South African entrepreneur Elon Musk is known for founding Tesla Motors and SpaceX, which launched a landmark commercial spacecraft in 2012.
Who Is Elon Musk?
Elon Reeve Musk (born June 28, 1971) is a South African-born American entrepreneur and businessman who founded X.com in 1999 (which later became PayPal), SpaceX in 2002 and Tesla Motors in 2003. Musk became a multimillionaire in his late 20s when he sold his start-up company, Zip2, to a division of Compaq Computers. Musk made headlines in May 2012, when SpaceX launched a rocket that would send the first commercial vehicle to the International Space Station. He bolstered his portfolio with the purchase of SolarCity in 2016, and cemented his standing as a leader of industry by taking on an advisory role in the early days of President Donald Trump's administration.
Elon Musk’s Net Worth
As of December 2017, Elon Musk’s net worth is $20.2 billion, according toForbes. He earned his first billion with the sale of PayPal in 2002; his company SpaceX is valued at more than $20 billion.
Education
At age 17, in 1989, Elon Musk moved to Canada to attend Queen’s University and avoid mandatory service in the South African military. He left in 1992 to study business and physics at the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated with an undergraduate degree in economics and stayed for a second bachelor’s degree in physics.
After leaving Penn, Elon Musk headed to Stanford University in California to pursue a PhD in energy physics. However, his move was timed perfectly with the Internet boom, and he dropped out of Stanford after just two days to become a part of it, launching his first company, Zip2 Corporation. An online city guide, Zip2 was soon providing content for the new websites of bothThe New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. In 1999, a division of Compaq Computer Corporation bought Zip2 for $307 million in cash and $34 million in stock options.
PayPal
In 1999, Musk co-founded X.com, an online financial services/payments company. An X.com acquisition the following year led to the creation of PayPal as it is known today, and in October 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion in stock. Before the sale, Musk owned 11 percent of PayPal stock.
Founder of SpaceX
Musk founded his third company, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, in 2002 with the intention of building spacecraft for commercial space travel. By 2008, SpaceX was well established, and NASA awarded the company the contract to handle cargo transport for the International Space Station—with plans for astronaut transport in the future—in a move to replace NASA’s own space shuttle missions.
Falcon 9 Rockets
On May 22, 2012, Musk and SpaceX made history when the company launched its Falcon 9 rocket into space with an unmanned capsule. The vehicle was sent to the International Space Station with 1,000 pounds of supplies for the astronauts stationed there, marking the first time a private company had sent a spacecraft to the International Space Station. Of the launch, Musk was quoted as saying, "I feel very lucky. ... For us, it's like winning the Super Bowl."
In December 2013, a Falcon 9 successfully carried a satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit, a distance at which the satellite would lock into an orbital path that matched the Earth's rotation. In February 2015, SpaceX launched another Falcon 9 fitted with the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite, aiming to observe the extreme emissions from the sun that affect power grids and communications systems on Earth.
In March 2017, SpaceX saw the successful test flight and landing of a Falcon 9 rocket made from reusable parts, a development that opened the door for more affordable space travel. A setback came in November 2017, when an explosion occurred during a test of the company's new Block 5 Merlin engine. SpaceX reported that no one was hurt, and that the issue would not hamper its planned rollout of a future generation of Falcon 9 rockets.
The company enjoyed another milestone moment in February 2018 with the successful test launch of the powerful Falcon Heavy rocket. Armed with additional Falcon 9 boosters, the Falcon Heavy was designed to carry immense payloads into orbit and potentially serve as a vessel for deep space missions. For the test launch, the Falcon Heavy was given a payload of Musk's cherry-red Tesla Roadster, equipped with cameras to "provide some epic views" for the vehicle's planned orbit around the sun.
BFR Mission to Mars
In September 2017, Musk presented an updated design plan for his BFR (an acronym for either "Big F---ing Rocket" or "Big Falcon Rocket"), a 31-engine behemoth topped by a spaceship capable of carrying at least 100 people. He revealed that SpaceX was aiming to launch the first cargo missions to Mars with the vehicle in 2022, as part of his overarching goal of colonizing the Red Planet.
In March 2018, the entrepreneur told an audience at the annual South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, that he hoped to have the BFR ready for short flights early the following year, while delivering a knowing nod at his previous problems with meeting deadlines.
Founder & CEO of Tesla
Elon Musk is the co-founder, CEO and product architect at Tesla Motors, a company dedicated to producing affordable, mass-market electric cars as well as battery products and solar roofs. Musk oversees all product development, engineering and design of the company's products. Five years after its formation, in 2008, the company unveiled the Roadster, a sports car capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds, as well traveling nearly 250 miles between charges of its lithium ion battery. With a stake in the company taken by Daimler and a strategic partnership with Toyota, Tesla Motors launched its initial public offering in June 2010, raising $226 million.
Additional successes include the Model S, the company's first electric sedan. Capable of covering 265 miles between charges, the Model S was honored as the 2013 Car of the Year by Motor Trendmagazine.
In April 2017, Tesla announced that it surpassed General Motors to become the most valuable U.S. car maker. The news was an obvious boon to Tesla, which was looking to ramp up production and release its Model 3 sedan later that year.
In November 2017, Musk made another splash with the unveiling of the new Tesla Semi and Roadster at the company's design studio. The semi truck, which enters into production in 2019, boasts 500 miles of range as well as a battery and motors built to last 1 million miles. The Roadster, set to follow in 2020, will become the fastest production car ever made with its 0 to 60 time of 1.9 seconds.
"The point of doing this is to just give a hardcore smack-down to gasoline cars," Musk told the crowd. "Driving a gasoline sports car is going to feel like a steam engine with a side of quiche."
After initially aiming to produce 5,000 new Model 3 cars per week by December 2017, Musk pushed that goal back to March 2018, and then to June with the start of the new year. The announced delay didn't surprise industry experts, who were well aware of the company's production problems, though some questioned how long investors would remain patient with the process.
In late January 2018, Tesla announced a radical new compensation package for its CEO, in which Musk would be paid only if he reached milestones of growing valuation based on $50 billion increments. At the top end of that chart, if Tesla reached a company value of $650 billion, then Musk stood to benefit from a stock award worth as much as $55 billion. In March, two of Tesla's largest shareholders indicated they would support the compensation package, valued at $2.6 billion, as a show of confidence in the company's CEO.
SolarCity Acquisition
In August 2016, in Musk’s continuing effort to promote and advance sustainable energy and products for a wider consumer base, a $2.6 billion dollar deal was solidified to combine his electric car and solar energy companies. His Tesla Motors Inc. announced an all-stock deal purchase of SolarCity Corp., a company Musk had helped his cousins start in 2006. He is a majority shareholder in each entity.
“Solar and storage are at their best when they're combined. As one company, Tesla (storage) and SolarCity (solar) can create fully integrated residential, commercial and grid-scale products that improve the way that energy is generated, stored and consumed,” read a statement on Tesla’s website about the deal.
Elon Musk’s Wives
Elon Musk has been married twice. He wed Justine Wilson in 2000. After a contentious divorce, Musk met actress Talulah Riley, and the couple married in 2010. They split in 2012 but married each other again in 2013. Their relationship ultimately ended in divorce in 2016. Musk has also been involved in an on-again, off-again relationship with actress Amber Heard.
Kids
Elon Musk has five sons with ex-wife Justine Wilson. In 2002, his first son with died at 10 weeks old from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Musk and Wilson had five additional sons together: twins and triplets.
Birthday & Nationality
Elon Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa. He obtained his Canadian citizenship in 1989, in part because he felt it would be easier to obtain American citizenship via that path. In 2002, he achieved his goal of becoming a U.S. citizen.
Family and Early Life
Son of a Canadian mother and a South African father, Elon Musk spent his early childhood with his brother Kimbal and sister Tosca in South Africa. At 10, around the time his parents divorced, the introverted Elon developed an interest in computers. He taught himself how to program, and when he was 12 he made his first software sale of a game he created called Blastar.
Other Inventions & Innovations
Outside of his roles at SpaceX and Tesla, Musk has continually attempted to make his innovative ideas a reality.
Hyperloop
In August 2013, Elon Musk released a concept for a new form of transportation called the "Hyperloop," an invention that would foster commuting between major cities while severely cutting travel time. Ideally resistant to weather and powered by renewable energy, the Hyperloop would propel riders in pods through a network of low-pressure tubes at speeds reaching more than 700 mph. Musk noted that the Hyperloop could take from seven to 10 years to be built and ready for use.
Although he introduced the Hyperloop with claims that it would be safer than a plane or train, with an estimated cost of $6 billion — approximately one-tenth of the cost for the rail system planned by the state of California — Musk's concept has drawn skepticism. Nevertheless, the entrepreneur has sought to encourage the development of this idea. After he announced a competition for teams to submit their designs for a Hyperloop pod prototype, the first Hyperloop Pod Competition was held at the SpaceX facility in January 2017.
AI
Elon Musk has pursued an interest in Artificial Intelligence, becoming co-chair of the nonprofit OpenAI. The research company launched in late 2015 with the stated mission of advancing digital intelligence to benefit humanity. In 2017, it was also revealed that Musk was backing a venture called Neuralink, which intends to create devices to be implanted in the human brain and help people merge with software.
Boring Company
In yet another innovation, in January 2017 Elon Musk suddenly decided he was going find a way to reduce traffic by devoting resources to boring and building tunnels. He launched his venture, named "The Boring Company," with a test dig on the SpaceX property in Los Angeles. In late October, Musk posted the first photo of his company's progress to his Instagram page. He said the 500-foot tunnel, which would generally run parallel to Interstate 405, would reach a length of two miles in approximately four months.
The entrepreneur also reportedly found a market for the Boring Company's flamethrowers; after announcing they were going on sale for $500 apiece in late January 2018, he claimed to have sold 10,000 of them within a day.
High-Speed Train
In late November 2017, after Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel asked for proposals to build and operate a high-speed rail line that would transport passengers from O'Hare Airport to downtown Chicago in 20 minutes or less, Musk tweeted that he was all-in on the competition with his Boring Company. He said that the concept of the Chicago loop would be different from his Hyperloop, its relatively short route not requiring the need for drawing a vacuum to eliminate air friction.
Trump Adviser
With Donald Trump announcing plans to pursue massive infrastructure developments after his successful election to the U.S. presidency in 2016, Musk found himself on common ground with the new president and his advisers. That December, he was named to President Trump’s Strategy and Policy Forum, and the following January he joined Trump's Manufacturing Jobs Initiative.
While sometimes at odds with the president's controversial measures, such as a proposed ban on immigrants from Muslim-majority countries, Musk defended his involvement with the new administration. "My goals," he tweeted in early 2017, "are to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy and to help make humanity a multi-planet civilization, a consequence of which will be the creating of hundreds of thousands of jobs and a more inspiring future for all." On June 1, following Trump's announcement that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, Musk stepped down from his advisory roles.
Elon Musk’s Nonprofit
The boundless potential of space exploration and the preservation of the future of the human race have become the cornerstones of Musk's abiding interests, and toward these he has founded the Musk Foundation, which is dedicated to space exploration and the discovery of renewable and clean energy sources.
WrestleMania is considered WWE's flagship event,[3] having been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment.[4] The event will be the second WrestleMania to be held in the state of Louisiana and the second held at theMercedes-Benz Superdome, which previously hosted WrestleMania XXX in 2014.[5] Tickets went on sale on November 17, 2017, with individual tickets costing $35 to $2,000.[6] On October 30, 2017, traveling packages with accommodation ranging from $1,150 to $8,525 per person were sold.[6][7]
Since 2014, WWE had attempted to establish Reigns as their next "face of the company", but a significant portion of fans rejected Reigns and showered him with boos.[9] In March 2017 before WrestleMania 33, wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer reported that WWE's long term plans ("which obviously could change") for WrestleMania 34 was to "once again build for a year and have the big coronation" for Reigns, who would still be a heroic character "between now and then" and beat Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship "to fully replace John Cena as the lead babyface of the company",[10] while the "idea" for Lesnar's role "for years now" was "to become a monster, be unbeatable, run through everybody, and then lose to Roman Reigns".[11]
At WrestleMania 31, Brock Lesnar defended the then-WWE World Heavyweight Championship (now WWE Championship) in the main event against Roman Reigns, but there was not a decisive victor between the two as Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract during the match's climax and pinned Reigns.[17] At WrestleMania 33, Lesnar defeated Goldberg to become the Universal Champion, and Reigns became the second person to defeat The Undertaker at WrestleMania.[18] On the post-WrestleMania 33 episode of Raw, Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman teased a match between Lesnar and Reigns for the Universal Championship since they were the only two men to have defeated The Undertaker at WrestleMania.[19] Over the following year, Lesnar retained the Universal Championship in various matches, including afatal four-way match at SummerSlam againstBraun Strowman, Samoa Joe, and Reigns, who Lesnar pinned.[20] At the Royal Rumble, Lesnar retained the title in a triple threat match against Strowman and Kane, and men's Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura chose to challenge for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 34. This left Lesnar without an opponent at WrestleMania.[21] In response, Raw General Manager Kurt Angle scheduled a number one contender's Elimination Chamber match to determine who would face Lesnar for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania.[22]At Elimination Chamber, Reigns defeated Strowman, Elias, free agentJohn Cena, The Miz, Finn Bálor, and Rollins in the first-ever seven-man Elimination Chamber match to become the number one contender.[23] WWE advertised Lesnar for the February 26 episode of Raw to confront Reigns, but he did not appear. Reigns criticized Lesnar for hiding behind his contract and said that Lesnar did not respect the WWE and that he had no respect for Lesnar, but he would defeat Lesnar at WrestleMania and become the Universal Champion.[24] The following week, Heyman said that Lesnar would retain, and come SummerSlam, he would be both Universal Champion and UFC Heavyweight Champion, insinuating that Lesnar would make another return to the UFC. He also said that Lesnar would be there the next week, prompting Reigns to warn Lesnar to be ready for a fight.[25] Lesnar, however, again did not appear. Reigns expressed his frustrations and went backstage to demand answers from WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, who temporarily suspended Reigns for disrespecting him and guaranteed that Lesnar would appear on Raw the following week.[26]That episode, Reigns appeared despite his suspension to confront Lesnar, so Angle had him handcuffed by U.S. Marshals. Reigns assaulted the Marshals, after which, Lesnar brutally attacked the handcuffed Reigns, who was taken out on a stretcher.[27]
At the Royal Rumble, SmackDown's Shinsuke Nakamura won the men's Royal Rumble match by last eliminating Roman Reigns, earning himself a world championship match of his choosing at WrestleMania 34. After the match, when questioned on which champion he would challenge, Nakamura called out SmackDown's WWE Champion AJ Styles.[21]Styles had a large hurdle to jump through to ensure that he would be the defending champion at WrestleMania as at Fastlane, he had to defend the WWE Championship in asix-pack challenge against Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, and free agent John Cena. Styles retained the WWE Championship, confirming the Styles-Nakamura match at WrestleMania.[28] On the post-Fastlane episode of SmackDown, Styles and Nakamura expressed their respect for each other, but Nakamura promised to deliver a Kinshasa to Styles at WrestleMania and become WWE Champion. They were interrupted by Rusev, whom Nakamura had defeated at Fastlane. Rusev and Styles then had a match, which ended in a disqualification after Aiden English interfered. Nakamura saved Styles from the attack and performed aKinshasa on both Rusev and English.[29] The following week, after Nakamura defeated Rusev, English came in and attacked Nakamura. Nakamura was able to fend off Rusev and English.[30]
After failing to win the Elimination Chamber match at the namesake pay-per-view,Intercontinental Champion The Miz said that he had made the Intercontinental Championship more important than the Universal Championship and should therefore main event WrestleMania 34. Raw General Manager Kurt Angle decided that his opponent on that night's episode of Rawmight determine his WrestleMania opponent. Seth Rollins then came out and defeated The Miz in a match, after which, Finn Bálor came out to also have a match with Miz, which confused Rollins. The Miztourage (Bo Dallasand Curtis Axel) attacked Bálor right after the match started, causing a disqualification, and Bálor Club members Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson came to Bálor's aid. Angle then banned The Miztourage and Gallows and Anderson from ringside and restarted the match, threatening Miz with excluding him from WrestleMania. Bálor then defeated Miz. Afterwards, Rollins challenged The Miz for the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania.[24] The following week, both Rollins and Bálor confronted The Miz, leading to a 2-on-3 handicap match between Rollins and Bálor and The Miz and his Miztourage, in which Rollins pinned Miz. Afterwards, Angle scheduled The Miz to defend the Intercontinental Championship against Bálor and Rollins in a triple threat match at WrestleMania.[25] On the March 12 episode, The Miz interviewed Bálor and Rollins on Miz TV, which ended in Rollins and Bálor jointly taking out Miz and Rollins attacking Bálor. Later that night, Bà lor defeated Rollins.[26]
Also at the Royal Rumble, Raw's Asuka won the first women's Royal Rumble match, last eliminating Nikki Bella. As a result, Asuka earned the right to challenge for either theRaw Women's Championship or SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania 34.[21] The following night on Raw, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahonconvinced Asuka to postpone her decision until after Elimination Chamber.[22][31] At that event, Raw Women's Champion Alexa Blisssuccessfully defended her title in the first-ever women's Elimination Chamber match againstBayley, Mandy Rose, Mickie James, Sasha Banks, and Sonya Deville, while Asuka defeated Nia Jax to keep her from being added to her championship match at WrestleMania.[23] Asuka held off on making her decision for a couple more weeks. After SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair successfully defended her title againstRuby Riott at the Fastlane pay-per-view, Asuka appeared and pointed to the WrestleMania sign, indicating that she would challenge Flair at WrestleMania.[28] Asuka appeared on the March 12 episode of Raw to explain why she had chosen to challenge Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship. Bliss and James interrupted, stating that Asuka was afraid to challenge Bliss, however, Asuka said she had chosen Flair because she wanted to challenge the best women's champion in WWE. Bliss and James then attacked Asuka, who defeated James in a match.[26] Asuka then appeared onSmackDown the next night and confronted Flair, who vowed to end Asuka's undefeated streak.[29]
After Alexa Bliss won her second Raw Women's Championship in 2017, she formed a friendship with Nia Jax. At Elimination Chamber, Bliss retained the Raw Women's Championship in the Elimination Chamber match, but Jax failed to defeat Asuka, which would have granted her the opportunity to be added to Asuka's championship match at WrestleMania 34.[23] Jax had a rematch with Asuka on Raw, but again failed to defeat Asuka. Later, Bliss consoled Jax over her loss and said she deserved to have a championship match.[25] After Asuka decided to challenge Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania instead of Bliss, she and James confronted Asuka and had intended for Jax to have a match with her, but Jax did not appear, prompting James to have the match, which she lost. Bliss confronted Jax, who said that Raw General Manager Kurt Angle instructed her not to come out because she was scheduled for a different match. During Jax's match, a conversation between Bliss and James, who were unaware, could be heard and seen on the TitanTron. Bliss said that she was just using Jax and made fun of her, which greatly upset Jax.[26] The following week, as Bliss was having a match with Asuka, Jax came out and chased Bliss to the backstage area, giving Asuka the win by countout. Later, Bliss confronted Angle who decided that Bliss would defend the Raw Women's Championship against Jax at WrestleMania.[27]
After retaining the Raw Tag Team Championship against Titus Worldwide (Apollo and Titus O'Neil) at Elimination Chamber[23] and again in a rematch onRaw,[24]Cesaro and Sheamus then defeatedThe Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) in a number one contender's non-title match. As they had apparently defeated every tag team on Raw, Cesaro and Sheamus then issued an open challenge to any tag team to face them for the titles at WrestleMania.[25]On the March 12 episode, Cesaro and Sheamus were scheduled to wrestle The Miztourage (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel), but before the match could start, a brawl between all tag teams on Raw (including The Revival, Titus Worldwide, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, and Heath Slater and Rhyno) ensued. Cesaro and Sheamus managed to escape and complained to Raw General Manager Kurt Angle. Angle scheduled a tag team battle royal for later that night involving all of the aforementioned tag teams, with the winning tag team receiving a Raw Tag Team Championship match at WrestleMania. As the match was about to begin, Braun Strowman by himself appeared and was declared as a competitor in the match and won by last eliminating Anderson.[26] The following week, Angle decided that Strowman would receive a Raw Tag Team Championship match at WrestleMania as long as he found a tag team partner. Strowman said that he did not need a partner, but would have one. He then defeated Cesaro in a singles match.[27]
After previous WWE Cruiserweight ChampionEnzo Amore was released from WWE on January 23, 2018, vacating the title,[32][33] a separate general manager was appointed for205 Live to address the championship and the division; 205 Live was previously controlled by the Raw General Manager.[34] On the January 30 episode of 205 Live, new general managerDrake Maverick (formerly Rockstar Spud inImpact Wrestling) scheduled a 16-man single elimination tournament to crown a new WWE Cruiserweight Champion, with the finals to occur at WrestleMania 34. The tournament began that episode with Cedric Alexander andTJP advancing to the quarterfinals by defeating Gran Metalik and Tyler Bate, respectively.[35] Over the next couple of weeks, Kalisto, Roderick Strong, Mark Andrews, Drew Gulak, Buddy Murphy, andMustafa Ali also advanced to the quarterfinals with wins over Lince Dorado, Hideo Itami,Akira Tozawa, Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari, andGentleman Jack Gallagher, respectively.[36][37][38] The quarterfinals occurred over the next two episodes with Alexander, Strong, Gulak, and Ali advancing to the semifinals by defeating TJP, Kalisto, Andrews, and Murphy, respectively.[39][40] On the March 13 episode, Alexander secured his spot in the tournament final by defeating Strong.[41] The following week, Ali defeated Gulak, positioning himself in the tournament final against Alexander at WrestleMania for the vacant WWE Cruiserweight Championship.[42]