Elon Musk, Chairman, co-founder & CEO of Tesla Motors, CEO of SpaceX, also co-founder of PayPal & OpenAI. Needless to say, he's an ambitious entrepreneur. In fact, he was just named tech's most admired executive, stealing 23% of the popular vote. Although most well known for his work at Tesla, the South African seems to be everywhere at once. Even I wonder how he manages to allocate his time between his multiple entities. This may in fact be why he catches so much heat. The recent M&A of SolarCity & Tesla was referred to by investors as a bailout for the struggling SolarCity, another one of Musk's companies. The shareholders approved this deal by unanimous decision a couple of weeks ago. In fact, Musk abstained from placing a vote himself. Several sources predicted that this transaction is a plethora of lawsuits in the making. That is because SolarCity's debt, when integrated into Tesla's balance sheet, will heavily dilute their already worrisome earnings report(s). Hence, more risk for shareholders and affiliates. Although I can see why the deal was considered a possible bankruptcy bailout, it's evident that Musk in his 2006 blog post, "Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan (just between you and me)", planned to execute this deal in 2016 anyways. It was a component of his plan to turn Tesla into a renewable energy company, not just an electric car organization. All I have to say is that his charismatic leadership has earned my trust. I believe Tesla will become huge some day. And if it doesn't, Musk even says, if nothing else, we're committed to failing in a new way.
But Musk isn't just concerned with energy itself, he wants to colonize Mars and build a city there for hundreds of thousands of people, "to save humanity". He claims this will happen within the next decade. Musk insists he isn't a doomsday prepper, but he claims that it's better to be prepared. This vision is associated with his plans for SpaceX, his company that created the world's first reusable rockets. These rockets can get us there in just about three months! Personally, I think this is extraordinary and surreal. Celebrities like Justin Bieber have already booked their trip to Mars with SpaceX, costing just about two hundred thousand dollars. Another project Musk envisions through SpaceX is the Hyperloop. This is an ultra-high speed transportation system that could move us from location to location almost 50% faster than the average 747. Imagine getting to Chicago from Minneapolis in about 30 minutes. This could be used for cargo as well, which could dramatically improve productivity everywhere. With our economy growing at just over 2% year-over-year, it's ideas like these which could give us that boost. In one of Musk's recent tweets he said, "Traffic is driving me nuts. Am going to build a tunnel boring machine and just start digging...", following up with, "I am actually going to do this". He claims it will be called, "The Boring Company". Both amused and intrigued, I am not doubting him for a second.
After following Musk and his companies for several months, I have become inspired to start something myself, very soon. Even if you're not an entrepreneurial spirit like myself, I encourage you to check in on his plans every once in a while. His visions could very well change the way you're living your life in coming years, and maybe even inspire you!
-AE
