Eren Ozmen and became a multi-billion dollar company with thousands of employees. Its main business is the US Department of Defense and NASA contracts.
5. Airbus Defence and Space
A division of airbus, air defence, and space. It is responsible for defense and aerospace products and services. It has its headquarters in Ottoburnnin Germany. It was ranked as the 94th ranking at the Fortune Global 500 list in 2017 and was also named as one of the “World’s Most Admired Companies”.
It is structured into four business lines i.e. Military Aircraft, Space Systems, Communications, and UAS. The space systems are responsible for space exploration, space launch systems, missile defense, satellites, information solutions, strategic missiles, defence systems etc. as part of the services.
