Big dreams and the determination to make them happen – these are the hallmarks of Elon Musk. The founder of PayPal, an advocate of sustainable energy, an innovator of new energy vehicles, and an explorer of space technology. A visionary who challenged and changed the way many industries think! As a boy, he was the quintessential “nerd” in his native South Africa. He loved to read everything he could get his hands on, including encyclopedias, and he was teased at school.
He even admitted in interviews that he was terrified of the dark, but overcame that fear by rationalizing that darkness was just the absence of light, saying, “It’s stupid to be afraid of the lack of photons”. However, his brilliance is shown in the computer class, and he knows more than the teacher! He showed signs of early entrepreneurship by designing a computer game and trying to open a local computer arcade with his brother.
He traveled to the United States, thereby escaping his obligation to serve in the military in his home country, believing that “great things are possible in America, more so than in any other country in the world.”
PayPal has changed the way people shop on the Internet and is now the world’s leading payment system. It’s something we perhaps take for granted now, and it’s rapidly replacing the traditional paper-based process of sending checks in the mail. He eventually sold PayPal to eBay for $1.5 billion, even though he was only 30 years old.
Elon transitioned into alternative energy and founded SolarCity to provide solar power to commercial and residential consumers. His long-standing dream is to end the world’s dependence on fossil fuels. It’s now one of the largest solar suppliers in the U.S.
So it’s no surprise that he turned to another “green” field and founded the electric car company Tesla. “It’s about sustainable energy consumption,” he said, and plans to introduce a high-priced, beautiful sports car to attract high-end buyers. Tesla needs to break the mold and change the perception that electric cars are boring but potentially hot and popular. Tesla got off to a rocky start, weathering the worst financial downturn since the Great Depression, poor reviews for the TV show Top Gear and controversial government funding.
However, Musk’s vision of changing the future is sustainable, and he even invested all his personal capital in the company. This huge risk showed his faith in his dream, and it paid off when Tesla was named “Car of the Year” by Motor Trend, and finally paid off the government loan with interest 9 years ahead of schedule. A remarkable achievement.
But his dreams are not limited to Earth, his company SpaceX is the first commercial company to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. This is a man of determination, an adventurous spirit, and most of all, dreams big.
