Elon Musk Net Worth: How His Wealth Skyrocketed
Elon Musk net worth as of April 2018 is $18.4 billion. This visionary entrepreneur has made giant strides with his innovative practices and has made it his mission to revolutionize modes of transportation on earth and also in space. Elon Musk net worth has landed him on Forbes Billionaires list. He is currently 54th on the ranking.
Elon Musk is considered to be a real titan of the automotive and transportation industry. His accomplishments are quite impressive, especially given the fact that he is still in his mid-40s, relatively young. There are definitely more things in store for this self-made billionaire. Elon Musk net worth is expected to skyrocket even more as he delves into more ways on how to create a sustainable future for our planet.
Elon Musk: Personal Life and Early Career
Musk was born and spent his childhood in South Africa. His father is of South African descent and his mother is Canadian. He moved to Canada at 17 years old to study at Kingston’s Queen’s University, and he later transferred to the University of Pennsylvania where he got a Physics degree. He obtained a second degree in Economics from the Wharton Business School.
Musk was later on accepted for the Stanford graduate program, but he chose instead to launch his first venture, Zip2, with his brother Kimbal. Zip2 is a city guide software and they launched it with seed money from their father. He earned millions when Zip2 was acquired by Compaq for $307 million in 1999. Musk also co-founded an online financial services company called X.com, which later on merged with Confinity, a company with a money transfer arm called PayPal. The merged company came to be known as PayPal. Musk’s first billion was earned with the sale of PayPal to eBay back in 2002. As co-founder, he pocketed $1.5 billion.
The fact that Elon Musk net worth is in billions of dollars can be credited to his exemplary imagination and drive to succeed. For him, it is not about amassing personal wealth but to be able to help humanity by giving them a sustainable future. According to him, he will not rest until humans have colonized Mars.
Elon Musk Net Worth: Getting There through Tesla
Elon Musk, CEO of auto manufacturer Tesla Motors is bringing electric vehicles to the mass consumer market. Tesla is credited for leading the way to the possibility of an electric transport system. Musk is a very popular CEO, garnering an average of 87% approval rating from Tesla employees. Tesla Motors is named after Nikola Tesla, a Serbian inventor who is credited with the AC power transmission. An engineer by profession, he also created the induction motor. By paying homage to Nikola Tesla, the company is acknowledging that the inventor’s vision has made their electric car possible.
Tesla Motors was established in 2003, and now has a market capitalization of $45.61 billion, with $270 per share as of April 2018. Tesla shares continue to climb, and in the first quarter of 2018, it increased by about 33%. Tesla Motors mainly manufactures electric cars but is also known to design and make solar panels and clean energy storage. It currently has stories and galleries in 28 countries around the world, but there are Tesla automobile owners in about 50 countries. It employs around 30,000 employees worldwide. There are more than 100 U.S. TesIa stores and galleries, spread across more than 25 states. In the U.S. alone, the total carbon dioxide saved by Tesla has been staggering: 3.2 tons. With a market share of only 1% of automobile sales worldwide, Tesla clearly has a long way to go but it is slowly but surely getting there.
SpaceX and SolarCity
Elon Musk’s vision when he founded SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) in 2002 is to make space travel a reality and to make it as common as driving a car. The company mainly designs and manufactures rockets and spacecraft. In February 2018, Musk successfully launched the Falcon Heavy, his latest rocket. Because of this triumphant launch, SpaceX funding will accelerate, spurring investors to part with their money to usher in the space age. Musk envisions that SpaceX will be able to send cargo missions to the planet Mars by 2022. SpaceX is currently valued at $20 billion, which increases Elon Musk net worth.
Musk acquired sustainable energy company SolarCity in 2016, in his continuous bid to wean the planet off fossil fuel. For Musk, the acquisition is logical and obvious because he wants his company to save the planet from the destructive forces of climate change. His plan for SolarCity is to make the technology affordable to more people by developing financing models. Since it is a subsidiary of Tesla, it takes advantage of the motor company’s retail footprint to market their solar roof tiles.
Charitable Endeavors
Elon Musk has several charitable endeavors. He established his namesake foundation which gives grants to support causes dear to his heart such as renewable energy, pediatric medicine, and STEM education. Foremost in Musk’s philanthropic vision is space exploration, which is one of the guideposts in everything that he does. Musk also gives away his personal money, particularly to the Future of Life Institute, which ensures that Artificial Intelligence benefits humanity. Musk also supports efforts to preserve Nikola Tesla’s lab and transform it into the Tesla Science Center and Museum. Musk also spearheaded a project to donate solar power systems to disaster-hit areas in the United States and in other parts of the world. This endeavor is done through SolarCity. It has already donated millions to hurricane-ravaged Coden, Alabama and to Fukushima, Japan, which was recently hit by an earthquake. Recently, Tesla also donated equipment to restore power in Puerto Rico after hurricane Maria.
As Elon Musk net worth continues to increase, we can expect more philanthropic work with issues that he is committed to and passionate about.
