Tesla’s founder Elon Musk has overtaken Amazon’s chief Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest individual. Musk now has a fortune worth $188.5bn at the last count. “How strange,” Musk tweeted wryly when the news broke. “Well, back to work…” There are still plenty of people on Wall Street who maintain that his electric-car company, whose stock has risen sevenfold since the start of 2020, is blowing bubbles more than creating value. But this has been an extraordinary 12 months for Musk – even by his own out-of-the-box standards. In line with Tesla’s surging shares, the South African-born entrepreneur, 49, has seen his personal worth soar by more than $150bn “in what is believed to be the quickest accumulation of wealth in history”, says The Times.
But Musk, who attributes his success to pursuing goals that seem “completely delusional”, has also achieved huge breakthroughs. In May his rocket venture, SpaceX, made history by becoming the first private company to launch astronauts into space. In August he demonstrated a new interest in bionics by wheeling out a pig with a coin-sized chip in her head. And while all this was going on, Musk and his girlfriend, the Canadian musician Grimes, staged a memorable assault on nomenclature norms by naming their newborn son “X Æ A-12”.
It’s all a far cry from the “darkest days” of 2017 when Tesla was under siege from bears and short-sellers, and Musk was mired in scandal, says Bloomberg. Castigated for misleading markets about Tesla’s financial prospects, he caused outrage with his provocative tweets and public dope smoking, and became the target of global opprobrium when he called a British caver who had helped rescue 12 Thai boys trapped in a cave a “pedo”. At around that time, Musk “reached out” to Apple’s boss, Tim Cook, to explore a sale of Tesla. Cook refused to take his call.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Born in Bloemfontein, the son of an electromechanical engineer and a dietician and model, Musk’s parents divorced when he was nine, says Business Insider. His school days weren’t easy either: “he was once hospitalised after being beaten by bullies”. Musk took refuge in books (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was a particular favourite) and computer “hacking”. At 12, the nascent entrepreneur made his first killing, selling a simple game to a computer magazine for $500. Moving to Canada with his mother and siblings, Musk took degrees in physics and economics and won a place at Stanford to study for a PhD. He quit to “test his luck in the dotcom boom”.
Elon Musk's first ventures
His first venture, Zip2 – a city travel guide – made Musk $22m when he sold it Compaq for $341m. He used around half of that to start an online banking company, X.com, in 1999, merging it a year later with a financial start-up cofounded by Peter Thiel to form PayPal – his first blockbuster company. Musk netted $165m when eBay later bought the outfit for $1.5bn. Musk has always divided critics – whether transforming the financial payments industry or plotting a future life on Mars, where he says he’d like to die, he makes “his investors nervous and his fan boys thrilled”, says The New York Times. His friends think that’s all part of the ride. They describe Musk’s internal narrative as going something like this: “I’m going to take over the world. That’s going to be a super-crazy process. And therefore, if the roller-coaster ride isn’t incredibly scary, I’m doing something wrong”.
-
Rightmove: UK asking prices drop as market adjusts to higher stamp duty costsSellers are coming to market with lower asking prices to attract buyers amid a glut of supply
-
8 of the best houses for sale with outdoor swimming poolsThe best houses for sale with outdoor swimming pools – from a family house in Wimbledon Village, London, to a 1640s mansion in Derbyshire with a heated swimming pool in the grounds
-
Mohammed bin Salman: The new face of Saudi ArabiaUnder the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, the kingdom has pursued ambitious reforms to transform itself into a thriving 21st-century economy
-
Can Pope Leo plug a worrying black hole in the Vatican’s finances?Pope Leo, the new head of the Catholic Church, takes responsibility not just for 1.4 billion souls, but also for a complex multinational business in deep financial trouble.
-
Doug and Mary Perkins: Specsavers’ clear-sighted foundersHelped by the deregulation of the sector in the 1980s and brilliant advertising, Mary Perkins and her husband Doug have taken Specsavers to the top of the optometry market
-
Greg Abel: Warren Buffett’s heir takes the throneGreg Abel is considered a safe pair of hands as he takes centre stage at Berkshire Hathaway. But he arrives after one of the hardest acts to follow in investment history, Warren Buffett. Can he thrive?
-
Who will be the next Warren Buffett?Opinion There won’t be another Warren Buffett. Times have changed, and the opportunities are no longer there, says Matthew Lynn.
-
Lorne Michaels: the ringmaster at Saturday Night LiveLorne Michaels created Saturday Night Live, a cultural phenomenon that launched the careers of countless stars in America.
-
Elliot Grainge: the music mogul of the TikTok age who will now helm Atlantic RecordsElliot Grainge, the entrepreneur behind the upstart music producer 10K Projects, has taken over the top job at Atlantic Records, the label synonymous with musical greats. Can he transform its prospects?
-
Ben Cohen: The Ben & Jerry’s co-founder who wants to break away from UnileverBen Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is seeking to break away from Unilever, the conglomerate he sold out to in 2000. It’s a battle for the soul of the brand synonymous with corporate do-gooding.
