This person evokes admiration, respect, and envy. His success is natural: talent, charisma, and business flair are complemented by efficiency, and the ability to correctly prioritize. Breakthroughs: computer company Zip2, PayPal, TeslaMotors, SolarCity, SpaceX.
First projects
The first company that Musk founded was the startup Zip2. The entrepreneur launched the project with his brother Kimball in 1995. Zip2 made software that enabled news outlets to post content on the Internet and offer their customers additional paid services.
Mohr Dawidov Ventures fund became one of the company’s investors. The fund’s allies started planning to resell Zip2, but Musk convinced them that its potential was not yet fully realized, and in the future, the startup could be worth more.
Zip2’s clients involved publications such as The New York Times and Pulitzer Publishing. In 1998, the company’s management announced an upcoming merger with CitySearch. The deal was never closed, and a year later, in 1999, the startup was bought by Compaq, paying $ 304 million for Zip2. Elon Musk, whose share in the company at that time was 7%, got $ 20 million.
Elon Musk became a millionaire at 28.
It is noteworthy that Musk learned to program at the age of 10 – and at 12 he already sold his own shooter game Blast Star for $ 500. He even wanted to start his own arcade business, but could not get official permission for it.
PayPal
PayPal is the largest electronic payment system today. This is the first project of Elon Musk, which brought him fame and fortune. Initially, Ilon independently implemented an Internet payment platform, but could not provide reliable protection for data transmission. We managed to get rid of this shortcoming with the help of Confinity specialists. With their cooperation, the PayPal project began. From the very first months of operation, the system began to significantly outperform competitors. It was through PayPal that payments began to go through the famous eBay auction, which later bought this payment system.
The principal causes for the popularity of PayPal:
- Globality. The service is available and popular in most countries. You can pay for goods at any online store and transfer funds around the world in a matter of seconds.
- Convenience and simplicity. The mechanics of sending money is simplified as much as possible, and there is no need to fiddle with details and fill out endless forms.
- Security. You do not share your bank card details with third-party services.
- Buyer protection. PayPal can help resolve a dispute between the buyer and the store if the item has not arrived or is damaged.
- Working with currencies. Payments are automatically converted to the recipient’s currency.
SolarCity
SolarCity – Contributing to the Development of Solar Energy It is a subsidiary of Tesla, one of the US leaders in the development and installation of solar energy systems. SolarCity has made the transition to clean energy through thousands of homeowners and many well-known private and public companies. As a result of the merger of Tesla and SolarCity, the Solar Roof project emerged – solar panels that can be installed like a regular roof.
What makes SolarCity stand out in the solar market:
- Benefit. Using clean energy is much cheaper than traditional energy. Homeowners can purchase solar panels on a lease basis, gradually paying the cost. At the same time, monthly payments are lower than the payment of regular electricity bills.
- Panel design. After their installation, the fasteners are not visible, the result is a laconic streamlined look. And in the case of the Solar Roof, the panels are indistinguishable from the stylish roof tiles.
- Powerwall. It is a high-tech battery that stores the energy produced by the panels and allows it to be used at night. Through the application, you can monitor the operation of the panels and the energy consumption in the house.
- Effective photocells. The company produces solar cells that are 22% more efficient than competitors.
Tesla
It is the most famous manufacturer of electric vehicles. Tesla’s main merit is the development of electric cars that can create healthy competition for gasoline counterparts.
It should be added that in 2018 alone, Elon submitted 245,145 cars, which is almost 2.5 times more than the results of the previous year. At the same time, sales are growing rapidly, and global automakers are showing interest in the output of their own “electric” models.
SpaceX
It is the first-ever commercial company to reach space. The goal of creating SpaceX was to reduce the cost of space flights, which will pave the way for the early colonization of Mars. In recent years, this project by Elon Musk has contributed to real breakthroughs in putting cargo into orbit.
