Elon Musk: A Genius Transforming Our World

We've decided to shine a spotlight on those who embody the pride of America. Take Elon Musk, for instance - he's the first we'll speak of. There aren't many individuals who truly propel science and technology forward, and Musk is among this rare breed. A man of genius is ingenious in everything he undertakes — from launching vehicles into space to boring tunnels beneath Los Angeles, not to mention raising six children. And along the way, he's turned his dreams into a $200 billion fortune.

Elon Musk has become a figure of emulation, a person for whom dreaming is not just an idle pastime but a tangible reality. Despite a childhood where he was the nerdy outcast, mercilessly bullied and beaten, he is far from being a dull scientist in a lab coat. Instead, he's a man with arguably the most fascinating life in the world.

Read our article to find out if Iron Man is truly a close kin to Elon Musk and how to manage "The Boring Company" in a way that keeps everyone entertained.

What you need to know about Elon Musk

Let's start with the fact that Musk was born in South Africa, and it was education and career prospects that brought him to the USA — a fine example of how an immigrant can turn into one of the most influential figures of the 21st century, an innovative entrepreneur featured in Forbes' lists with a net worth in billions.

Here are a few facts from the life of the genius:

• Elon Musk was a quiet and introverted child of divorced parents, who didn't get along with other kids but was at ease with books and technology. He often became the butt of jokes, regularly bullied by peers, and was disliked by teachers for completing the syllabus ahead of time.
• At 10, he received a computer as a gift and immediately took up programming. Just two years later, he sold his first game — a space shooter — for a whole $500, a significant amount at the time. This marked the beginning of Musk’s two main passions — space obsession and entrepreneurship.
• He continued programming, but it no longer brought significant income. Musk needed money — he wanted to move to Canada and attend university. To save up, still a teenager, he decided to invest in stocks. He followed their prices in newspapers and sold them, earning a few thousand. That was enough to move first to Canada and then to the states.
• By the way, he never graduated from any of the universities he attended. Those were none other than Canada's Queen's University and America's Stanford — a dream for many.
• Together with his brother, Musk founded Zip2, a company that sold software to news platforms. Things went so well that computer giant Compaq soon acquired it for $308 million. Since then, Elon had the means to start his own projects, many of which have already conquered the world. We'll talk about them a bit later.
• In 2015, he established his own charitable foundation, donating money to research artificial intelligence and other future technologies. And in 2018, Musk was accepted as an expert in the natural sciences department of the British Royal Society of Scientists.
• President Donald Trump even included Elon Musk in the so-called Strategic and Policy Forum — a collection of the most outstanding entrepreneurs as economic development advisors. However, due to disagreement with the political course, Musk left the forum in protest in 2017 and since then has fundamentally refrained from any official contacts with the authorities.

And Just for Curiosity

As often happens with geniuses, their personal lives are a maze navigable only with a bit of alcohol in hand. Elon has always said that none of his dates were successful: women in cafes weren't exactly thrilled to listen to his tedious monologues about physics, and nervousness prevented him from talking about anything else. Yet, Musk has six sons, all from his first wife, whom he met at university. He married and divorced his second wife twice. There were recent rumors that Elon was dating the unconventional Canadian singer Grimes; they were spotted together several times, making for a fascinating spectacle. They eventually married, and their child, named "X Æ A-12" or, when deciphered, "X Ash A-Twelve", was born. In 2021, the couple announced their separation.

We encounter the fruits of Musk's labor and imagination constantly — when making online payments, when turning on the TV to catch up on new technologies and space exploration news. Elon Musk's grandfather was an avid aviator, and his father was a civil engineer. Clearly, those genes didn't go to waste.

How many rockets has Elon Musk launched: projects from tunnels to space

Elon Musk owns or plays a significant role in several companies:

1. 01. PayPal — one of the largest payment systems in the world;
2. 02. Tesla — the manufacturer of the most comfortable and high-tech electric vehicles;
3. 03. The Boring Company — focuses on the construction and laying of high-tech infrastructural elements (underground tunnels for transport to alleviate surface congestion);
4. 04. SpaceX — his most famous project, a space program without analogs. It boasts a series of unique Falcon rockets, the Dragon spacecraft, and numerous achievements in the exploration of celestial bodies. They promise to reach Mars within the next five years;
5. 05. SolarCity — a Tesla subsidiary, deals with the installation and maintenance of solar energy systems;
6. 06. Neuralink — almost like out of science fiction novels, this company is engaged in the development and implementation of neurotechnologies, i.e., modifying and improving the functioning of the human brain.

Although his name has not been familiar in the Russian-speaking world for long, in the USA, everyone well knows that life would be much duller without Elon Musk. This man has become a true conduit from childhood fantasies about the future to a bright and promising reality. And, of course, he is a brilliant example of the career opportunities available to a talented and entrepreneurial person in America.