Risk and Innovation:

The Life of Elon Musk

By: Aaron Goodwin





n June 12th of this year, Tesla
Motors did something entirely
unprecedented in modern
industry: they opened their patents for
electric cars and charging stations to the
public for free use
1
. That kind of move is
typical of Teslas leader, Elon Musk.
Not only is he the man behind the
foremost electric car company, but he is
also behind a booming solar company
2
,
and the most successful commercial
space enterprise in history
3
. Elon Musk
is not only fascinating, but as a leader
within industries vital to Americas
future, he is also one of the most
important innovators of our day.

Often compared to Tony Stark,
he doesnt have the background of your
typical playboy billionaire. Born in
South Africa to a British engineer father
and Canadian fashion model mother,
Elon was unpopular and bullied
throughout his youth
3
. Deeply curious,
Elon latched onto the burgeoning world
of computers. He showed an early
panache for entrepreneurialism, selling
his first software at age twelve for $500
3
.
Sadly, in 80s South Africa,
programming was an esoteric interest
that did not buy much social currency.
Elons sister recalls how tough it was.
In South Africa, if you're getting
bullied, you still have to go to school.
You just have to get up in the morning
and go. He hated it so much.
3

Being a marginalized but
brilliant-minded youth, soured Musk to
South Africa and turned him to the idea
of becoming an American
3
. The
obsessive and entrepreneurial
personality that was then a liability
would gel quite well with the American
dream. At seventeen, Elon temporarily
immigrated to Canada, and then settled
in the U.S.
4
. Musk received a Bachelors
Degree in both Economics and Physics
4
.
Unable to resist the draw of Silicone
Valley, he dropped out of a Stanford
graduate program to pursue his
aspirations as an
entrepreneur
4
.

Next, Elon
built PayPal a
wildly popular online
payment system, which he sold to EBay.
Musk then turned his visions to the stars
with a lofty goal: put a man on Mars
within fifteen years
5
. Along the way, he
built a viable commercial space
program, engineered new rockets, and
proposed a transportation system that
could carry passengers from L.A. to San
Francisco in less than thirty minutes
5
.

As if revolutionizing the space
industry and public transportation were
not enough, Musk also started a motor
company to make electric-powered
vehicles. Tesla Motors have rejuvenated
public interest in electric vehicles and
Musks one-third stake in the company
is now worth just over $1 billion
6
. Now,
Musk is willing to sacrifice all that
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money for the sake of progress. As Musk
explained, we felt concern that the
big car companies would copy our
technology[.] We couldnt have been
more wrong.
1
And so, a company that
amassed billions of dollars for Musk will
now let anyone use their patents. These
kinds of risky moves, like leaving your
homeland for a distant country, or
forfeiting a promising education, may
explain what makes Musk such an
unparalleled and successful innovator.




5
Chang, Jon. "Hyperloop Designed for a Quick, Convenient Commute Like No Other."
ABC News. ABC News Network, 12 Aug. 2013. Web. 24 June 2014.
<http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/hyperloop-designed-quick-convenient-
commute/story?id=19936169>.
4
Friedman, Josh. "Entrepreneur Tries His Midas Touch in Space." Los Angeles Times 22
Apr. 2003: n. pag. latimes.com. Web. 24 June 2014.
3
Junod, Tom. "Triumph of His Will." Esquire 15 Nov. 2012: n. pag. Elon Musk SpaceX
Interview. Web. 23 June 2014.
6
Melby, Caleb. "How Elon Musk Became A Billionaire Twice Over." Forbes 12 Mar.
2012: n. pag. Forbes.com. Web. 24 June 2014.
1
Musk, Elon. "Blog." All Our Patent Are Belong To You. Tesla Motors, 12 June 2014.
Web. 15 June 2014. <http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/all-our-patent-are-belong-
you>.
2
Oremus, Will. "Something New Under the Sun: Can Elon Musks cousin do for solar
power what Tesla has done for electric cars?." Slate 4 Nov. 2013: n. pag.
SolarCitys Lyndon Rive: Elon Musks cousin making solar panels hot again..
Web. 23 June 2014.