The Story of Elon Musk

Summary

The video script chronicles Elon Musk's journey from a challenging childhood in South Africa to becoming a tech visionary. It highlights his early programming days, the founding of Zip2 and PayPal, and his ambitious ventures like Tesla and SpaceX. The narrative underscores Musk's resilience, innovation, and relentless pursuit to revolutionize transportation, banking, and space travel, with a dream to make Mars inhabitable and ensure humanity's multi-planetary existence.

Takeaways

• 🚀 Elon Musk's ambition to revolutionize space travel began with founding SpaceX, aiming to make Mars colonization a reality.
• 💸 Musk experienced financial struggles early in life, including having negative money and significant student debt.
• 🏠 Despite owning multiple houses, Musk doesn't spend much time in them, reflecting his focus on work and innovation over material possessions.
• 🛋️ In the early days of his career, Musk slept on a futon in a rented office due to financial constraints, showcasing his dedication to his work.
• 💼 Musk's first significant business success came from selling his company Zip2 to Compaq for $305 million, which provided the capital for his future ventures.
• 💡 His creative mind was always generating ideas, a trait he recognized from a young age and which has driven his innovative endeavors.
• 🌐 Musk's second company, X.com, which later became PayPal, demonstrated his ability to identify and capitalize on emerging internet technologies.
• 🔄 After being ousted from the CEO position at PayPal, Musk still benefited significantly from its sale to eBay, furthering his wealth and influence.
• 🚗 Tesla Motors, initially not founded by Musk, was propelled to success with his investment and leadership, revolutionizing the electric car industry.
• 📉 Musk faced extreme challenges during the 2008 financial crisis, nearly bankrupting both Tesla and SpaceX, but managed to persevere and succeed.
• ☄️ Musk's long-term vision includes making Mars inhabitable and affordable, with the goal of reducing the cost of travel to the average price of a U.S. home.

Q & A

What was Elon Musk's initial goal when he founded SpaceX?

Elon Musk's initial goal when founding SpaceX was to revolutionize access to space and eventually make Mars seem possible, with the ultimate aim of providing transportation services to another planet for both the private sector and the government.

How did Elon Musk's upbringing in South Africa influence his future endeavors?

Elon Musk's upbringing in South Africa, despite being in an abusive household, instilled in him the ability to adapt and overcome difficult circumstances, which later contributed to his success in business and technology.

What was Elon Musk's first business venture and how much did it sell for?

Elon Musk's first business venture was Zip2, a software company that was sold to Compaq for $305 million.

How did Elon Musk fund his involvement in Tesla Motors?

Elon Musk funded his involvement in Tesla Motors by providing $6.5 million worth of funding, which he received from the sale of his previous company, Zip2.

What was the main challenge Tesla faced during its early years?

The main challenge Tesla faced during its early years was the global financial crisis of 2008, which nearly led to the company's bankruptcy as it was only a few days away from running out of funds.

What is the significance of PayPal in Elon Musk's entrepreneurial journey?

PayPal, initially known as X.com, was Elon Musk's second major company. It revolutionized online payments and was later sold to eBay for $1.5 billion, providing Musk with significant capital for his future ventures.

How did Elon Musk's personal life impact his professional decisions?

Elon Musk's personal life, including his divorces and relationships, influenced his professional decisions by providing him with the financial means and personal drive to pursue ambitious projects like SpaceX and Tesla.

What is the primary mission of SpaceX according to Elon Musk?

The primary mission of SpaceX, according to Elon Musk, is to reduce the cost of space travel to make it accessible and eventually colonize Mars, making life multi-planetary.

How did Elon Musk's early programming skills contribute to his success?

Elon Musk's early programming skills allowed him to create and sell his first gaming software at the age of 12, which laid the foundation for his future in technology and entrepreneurship.

What was the turning point for Tesla in terms of public perception and financial success?

The turning point for Tesla in terms of public perception and financial success came after the global financial crisis, with the company's stock increasing by 450% between the start and end of 2013.

What is Elon Musk's vision for the future of transportation and energy?

Elon Musk's vision for the future of transportation and energy is centered around sustainable and electric vehicles, aiming to reduce carbon emissions and promote a cleaner environment.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 From Struggling Entrepreneur to Visionary: Elon Musk's Early Struggles and Aspirations

The first paragraph introduces Elon Musk's early life and his relentless drive to succeed despite financial struggles and student debt. It discusses his initial ventures into entrepreneurship, including founding SpaceX and his goal to revolutionize space travel. The paragraph also touches on Musk's eccentricities and how they are often associated with success, drawing parallels with other successful individuals like Warren Buffett, Richard Branson, and Jeff Bezos. It sets the stage for Musk's journey from a challenging upbringing to becoming a key figure in shaping humanity's future.

05:00

🤖 Early Indicators of Genius: Elon Musk's Childhood and First Steps in Programming

This paragraph delves into Elon Musk's childhood, highlighting his mother's realization of his exceptional reasoning abilities at a young age. It describes his early interest in computer programming, sparked by a love for computer games, and his first foray into software development at the age of 10. The summary includes his first sale of a gaming software called Blaster to a computer magazine, showcasing his early entrepreneurial spirit and technical aptitude.

10:02

💼 The Dawn of Entrepreneurship: Elon Musk's Journey from Zip2 to PayPal

The third paragraph outlines Elon Musk's transition from South Africa to the United States and his initial foray into the tech industry. It discusses the creation of his first company, Zip2, which was aimed at helping media companies transition from print to digital content. The summary details the hardships faced during the early stages of the company, including living conditions and financial struggles, and culminates in the successful sale of Zip2 to Compaq for $305 million, which set the stage for Musk's next venture, X.com, later known as PayPal.

15:03

💡 The Evolution of Innovation: From X.com to PayPal and Beyond

This paragraph focuses on the evolution of X.com into PayPal and the innovative strategies that led to its rapid growth. It discusses the exponential growth model where users acted as de facto salespeople, bringing in new customers. The summary also touches on the challenges Musk faced, including being ousted as CEO during a critical period for PayPal. Despite these setbacks, the paragraph concludes with eBay's acquisition of PayPal for $1.5 billion, solidifying Musk's status as a successful entrepreneur.

20:04

🚗 Revolutionizing Transportation: Tesla's Inception and the Struggle for Survival

The fifth paragraph narrates Elon Musk's involvement with Tesla Motors, a company initially founded by others but propelled by Musk's vision for sustainable electric vehicles. It details the development of Tesla's first car, the Roadster, and the immense challenges faced by the company during the 2008 global financial crisis. The summary highlights Musk's personal struggles during this period, including his divorce and the high stakes of Tesla's survival, which hung by a thread as the company faced imminent bankruptcy.

25:04

🌌 Expanding Human Horizons: SpaceX, Mars Colonization, and Beyond

This paragraph discusses Elon Musk's ambitious goals with SpaceX, focusing on reducing the cost of space travel and his ultimate vision of colonizing Mars. It outlines the company's foundational principles and Musk's personal commitment to making Mars accessible within our lifetime. The summary touches on the future prospects of interplanetary travel, with Musk aiming to make a trip to Mars as affordable as the average U.S. house price, thereby encouraging permanent settlement on the Red Planet.

🌟 A Vision for Humanity's Future: Elon Musk's Legacy and the Path to Mars

The final paragraph reflects on Elon Musk's overarching vision for humanity, his commitment to making life multi-planetary, and the prioritization of Mars colonization over personal pursuits. It emphasizes Musk's belief in the importance of his work for the future of human existence and his willingness to allocate resources and time accordingly. The summary concludes by acknowledging Musk's humble beginnings and his transformative impact on various industries, inspiring a future where his contributions to technology and space exploration are integral to everyday life.

Keywords

💡Elon Musk

Elon Musk is the central figure of the video, an entrepreneur and CEO known for founding and leading companies like Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company. He is portrayed as an innovative and ambitious individual who has overcome personal and financial struggles to revolutionize various industries, including electric cars, space travel, and sustainable energy.

💡Abusive Household

The term 'abusive household' refers to Elon Musk's upbringing in Pretoria, South Africa, where he experienced physical and emotional abuse from his father. This challenging background is contrasted with his later success, suggesting that adversity can be a catalyst for determination and innovation.

💡Student Debts

Elon Musk's early financial struggles are highlighted by the mention of 'student debts', indicating that despite his current wealth, he once faced significant financial barriers. This concept is relevant to the video's theme of overcoming obstacles and highlights the economic challenges many face when pursuing higher education.

💡Innovation

Innovation is a key theme in the video, exemplified by Musk's various ventures, such as SpaceX, which aims to revolutionize space travel, and Tesla, which seeks to transform the automotive industry with electric vehicles. The term encapsulates the spirit of creating new solutions and technologies to address complex challenges.

💡PayPal

PayPal is a significant keyword as it represents one of Elon Musk's early successful ventures. The company, initially known as X.com, revolutionized online payments and was later sold to eBay for $1.5 billion, providing Musk with the capital to fund his subsequent ambitious projects.

💡Tesla Motors

Tesla Motors, now simply known as Tesla, is a keyword that denotes Musk's foray into the electric car industry. The company's mission to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy is central to the video's narrative of Musk's dedication to environmental and technological advancement.

💡SpaceX

SpaceX is a keyword that signifies Musk's ambition to make space travel more accessible and affordable. The company's goal to colonize Mars by 2024 is a testament to Musk's vision for a multi-planetary human civilization and his commitment to pushing the boundaries of what is currently possible.

💡Bankruptcy

The term 'bankruptcy' is used in the script to describe the financial peril that both Tesla and SpaceX faced in 2008. This keyword illustrates the high stakes and risks associated with Musk's ventures and underscores the theme of resilience in the face of failure.

💡Multi-Planetary

The concept of being 'multi-planetary' is a keyword that captures Musk's vision for the future of humanity. It refers to the idea of establishing human life beyond Earth, particularly on Mars, as a means of ensuring the long-term survival and expansion of our species.

💡Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicles are a keyword that highlights Tesla's role in pioneering sustainable transportation. The script discusses Musk's belief in the necessity of electric cars to combat climate change and reduce carbon emissions, aligning with the video's overarching theme of environmental responsibility.

💡Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is a keyword that encapsulates the spirit of innovation, risk-taking, and leadership demonstrated by Elon Musk throughout his career. The video showcases Musk's journey from a struggling startup founder to a leading figure in various industries, embodying the essence of an entrepreneur.

Highlights

Elon Musk's initial business venture involved creating a game called Blaster, which he sold for $500 at the age of 12.

Musk's early life was marked by an abusive household and school bullying, which paradoxically contributed to his resilience and success later in life.

Despite early hardships, Musk's mind was constantly generating innovative ideas from a young age, as described as a 'never-ending explosion'.

Musk moved to North America for university, graduating with dual degrees in economics and physics, setting the stage for his future endeavors.

He chose to move to Silicon Valley to work on energy storage technologies for electric cars, reflecting his early interest in sustainable energy.

Musk's first company, Zip2, was sold for $305 million, with Musk receiving $22 million, marking his transition from broke to multi-millionaire.

Following the sale of Zip2, Musk founded X.com, which later became PayPal, aiming to revolutionize the financial sector.

Musk's innovative approach to PayPal's growth involved a user-referral system that exponentially increased its customer base.

Musk was briefly fired as CEO of PayPal but still made $165 million from eBay's acquisition of the company.

Tesla Motors, initially not founded by Musk, was funded and later led by him with a mission to create electric vehicles and reduce carbon emissions.

2008 was a challenging year for Musk, with Tesla near bankruptcy and his first marriage ending, but he persevered through these difficulties.

SpaceX, founded by Musk in 2002, aimed to reduce the cost of space travel and has set a goal of colonizing Mars by 2024.

Musk's vision for Mars includes making the trip affordable, comparable to the average U.S. house price, to encourage permanent settlement.

Musk's personal life has been tumultuous, with multiple marriages and divorces, but his focus remains on his ambitious business goals.

Despite coming from an abusive background, Musk has become a leading figure in revolutionizing multiple industries, including electric cars and space travel.

Musk's story exemplifies the power of imagination and determination in reshaping one's reality and potentially the future of humanity.

Transcripts

did you think

i need to pack this in never

why not

i don't ever give up

i love muscle sleeping i didn't have any

money in fact i had negative money um i

had huge student debts i have a bunch of

houses but i don't spend a lot of time

in

most of them i couldn't afford a place

to stay and an office so uh i rented an

office instead because that was it was

actually i got a cheaper office then i

could get a get a place to stay and then

i just sort of slept on the futon and a

few years ago people were laughing at

you now

not so much i mean okay

spacex i founded approximately four

years ago with the goal of

revolutionizing access to space what i

really want to try to

achieve here is to make mars seem

possible step three would be to provide

humans to another planet services to the

private sector and

the government

what

satisfaction doing something useful

for other people that i like doing

is being a little bit weird crazy and

eccentric a side effect of the

successful or is it the price of

admission it seems as though almost

anybody who's excelled in a field has a

touch of being a little bit out of the

ordinary warren buffett drinks at least

five cans of coke per day richard

branson drinks 20 cups of tea per day

while jeff bezos has spent 40 million

dollars engineering clocks that are

expected to outlast human existence it's

almost like the rich you are the more

excusable your bizarre behaviour is and

the individual we'll look at today isn't

exempt from this rule elon musk is an

eccentric multi-billionaire engineering

businessman who despite coming from a

poor abusive household in pretoria south

africa is slowly becoming the sole

individual most trusted with the future

of human life but it certainly hasn't

been smooth sailing for elon musk from

living on a couch in a rented silicon

valley office instead of getting an

apartment we just rented a small office

and we slept on the couch to three

divorces cnbc was rerunning their

divorce special yes

[Laughter]

to being two days from bankruptcy in

2008. we were only a few days from

bankruptcy it was literally two days or

three days maybe it's safe to say that

elon musk has only just pulled through

life by the skin of his teeth but

sometimes for some unique individuals

that risk pays off the reward anything

you want cars homes businesses

government power the ability to travel

to space all of these points will be

covered in this video so join me as we

cover the full story of elon musk

our story begins in pretoria south

africa 1970. and you might ask what was

so significant about pretoria in 1970

that grant's permission for it to be the

birthplace of our story well at the time

not much it was actually quite

insignificant in the grand scheme of

things but it did happen to be a time

and place where two random individuals

by the name of errol musk and mae

holderman would begin dating errol and

engineer and mei are models made an

almost impulsive choice to get married

because they were quote bored and lonely

well you know i was lonely alone in cape

town i wasn't in a happy situation and i

thought well what can be worse marriage

can't be that bad following errol and

may musk's impulsive marriage in 1970

the couple had three children kimball

tosca and most significantly elon musk

who was born on the 28th of june 1971

and that's kind of the basis for our

story one big happy family in south

africa a successful engineer with his

model wife and their three happy kids

and on the surface everything looked

amazing

however the reality of their happy

family turned out to be somewhat of a

facade the dynamic was actually quite

different behind the scenes you said i

would be beaten up did you suffer that

kind of abuse yes yeah yeah i think

i was i was beaten up turns out that

elon's father and mae's husband errol

musk was incredibly abusive and somewhat

of a garbage individual behind the

scenes when i was married i was told

about three times a day that i'm boring

and stupid

and

you know and ugly not only was errol

abusive he also denied elon some of the

most basic things required to begin a

career in business such as a computer he

didn't want to buy a computer and refuse

to use computers and said they would

never amount to anything showing that

perhaps errol wasn't all that interested

in seeing his kids become their best

selves elon has stated that his father

was a terrible human being who carefully

thought our plans of evil also stating

that he had a very violent unhappy

childhood it was very violent

it was not a happy childhood

her father raises serious issues

signifying the harsh realities of his

upbringing however the real question

over the long run was this such a bad

thing well that's probably an argument

worth having because a tough upbringing

would actually end up being an asset for

elon's incredible success later in life

giving him the ability to adapt and

overcome the most difficult of

circumstances

but despite being in an abusive

household as well as constant bullying

at school it has almost been to death if

you'd call that bullied it wouldn't be

long before mae musk would figure out

that her child was somewhat of a genius

from the age of three really i just he

just reasoned with me so well and i

didn't know how he could figure out

things i mean he was three may realize

that there was something special with

her son elon after discovering that he

could reason with her and complete

complex jobs at an incredibly young age

of three also stating that he was put

into school a year early then following

elon being put into school a year early

elon's mind began exploding with

creative ideas at the age of five or six

which was explained on the joe rogan

podcast i think when i was i don't know

five or six or something i thought i was

insane why did you think you were insane

because it was clear that other people

did not their mind wasn't exploding with

ideas all the time from that point

onwards elon stated that his mind was

constantly coming up with ideas which he

described as a never-ending explosion

that can't be turned off what's going on

never-ending explosion it's just

constant ideas just bouncing around yes

so by this point we could probably agree

that elon musk was born with somewhat of

a creative superpower so with this in

mind did he have some kind of perfect

plan to go from a small town kid in

south africa to a multinational

billionaire well no not really not in

the beginning at least anyway i mean i

should say that you know when i was a

kid i didn't really have any grand

designs i mean the reason i started

programming computers is because i like

computer games

and i play lots of computer games at the

age of 10 elon musk simply began

programming computers as he enjoyed

computer games there was really no

extravagant planning at the start of his

journey the somewhat refreshing fact

considering that there's always this

feeling that these billionaires have it

all figured out from the beginning but

here's where the difference occurred for

elon musk after beginning to program

computers he then figured out if he

could write better software and sell it

then he could buy better computers i

learned that if i wrote software and

sold it then i could get more money and

buy better computers so it wasn't really

you know with some grand vision or

anything after learning to code at the

age of 10 elon musk realized that a

magazine by the name of pc and office

technology would buy different pieces of

software to publish in their magazine

there was a computer magazine that you

could sell

software to and then publish the

software and then save your chat after

making this discovery elon decided to

create his first piece of gaming

software called blaster a game somewhat

similar to the popular game space

invaders this game was then sold to the

magazine for a price of five hundred

dollars i i taught myself how to program

computers when i was a kid um and uh um

bought my first computer when i was 10

and sold my first commercial program

when i was 12. not exactly a bad start

for any 12 year old looking to pursue

programming pathways

so it's safe to say that from the very

beginning elon musk was somewhat born to

pursue difficult technical endeavors

with the overall goal of as cliche as it

sounds advancing humanity which would

really show its true colours as elon

musk finished high school preparing for

the next stage of his life at the age of

17 elon musk moved from his hometown of

pretoria south africa to north america

to attend pennsylvania university

eventually graduating with dual bachelor

degrees in economics and physics at the

age of 26. now finishing university with

a dual degree in economics and physics

is somewhat of an incredible achievement

but there was another issue here he

wasn't in the place that he wanted to be

sure philadelphia was cool and all but

elon had his mind set on somewhere else

a location where he thought he would

really thrive i thought okay i really

want to work on new technology so i want

to get to silicon valley

you know which

when i was growing up silicon valley

seemed like some sort of mythical place

silicon valley the place where it was

all happening the holy promised land for

any entrepreneur looking to take a deep

dive into the world of tech in 1995 elon

musk made the move to silicon valley to

begin working on energy storage

technologies for electric cars the

reason i came out to stamford was

actually to work on

energy storage technologies for electric

cars this is somewhat of an

insignificant fact now but will be

extremely important for later parts of

the video after moving to silicon valley

with a car computer and two thousand

dollars elon thought his best path would

be to apply for traditional tech

employment but there was an issue with

that mainly owing to his location

silicon valley was full of thousands of

tech guys all of which competing for a

small amount of jobs at first i tried to

get a job at netscape because that was

the only internet company

and they didn't respond to me so then i

was like okay um if i can't get a job at

the only internet company then i better

try starting something and that was that

elon musk went with the old if you can't

get a job create your own job he was

metaphorically thrown in the deep end

but often the deep end is the best area

to learn how to swim

[Music]

what are the things that are most likely

to affect the future of humanity just in

you know at a

macro level and

it just seemed like it would be like the

internet and sustainable energy

uh making like multi-planetary um and

then genetics and ai after elon's

arrival in silicon valley elon musk

began to critically think about the

areas in tech that would likely affect

the future of humanity and while

genetics ai and making life

multi-planetary were probably out of

elon musk's 24 year old hands one area

of tech that he thought he might be able

to make an impact on was an area that at

the time was barely even an aerial

attack it wasn't monetizable and it was

far from being a big industry but would

later become one of the most important

pieces of daily human life we're of

course talking about the internet after

having experience writing and selling

gaming software as a teenager elon had

the general knowledge required to begin

writing internet software elon musk

began writing software with a goal of

quote making useful things happen on the

internet trying to make useful things

happen on the internet possibly hinting

that he had no real idea of what he was

trying to create in the beginning

however this would change when elon musk

would create his first piece of saleable

internet software described as a

software allowing media companies to

convert their paper and print content

into digital content so we thought well

that the media industry

would need

help converting its content from from a

print media to

electronic and they clearly had money

this software was the basis for elon

musk's first company zip2 which was

created with his brother kimball now

starting a tech company would be

exciting for any 24 year old however as

stated by elon himself he would have no

idea how difficult the first company

would end up being there's a friend of

mine who's got a great saying about

creating a company

which is

creating trying to build a company and

have it succeed is like eating glass and

staring into the abyss having moved from

south africa and still having 100 000

worth of college debt elon musk was so

poor that he was unable to afford both a

home and an office for his company zip

too so what were his options here he

couldn't rent both at the same time it

was either an office or an apartment and

since offices were cheaper than homes he

rented an office space and simply slept

on the couch while showing at a local

gym i didn't have any money in fact i

had negative money

i had huge student debts so um

in fact i couldn't afford a place to

stay and an office so uh i rented an

office instead because that was i was

actually i got a cheaper office then i

could get a get a place to stay and then

i just sort of slept on a few times this

whole scenario might be what elon musk

later described as the reality kicking

in after starting a company i mean what

tends to happen is it's sort of quite

exciting for the first several months of

starting a company and then then reality

sets in things don't go as well as

planned customers aren't signing up the

technology or the product isn't working

as well as you thought so for anyone who

thinks that elon might have had somewhat

of a head start or smooth sailing in the

beginning it seems as though the reality

was almost the opposite after starting

this first company elon alongside his

brother a friend of his mums and three

salespeople paid on contingency began to

market the product of various news

outlets achieving small flashes of

success here and there we started

getting some interest i mean half the

time be like what's the internet

even in silicon valley

but then occasionally somebody would

bite and they would get a little bit of

money from them the company then grew

and struck deals with bigger clients

such as the new york times as the income

grew so did the overall value of the

company and after four years of running

the company elon and his brother kimball

would finally reach that golden point

that most tech startups could only dream

of in the beginning the acquisition of

the business from a bigger company in

february 1999 3.5 years after the

beginning of development tech company

compact acquired zip2 for a price of 305

million dollars of that 305 million 22

million went to elon and 15 million went

to his brother kimball so what did this

mean for the subject of our story well

elon had gone from a broke dude living

on a couch in his company office to a

multi-millionaire overnight and elon's

new status of multi-millionaire meant

spending a portion of the money on some

new toys

how are you speaking

it's seven o'clock in the morning and

elon musk anxiously waits for his golden

payoff his prize for paying his dues in

the valley

i expect to receive

a car that i've just bought which is

called mclaren f1 it's a million dollars

for a car

it's

it's a it's decadent approximately eight

months after receiving 22 million for

the sale of zip2 elon musk made his

first television appearance in a cnn

segment talking about the lavish life of

millionaires in silicon valley now this

was the first time that the world got an

opportunity to see the younger slightly

cocky at elon musk displaying his new 1

million mclaren f1 as well as explaining

how he made his millions at such a young

age back in 95

there weren't very many people on the

internet

and certainly nobody was making any

money at all

most people thought the internet was

gonna be a fad now as a side note about

one year after showing his mclaren on

the cnn segment elon actually crashed it

on the way to a meeting after fellow

billionaire peter thiel asked elon what

can this car do i didn't really know how

to drive the mclaren and peter says so

so what can this do

[Laughter]

and then like

i'm probably number one on the list of

famous last words i said watch this

elon being the insane businessman that

he is then hilariously hitchhiked from

the one million dollar crash site to his

meeting ensuring that no investor

relations were soured following a late

arrival once once the car was uh taken

care of then i i used to ride too

um and so we we continued the meeting

but all is well that ends well because

in 2007 the car was repaired and unsold

at a profit unsurprising considering the

car would be worth around 20 million

dollars today but we're getting a bit

ahead of ourselves by talking about

elon's car crash in 2000. let's cast our

mind back to the 1999 documentary once

again and we'll go from there now there

were two other things in this cnn

segment that were extremely iconic and

worth documenting when talking about

elon's long-term story firstly it was

mainly a display of how far elon musk

had come in only three short years

just three years ago i was showering in

the at the y and sleeping on the office

floor and

now

obviously i've got a million dollar car

and quite a few creature comforts but

perhaps the most important and overly

significant section was elon stating

that rather than buying materialistic

items such as his 1 million car he was

more interested in building and creating

a new company i could go and buy one of

the islands in the bahamas

and turn it into my you know personal

fiefdom i'm much more interested in

trying to uh build and create a new

company a new company that perhaps

unbeknownst to elon would be just around

the corner so this is an atm what we're

going to do is transform the traditional

banking industry

to transform the traditional banking

industry elon's new goal somewhat of an

ambitious goal considering the size of

the banking industry but after selling

zip to for 300 million i'd say that his

confidence was running sky-high and he

was ready for a new challenge after

selling zip to i want to do something

more on the internet and it seemed to me

that there hadn't been all that much

innovation in the financial sector in

march 1999 only one month after selling

zip2 elon musk founded x.com using 10

million of the 22 million received from

the sale of his previous company this

website x.com was a website that would

later become known as the now incredibly

popular paypal but in the beginning it

was simply an unknown website called

x.com accompanied by a bunch of funding

and a dream the basic goal of x.com was

for customers to be able to email money

to each other rather than having to deal

with everything in cash and then we had

a little feature which took us about a

day

that was the ability to email money from

one customer to another a feature that

was relatively unknown at the time but

perhaps the moral or most significant

element of elon's second company was

highlighting the fact that the second

business is always easier than the first

elon had acquired an array of business

experience following zip2 ultimately

leading to smoother sailing the second

time around he had more money so no more

sleeping on the office couch he knew how

to lead a team of employees so there was

less time wasted on time wages but

perhaps most significantly elon had

figured out a new method of growing

paypal faster than he would have ever

thought possible one customer would

essentially act as

a

salesperson for you for all for bringing

in other customers the general setup of

paypal meant that when a user would send

money to their friend that friend would

have to sign up for paypal and

automatically be recruited into the

system so what did this mean it meant

that the more people using paypal the

faster it would grow an excellent

exponential growth strategy and it's

safe to say that this strategy caused

paypal to absolutely explode we launched

after year one and by the end of year

two we had a million customers

so it gives you an exam you know it

gives you a sense of how fast things

things grow

but like all things in life it wasn't

all sunshine and rainbows as in october

2000 just one and a half years after

creating the company elon musk was fired

as ceo from paypal his own company he

went on an investment

raising trip and when he got back

what happened

well

yeah so

elon explained that despite marrying his

first wife justine 10 months previously

in january 2000 he still hadn't gone on

the honeymoon so he decided to leave

silicon valley and go away for two weeks

gotten married earlier that year and not

had any vacation or honeymoon or

anything so it's kind of a combined

financing trip with slash honeymoon yeah

the problem with this it was at a time

when paypal had multiple major problems

underway causing many key individuals

higher levels of stress while elon was

on his holiday he returned to find that

his position as ceo had been replaced by

another key individual in the company

there was just a lot of worry

and that that caused the uh the

management team to decide that i wasn't

the right guy to run the company not

exactly the best scenario for elon musk

however things always seem to work

themselves out in the long run for elon

musk because in 2002 ebay purchased

paypal for 1.5 billion dollars with elon

receiving 165 million from the purchase

this whole situation led elon to patch

things up with the former team that

fired him as ceo and good relations with

former business partners was exactly

what he needed as his next endeavor

beginning in 2003 would be so ambitious

that he would need every shroud of good

fortune that he could manage

i think global warming is a very serious

issue and and it's something that that

we have to address and the only way to

address that is is to come up with a car

that doesn't add carbon emissions to

to the environment and i think the way

to do that is with electric vehicles

2003 a year where elon musk would get

involved in the company that he believed

would change the course of humanity a

company dedicated to the environment

dedicated to the best customer

experience dedicated to success but most

certainly a company that would have to

take a stopover in hell in order to get

there we're of course talking about the

now incredibly popular tesla motors now

a common misconception about tesla is

that elon musk actually started it this

isn't true the company was started by

two lesser-known engineers who simply

had a vision for transport using energy

that was better for the environment in

2003 we decided to start a new company

and we wanted something though this time

that actually had a little bit more of a

real mission now let's cast our mind

back a little bit here do you remember

when we mentioned towards the start that

elon actually moved to silicon valley in

the first place to work on energy

storage technologies for electric cars

the reason i came out to stanford was

actually to work on

energy storage technologies for electric

cars well after first moving to silicon

valley elon thought working on an

internet company was a better

opportunity because of the timing in

1995. i i thought well i can either work

on electric vehicle technology and do my

phd at stanford um

and watch the internet get built or i

could put my studies on hold and try to

be part of the internet but by 2003 the

internet was significantly more

mainstream and perhaps elon wanted to

come back to his dream of building

electric cars if the big car companies

are not going to create electric cars by

themselves then

it's necessary to create a startup

to do electric cars for this reason elon

decided to provide tesla with 6.5

million dollars worth of funding in

february 2004 approximately eight months

after the company was created ultimately

resulting in elon musk being appointed

as the chairman of the company between

2004 and 2008 elon musk and the team at

tesla relentlessly worked on producing

their first car the tesla roadster which

was unveiled in 2006 two years after

elon musk began involvement in the

company hello everyone this is sebastian

blanco i'm here for autoblog green and

netscape.com we're at the unveiling of

the tesla roadster the car was then

released to the market in 2008

incredibly exciting for the company

however elon musk would have never been

able to predict how difficult of a year

2008 would end up being for him

for 2008 is not a good time to be a car

company especially a startup car company

and especially an electric car company

that was like stupidity squared the

global financial crisis an economic

downturn that would end up challenging

even the most sophisticated in the

business world and economic downturns

generally challenge car companies more

than any other company as when people

don't have much money buying a 100 000

electric car isn't usually at the top of

a financial budget for this reason just

before christmas of 2008 tesla was about

two or three days away from bankruptcy

in fact in at the end of 2008 we were

only a few days from bankruptcy

it was literally two days or three days

maybe tesla alongside another company

created by elon called spacex which will

be discussed later were both given a

success probability of about 10

each i gave basically both spacex and

tesla from the beginning

a probability of less than ten percent

of likely likely to succeed with elon

musk saying that he wouldn't even let

his friends invest in the company as he

didn't want to lose their money then on

top of all this 2008 would be the same

year when elon musk's first marriage

would come to an end justine musk elon

musk's first wife explained that she

felt as though she had become nothing

besides trophy wife also claiming that

elon would constantly put her down for

not doing as well as he did possibly a

problem stemming from their equal social

status in university but huge

differentiation 10 years later following

the divorce with justine elon musk then

proposed a british actor tallulah riley

after dating for only 10 days elon

proposed really

quickly the idea of being swept off your

feet is appealing and

um i'd probably have said yes to anyone

that seemed half sensible if they

proposed just 10 days just because it's

kind of an interesting thing to do

however by 2013 this relationship had

also resulted in divorce but things

weren't all that bad on the relationship

front elon appeared to be having serious

problems but by 2013 the business side

of things was absolutely booming with

the global financial crisis somewhat of

a distant memory in tesla stock

increasing by 450 between the start and

end of 2013 things were looking up so

much so that the struggles of tesla were

put on the back burner while one of

evon's more ambitious goals began to

become more of a priority what i really

want to try to

achieve here is to make mars seem

possible uh make it seem as though

it's something that we can do in our

lifetimes in september 2016 elon musk

announced that getting humans to mars

was officially one of his main goals

well in the case of spacex

i just kept wondering why we were not

making progress towards

sending people to mars remember we

previously mentioned that elon had a

company by the name of spacex well

spacex was founded in 2002 after elon

realized how expensive it was to

purchase space travel rockets in an open

market saying that he could make them

for about three percent of the price the

fundamental

issue is actually the cost of access to

space

rockets were super expensive and the

cost

cost per pound a kilogram to orbit had

actually gone up over the years not down

the goal of the company was to make

cheap rockets and sell them to both

private purchases as well as the

government now while the business side

of the company was kind of cool the

ultimate goal for elon ever since 2001

was way cooler colonizing mars which

even has a set date 2024. after landing

humans on mars in 2024 elon's next goal

is to cut the cost of a mars trip to the

same price as the average u.s house

price around hundred thousand dollars

hopefully enticing people to move to

mars permanently uh which is around two

hundred thousand dollars

then i think the probability of

establishing a self-esteem civilization

is very high elon has since passively

hinted that getting people to mars is

currently his number one priority

ultimately displaying his commitment to

making life multi-planetary doraleous

does it really make sense for me to

spend time

designing and building a house or should

i be allocating that time to getting us

to mars i should probably do the latter

so

you know like what's more important mars

or a house i like mars okay

[Music]

is coming from a wealthy well-brought up

background a requirement to make a

change in the world do you have to

conform to the rules of society to be a

good human being are there limitations

for where your imagination can take your

reality elon musk doesn't seem to think

so he set the example just because he

might come from an abusive household in

pretoria south africa doesn't mean you

can't restructure the reality that

you're living from a nobody to a

programmer to an engineer to a man whose

sole mission has become ensuring the

future of human existence and perhaps if

you're watching this video in the far

future maybe you're watching this video

on autopilot in your electric car or

we've already been to mars and you're

using some kind of futuristic piece of

technology that none of us can even

conceptualize at the moment and if

that's the case i want you to remember

that all of it started with one

individual an individual who just wanted

to make the world a better place an

individual who upon birth wasn't much

different to you or i an individual who

put humanity before himself elon musk

[Music]

you