Influential Individuals - Elon Musk: The Life, Lessons & Rules For Success

Elon Musk

The Life, Lessons & Rules For Success

Influential Individuals

Copyright 2017 Influential Individuals

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission of the publisher, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Table of Contents

EARLY LIFE

THE YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR

THE RISE OF SPACEX

TESLA HITS THE ROAD

SOLAR CITY SHINES THROUGH

VALUABLE LESSONS

40 LITTLE KNOWN FACTS

60 GREATEST QUOTES

15 RULES FOR SUCCESS

CONCLUSION

Chapter One: Early Life

I really like computer games, but then if I made really great computer games, how much effect would that have on the world? Elon Musk

When people today talk about modern-day success stories in entrepreneurship, engineering, and technological innovation, Elon Musk's name inevitably garners much of the discussion. Musk is the name behind some of the most recognizable, trailblazing, and talked-about companies this century. He is constantly ranked among the wealthiest business magnates in the world whilst also maintaining a persona akin to a rock star which only serves to contribute to his popularity.

A look at the background and beginnings of Elon Reeve Musk reveals where he gets much of his innovative and exploring spirit. His father, Errol Musk, is an electromechanical engineer, sailor and pilot. Meanwhile, his mother Maye, is a model and a dietician. Musk's father is a native of South Africa, while his mother is originally from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Musk's ancestry includes British, American, and Pennsylvania Dutch roots.

Musk was born in Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa on June 28, 1971. Pretoria, a city in the northern region of Gauteng, is one of South Africa's capital cities and is known to be a center of academic study, with three major universities, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and the South African Bureau of Standards within its territory. Pretoria is the birthplace of many other notable South Africans, including athlete Oscar Pistorius, entrepreneur Sammy Marks, South African Republic president Paul Kruger, and venture capitalist Roelof Botha.

As a child, Musk showed an early love for reading, devouring several books at a time. The young Musk was an introvert compared to his younger siblings Kimbal and Tosca. Much of his childhood was spent in the suburbs of Pretoria, particularly Waterkloof, an affluent area where many foreign diplomats resided. Musk's parents divorced in 1980, and he mostly lived with his father. Recreation included thoroughbred horses, trips on their father's yacht, and holiday travels to Europe, Hong Kong, and the United States.

Although it was common for wealthy South African families to hire household staff, Errol determined early on to train his children to do their own household chores and learn to cook their own meals. "I guess I was a bit of an autocratic father do this, do that. I was a single parent, and they simply had to help out," Errol said in an interview to The Mercury News .

Musk's passion for reading eventually led to an early interest in computers. He owned a Commodore Vic 20, a Spectra video, and an IBM, all of which added to his interest in learning more about computing and computer programming. In fact, at the age of 12, he successfully taught himself programming and designed the code for a BASIC-based video game called Blastar. The space-themed PC game looks like a mix between Space Invaders and Asteroid, with the player's mission to destroy alien spacecraft carrying hydrogen bombs and destroyer machines. A 12-year-old Elon was able to sell the code for Blastar to the magazine PC and Office Technology for $500.

Unfortunately, Musk was not spared from being bullied throughout his childhood. Because he was bookish and socially awkward, interested more in science fiction and computers, classmates picked on him constantly. At one time, Musk's classmates pushed him down a long, concrete stairwell. In another instance, the young Musk was beaten so severely that he had to be taken to the hospital.

Recalling his childhood experience with bullying, Musk recalled one instance when the bullies used his best friend to lure him out of hiding, and then they proceeded to beat him up. For some reason they decided that I was it, and they were going to go after me nonstop. Thats what made growing up difficult. Musk said this bullying lasted for many years with no end in sight. He would get chased by the gangs at school who wanted to beat him up, and they would follow him home. It would just be awful there as well, he said.

Still, Musk showed resilience despite the difficulties. A former geography teacher of his, Ewyn van den Aardweg, recalls a smart and inquisitive child. "I would see him frequently in or around the library. Musk had an above-average interest in matters outside the normal curriculum, and the library these were pre-Internet years was the place to gain further knowledge."

Van den Aardweg also noticed that Musk's school uniform was always neat and clean compared to the other boys in school, indicating that even though he was superior to the others in intellect and out-of-the-box thinking, he put a priority on self-discipline and the value of hard work.

Because his father was a wealthy and successful engineer, Musk went to private schools in the Pretoria suburbs, such as the Waterkloof House Preparatory School, an English-speaking private school with boarding facilities. Waterkloof House counts among its notable pupils the professional golfer Richard Sterne, novelist Tony Peake, and journalist Deon Chang.

Musk went on to graduate from the Pretoria Boys High School. He was a member of the high school chess team at the prestigious learning institution, but he stopped competing when he realized that humans could not beat the computers that were playing chess. After graduating high school, Musk studied for a short time at the University of Pretoria, but his sights were soon set elsewhere.

In 1989, at the age of 17, Elon decided he would move to Canada because he wanted to attend the Queen's School of Business in Kingston, Ontario. This was at a time when the country of South Africa was undergoing much political upheaval, with the apartheid system of racial segregation being torn down. With the uncertainty in the country's political and economic climate, many South Africans were leaving the country for England, Australia, and North America in search of better opportunities. Musk also intended to move to Canada to avoid mandatory service in the military.

Elon's brother Kimbal also moved to Canada shortly thereafter to attend Queen's. A friend of the brothers at the school, Dominic Thompson, recalls the intelligence and deep knowledge of Elon in many fields of study. "Its rare to have the mix of business knowledge with the understanding of physics and science, along with raw intelligence, and focus. Hes always known what he wanted to do," Thompson said.

It was not all smooth sailing for Musk when he first moved to Canada. He worked various odd jobs to support himself, such as tending vegetables and shoveling out grain bins at a farm owned by his cousin, cutting logs using a chain saw in Vancouver, and even cleaning a lumber mill's boiler room, a job that paid $18 an hour.

Musk recalls having to wear a hazmat suit and then trying to fit through a very little tunnel as part of the job, then having to use a shovel to take sand, goop, and other steaming hot residue out through the same hole. Someone else on the other side has to shovel it into a wheelbarrow. If you stay in there for more than thirty minutes, you get too hot and die."