Numerous people in every industry leave a mark among others. The trends as well as people in the finance industry create a bigger impact on the lives of countless people, but it doesn't stop here. The financial decisions of influential people often affect the way their followers make their own financial decisions, including those who are looking for investment opportunities regarding apartments for rent. Elon Musk is one of them who exhibits the strongest hold in the finance industry. There are bundles of reasons to prove it.
Surveys do claim that he has a noticeable impact on the crypto market simultaneously as well. This indicates that there might be various situations that contribute to transforming this man into a game-changer for the entire finance industry.
Who Is Elon Musk?
Elon Musk is one of the world-famous entrepreneurs and the founder of many companies. He gained incredible wealth through the brand of his ever-spoken car, Tesla. Also, Elon Musk is now known as one of the influential people leading the global market. Recently, he was alsoreportedto be the richest person in the world.
A Glance into Elon Musk's Early Years
Undeniably, Elon Musk has been a high achiever in the world of finance as well as inventions. But it’s no surprise that every successful person needs a consistent level of support and encouragement for personal and professional growth. Therefore, it makes sense to know about what Elon’s life must have been since he was a child.
Elon’s early years were way different from his current life scenarios. He was born in 1971 in the South African city, Pretoria. He was brought up in the same city. He was always a bright child endeavoring to try new things. His father was a South African while his mother was a Canadian. They nurtured him with care as he was the brightest of all his siblings. This was when he started receiving encouragement and support from his parents.
The challenges Elon faced
Elon mostly lived with his father after his parent's divorce, but he managed to get hold of his mental health. He was a child with huge ambitions. Having a keen focus on his studies, he was often bullied as a bookworm by the other children. This did not divert his goals, though. The ever-growing spark in his personality was proof that he accepted bullying challenges right from the start of his success.
Instead of crying over how others used to bully him, he decided to take his studious personality as an opportunity to explore more about what interests him the most. Based on this decision, Elon identified his level of creativity, and became unstoppable in achieving milestones throughout his life.
Education
His inclination towards education tells why Elon Musk is the most influential person today. Besides, he always associated himself with the medium of technology. That is the reason why he was fully aware of programming when he was just 10.
Elon also designed a video game in a very early period of his life as a student. He was later enrolled in a Canadian university called Queen's University. The university is situated in the Canadian state called Ontario, where he studied before moving to the U.S.
The bright student was shifted to the University of Pennsylvania after completing his two years of education at Queen's University. He holds a degree in Economics and Physics. Both degrees helped him become the person that most of us think can be the reason behind his influential nature.
Besides, he was supposed to attend his classes at Stanford University in 1995, but that never happened. He was of the only view of establishing his business. This thought helped him turn into a striving entrepreneur.
Why Elon Musk is the Most Influential
It will be positive to say that he is a never-ending charm in the wealth circle for the world to talk about. He is leading the brains operating in the finance market, and many legit reasons prove this statement true.
Below are some of his most significant achievements answering the question, "how did Elon Musk influence the world?"
His Impact on the Surge in Cryptocurrency Value
An average consumer might not fully understand the impact of a company’s decision on the financial market, but that's what happened here. Tesla did announce that it is going to purchase some significant amount, around $1.5 billion equivalent worth of Bitcoins.
Following the decision, the company made an impactful decision: the decision involved how the payment is going to be made. It made a couple of announcements in terms of selecting cryptocurrency as the method of payment.
The value of cryptocurrency keeps changing every other day, and that was the case at that time too. However, it occurred differently. Users started taking more interest in purchasing and investing in the Bitcoin currency after the big announcement of Tesla car makers.
That was the point when the market trend of Bitcoin suddenly changed. The price was on the hike as everyone was taking interest in Bitcoin purchases after the announcement by Elon. Therefore, it directly refers to the authority of Elon Musk as a strong business figure.
Elon Started His Success Story as the Co-Founder of Tesla
This is the primary account of his life and possibly the most significant achievement. He gained enhanced success and fame as he started giving it more funding back in 2004. Besides, he started collaborating with some renowned engineers forming a solid foundation for Tesla.
Later on, he was left alone as the only person managing his business after experiencing personal clashes among his partners. The company produced an electric vehicle with the name Tesla Roadster giving Tesla undeniable fame. It turned into a successful automotive brand along with its other contributions including solar energy production.
Tesla has always remained in the spotlight with Elon’s dedicated contributions in terms of its progression. He constantly kept outperforming his counterparts in the industry by producing better and reinforced cars over the years till today. His electric cars gained imperial fame telling why Elon Musk is the most influential businessman.
Pioneer in online payment systems
In 1995, Elon partnered with Kimbal Musk, his brother to start his own business in the form of Zip2 Corporation. This was his very first company and the launch was a strong step towards the achievement of his success. Though his business dealt with providing a city guide for popular magazines (Chicago Tribune and the New York Times), it led to an event worth discussing: Elon sold Zip2 Corporation to one of the divisions of Compaq Computer Corporation.
With $307 million on hand and $34 million in the form of shares, Elon was fortunate enough to utilize the money in launching a new venture, X.com. That said, he successfully implemented his vision of making a statement in the finance industry. It was the origin of X.com because of which the concept of online payment systems came into existence. Elon successfully materialized his concept in the shape of PayPal.
All credits go in Elon's bucket as he founded the e-payment service even when he was not the current CEO. He was expelled from the firm after some time but the founder's value remained intact.
Contributions in SpaceX
Elon has made many commitments and plans over the years with impactful connections making sure about the future space ventures. Also, he planned a collaboration trip with NASA to Mars by 2025. Therefore, he has been consistent about his planning.
His prime efforts toward building reusable rockets are priceless. They refer to less-costly travel options to Mars in the shape of Falcon 9. Besides, the spacecraft has been engineered to perfection and has carried out successful outer space missions.
The Idea of Making Phone Calls from Computers
Elon’s personal achievements also led the world to know about the level of creativity he had. In 1997, he was always concerned about enabling phone calls through computers. That gave him a chance to try out this opportunity.
His concept was to connect conventional computer machines with landlines to save a considerable amount of time and effort. Hence, his efforts proved in the shape of its practical implementation. Users could then access a company's contact online through a computer. Besides, this concept took the form of call centers that we see running campaigns around the world.
The Boring Company
In late 2016, Elon founded The Boring Company. This company is based on tunnel and infrastructure construction. The premise for this project was that the current traffic state is simply not acceptable, especially since there’s so much unused space beneath roadways. Elon's idea here was that it’s not necessary to travel above the ground.
The goal of this company is to speed up production and reduce tunneling costs by creating and using high-powered boring machines. The aim also includes smaller tunnels.
In 2020, the company already had projects in progress in Las Vegas, Washington, D.C, Hawthorne, Chicago, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and more areas. For the funding, Elon started to sell hats with The Boring Company as a brand. By 2017, he had sold over 40,000 hats and raised upwards of $840,000. After selling 50,000 hats, the next product was a Boring Company flamethrower. With each flamethrower priced at $500, Musk managed to raise $10 million in a matter of days.
The Boring Company also sold its shares to early-stage venture capital firms, raising around $120 million that way. There were a few other sources for funds as well, with the result being the completion of two tuners by February 2020. A high-speed transit system is also in the future plans for the Boring Company, so we’d have to stay alert for more updates.
A Few Secrets of Elon Musk’s Success
Many people have wondered just why Elon has been so successful in his efforts. He has revealed some of his secrets to success in a few interviews. Let’s now discuss the crux of these lessons:
Money Is Not the Goal
For most entrepreneurs and career builders today, the initial aim at least is making as much money as possible. This isn’t necessarily a negative goal; after all, we have to work for necessities and in order to maintain a certain lifestyle.
However, Elon says that his business attitude does not have money as the centre of all activity. In fact, in his interviews, he stated that he wasn’t aware of exactly how much money he had. He didn’t have a certain amount in several bank accounts; rather, he has some votes in companies like SolarCity, SpaceX, and Tesla. The marketplace then would place value on these votes, i.e., his ownership shares in these companies.
Elon also states that there’s nothing wrong in pursuing wealth, provided that the process is ethical. However, he does maintain that this pursuit is not what motivates him. This is the sort of approach that seems to work well for him and his companies so far.
Tesla, his company that produces mostly electric cars, has seen particularly positive progress. If we look at how it's performed of late, the Tesla shares have shot up in value and are now worth over $700 billion. For a bit of perspective, this value is more than that of General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Volkswagen, Ford, Ferrari, and BMW combined. With such success and wealth, it’s no wonder that the actor Robert Downy Jr. used Elon as the inspiration for his portrayal of Iron Man.
Interestingly, Elon has also said in an interview that he doesn’t really expect to be rich at the end of his life. He plans to spend a large chunk of his money on a Mars base. The project might take up all his life earnings, and he is mentally prepared for that to happen. In fact, he regards this as the best way to go, instead of passing away with billions still left in his bank accounts.
Making Sure to Pursue Your Passion
Speaking of the Mars base, this endeavor is what Elon believed to be the ultimate success. He feels that since we all want the future to be more exciting, developed, and better in every way, we have to make the required efforts starting today.
His company SpaceX is a great example of such efforts. Elon set up this company due to a sense of frustration and ambition, as he felt that the space program in the U.S. wasn’t ambitious enough. His expectations were to go beyond the Earth atmosphere on a regular basis; putting people on Mars, developing a Moon base, and working on regular missions to orbit.
Elon didn’t settle for being disappointed, but started working on the “Mars Oasis Mission” when he was able to. This mission’s aim was to get a greenhouse to Mars. While the greenhouse was a small one, the main idea was to initiate excitement about space in the public once again. Another motivation here was to convince the U.S. government to allocate a higher budget to NASA.
During these endeavors, however, Elon realized that the issue of space exploration was more related to finances rather than public interest. He saw that the technology required was a lot more pricey than absolutely necessary. From there, he started his SpaceX business, which is the most cost-effective rocket-launching venture so far.
Again, the main goal was not to make as much money as he could, but to get a person on the planet Mars. Elon doesn’t really regard his effort as that of an investor who wants to make the most out of his investment. Rather, his work is that of an engineer, and the passion to solve pressing technical problems is what motivates him to get up every morning.
Elon also keeps in mind that every business hurdle he overcomes will also help those who are trying to deal with the same issues. This is why, in 2014, he announced that all of Tesla’s patents were going to be opened up. With these patents, electric vehicles can become widespread and easier to make all over the world.
While there are certain conditions linked to this open-source philosophy, the fact remains that this move will help us all make more environmentally-friendly vehicles. Again, the main goal is not to have Tesla become a monopoly and charge a premium for electric cars. Rather, it is to help the people have easier and cheaper access to vehicles that won’t destroy the planet so quickly.
Taking the Chance to Think Big
The discussion so far has shown us just how big Elon’s ideas are. What’s even more impressive is that he’s not afraid to think about them and works towards the implementation of these ideas. Some might even label such ideas as being too audacious and even ludicrous, but Elon has proven them wrong.
Just a few of the ideas we usually link to Elon Musk include revolutionizing the global car industry, having access to Mars, building extremely fast trains within vacuum tunnels, changing the battery and solar power industries, and integrating artificial intelligence into the human brain.
Do we see a pattern emerging here? All these ideas and projects are futuristic, embedded in advanced technology, and even fantastical in nature. Some of Elon’s ideas and dreams are almost like concepts from a science fiction magazine back in the 1980s.
Elon actually was inspired by the movies and books in the sci-fi genre that he enjoyed in his childhood. This inspiration turned into ambition as he grew older. During his climb to success, he got the impression that most companies had very low ambitions, which had an adverse effect on their incentive structures.
As a result, many businesses were operating in an incrementalist system, which means that they aimed for only modest improvements and took a long time to get there. Elon noted that if someone was the CEO or owner of a large company and wasted time in improving, they won’t be taking the blame. They’ll only shift the responsibility on the suppliers, workers, or some other subordinate party.
On the other hand, Elon also noted that if someone was brave and wanted to go for a breakthrough innovation or improvement, they would take all of the responsibility as well. If the bold idea didn’t work out, the CEO will almost surely be fired. This is why so many companies would only focus on small development steps rather than going for major innovations that have the potential to bring about major change. They’d also rather work on their existing products and not imagine something new and unique unless they’ve covered all their bases first.
Keeping all this in mind, Elon’s advice is to work on what will matter in the future. In his personal hierarchy, Elon himself wants to fast-forward a global transition from non-renewable fossil fuels to more planet-friendly and long-lasting alternatives. Next, he wants to work upon colonizing Mars and possibly making human life possible across planets. This is to ensure that humanity survives for much longer than the predicted time now (with fossil fuels running out and the planet heating up).
Getting Ready for Risks
With big ideas come big risks, and Elon says that one has to be ready for them. He has dealt with some huge risks himself, proving that he has the skin to win the game.
For example, in 2002, he sold his holdings in Zip2 and PayPal. These were his first ventures, and he was in his early thirties with around 200 million dollars to his name.
His plan at this point was to invest half the money in business and live on the rest. However, this phase was also the darkest one as far as his business life was concerned.
While he didn’t have a lot of new businesses, this was the part when they were experiencing several problems. SpaceX was launched thrice and failed each time. Tesla was facing all sorts of issues with their design, supply chains, and production.
Elon also faced a financial crisis on top of everything else, and had a difficult choice. He could either keep living comfortably and let his businesses die, or he could invest it all and give his ideas a chance to live.
We all know what happened next; Elon took the risk and poured in the money he meant for himself. He also got into debt, and ended up borrowing money from his friends just for some living expenses.
Bankruptcy was very much a possibility here, but Elon states that he wasn’t too frightened by it. He said that if his kids had to attend a government school instead of a private one, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. After all, Elon himself was a government school kid.
Ignore Those Who Criticize
While bankruptcy didn't make Elon disappointed, he did say that he was shocked by how certain critics interfered when he was struggling already. Several blog sites even had a death watch on Tesla, and other people thought that Elon himself was too arrogant to deserve success.
However, Elon rejects the idea that he or his teams were ever arrogant. He only said that they were aspiring to achieve a certain goal, not that they would definitely get there. Therefore, his next secret of success is not to listen to the critics; at least, not the ones who delight in your possible failure.
Elon has said that neither he nor anyone else really believed that Tesla or SpaceX will make a lot of money at the point of setting up. However, as we’ve covered above, his aim isn't to make money anyway, but to solve problems. He ignored those who were against him and went forward with his plans.
Overall, not listening to critics and naysayers made everything much simpler. He was then able to focus on his beliefs and what really mattered.
So far, the market seems to be appreciating Elon’s efforts. In October 2014, SpaceX was valued at around $100 billion by Morgan Stanley, the investment bank.
The Takeaway
Elon Musk is famed for many things; being a workaholic is among them. He has worked 120 hours a week to ensure that his companies’ production stays on track. However, he also makes sure to enjoy his life along the way. His efforts are not without controversy, nor has he always stayed out of trouble. There have also been more problems along the way, not the least of which was the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down Tesla production in San Francisco.
Despite all this and some erratic behavior, Elon seems to have come out stronger than ever. He remains an ambitious entrepreneur, and shows no signs of slowing down. With so much success and liberating ideas for moving forward, he’s certainly an inspiration to all budding entrepreneurs, investors, and thinkers.
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