Ilon Musk - "iron man" in the real world
Ilon Musk is one of the most outstanding and energetic people of our time who change the world. He is the co-founder of PayPal, the founder of SpaceX, Tesla Motors and the co-founder of SolarCity. He independently learned how to design space rockets and ships. He is compared with such geniuses as Werner von Braun, Howard Hughes, Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs. And it is not without reason that he became the prototype of the hero Robert Downey in the fantastic movie “Iron Man”. Billionaire engineer Musk has developed a lot of revolutionary technologies and is not going to stop.
Ilon Mask: "I want to be part of what changes the world"
')
A future genius was born in 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa, in the family of a local engineer and a former Canadian model. When Ilona was 9 years old, his parents divorced. The boy lived mostly with his father.
He loved books since childhood and read a lot. The legendary trilogy of John Tolkien's “The Lord of the Rings” and the fantastic satire of Douglas Adams “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” played a special role in the development of the character of the young Mask.
Quote Mask:
Musk began programming from school age
Mask trained on their own. From the age of 10 he started programming and at the age of 12 he sold the first game Blastar he created for $ 500. At the age of 17 (1988), with the support of his mother, the young man went to Montreal (Canada), where he was engaged in various jobs, balancing on the verge of poverty. In 1990, he entered the Royal University of Ontario, where he studied for 2 years. There he met his future wife and mother of five children. Then he continued his studies in Pennsylvania, where he received a diploma in economics and physics. At 24, Musk went to Stanford, California. But in the class really did not appear, the place of science was taken by entrepreneurship. At the start of his career, he successfully chose three progressive industries to conquer: the Internet, clean energy and space.
Mask began to rapidly conquer the Internet when he was 23 years old. The global network was just beginning its formation and was one of the most promising areas for business. In 1995, together with Brother Kimball, they created a program for supporting websites and publishing media content - Zip2. The brothers used a rented apartment in Palo Alto as an “office”.
In 1999, the Zip2 program was acquired by Compaq for $ 307 million. Musk made a profit of 7% of the sale amount ($ 22 million). This money went to new projects.
Peter Thiel and Ilon Musk
Musk began to master electronic payments. He became one of the founders of the X.com startup (e-mail payment systems).
In 2000, X.com merged with the company of Max Levchin, Peter Thiel - Confinity. One of the branches of this company was PayPal. Both systems (X.com and PayPal) were engaged in providing personal electronic money transfers via email.
But disagreements arose in joint work, which led to the fact that Musk left the post of general director of the company. Thanks to the well-done and competent marketing strategy of the company, PayPal’s audience has rapidly increased. And in 2002, eBay bought the PayPal online auction for $ 1.5 billion. As the largest shareholder, Musk received his share of the sale.
In 2003, Musk became one of the founders of Tesla Motors. The company's activity is the production of electricity-powered machines. The mask is very interested in the idea of ​​creating an electric sports car. Together with Jeffrey Strobel, they decided, together with the other founders, to create Tesla Motors. Musk provided the lion's share of funding, and also acted as chairman and head of the design department when developing the Tesla Roadster sports car, and later the Model S. The development of the transmission remained on Strobel. The Roadster was officially launched on July 19, 2006 in Santa Monica, California. The prototype Model S was first shown in 2009 at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
Tesla Motors
Musk remained chairman of the board of directors and did not assume operational management of the company. But the financial crisis in 2008 contributed to the fact that he became the CEO and chief designer of the company.
After the company survived the crisis, things went smoothly. The German concern Daimler invested about $ 50 million in Tesla. The state also provided financial assistance (for which it was criticized by society, because the benchmark of Tesla Motors products was directed solely to wealthy buyers).
The most successful model of the company was the Model S luxury sedan with a battery charge of 426 km, bright design and good speed characteristics (acceleration to 96 km / h in 3.9 s). In the first quarter of 2013, 4,750 Tesla Model S models were sold in the United States. This model even won the Motor Trend 2013 Car of the Year award.
October 6, 2014 Tesla introduced a new car - Model S P85D. His main difference from its predecessor was the presence of all-wheel drive. Model S accelerates to 100 km / h in just 3.2 seconds.
The near future: the project of a block of houses with solar roofs
Along the way, with Tesla Motors, Musk took on the startup of his first cousins ​​Lyndon and Peter Rive - SolarCity, where he invested about $ 10 million.
The company SolarCity was engaged in the installation of modular private solar power plants with a capacity of several kilowatts. This solution was ideal for small organizations and homes. SolarCity was engaged in long-term leasing, that is, it did not sell, but leased products for up to 20 years. Buyers paid exclusively for the energy that the station produced. The deals were financed by third-party lenders who received tax breaks for supporting the green economy.
The concept of SolarCity was economical, environmentally friendly and fully consistent with the principles of Mask. The company also built batteries for Tesla Motors electric car charging stations.
Musk is still the main shareholder of the company, whose capital is approaching $ 3 billion. SolarCity is one of the largest suppliers of solar energy systems in the United States.
Musk shared his revolutionary ideas in The Simpsons
The mask has always attracted space. As a child, he dreamed of how to create a space rocket and fly to Mars. They were captured by an ambitious idea - to create a platform for multiple human travels to other planets. Starting, naturally, with the cherished Mars.
In 2002, a businessman founded the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation - SpaceX. The company, which was engaged in private development of a series of launch vehicles, has become a commercial operator of space systems. In this project, Musk invested a fortune and became the chief engineer of the company himself.
Chief engineer on the background of the spacecraft Dragon
Here is what Musk says about SpaceX:
The first serious development of SpaceX was the Falcon 1 rocket project. It took about four years to build, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment. As a result, a rocket was created, and with it, three types of liquid engines - Merlin, Kestrel and Draco.
In 2008, SpaceX developed an interest in NASA. This government space agency has signed a contract with Mask for $ 1.6 billion for 12 launches of Falcon and the Dragon spacecraft.
The first three launches of Falcon 1 in the period from 2006 to 2008 were not crowned with success. But from the fourth attempt the rocket launched, and from the fifth - successfully put the cargo into orbit and completed its flight. As Mask later put it, the future of SpaceX depended on the outcome of the launch of the rocket.
Falcon 9 was used to launch the Dragon private cargo spacecraft as part of the International Space Station supply program. The ship in the future had to accommodate crews of seven astronauts.
On the tests of the Falcon 9 rocket, 2010
In 2015, another successful launch of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle took place - the satellite successfully reached orbit. But it was not possible to carefully plant the first stage, it landed too hard on a special platform and some of the equipment was seriously damaged.
Max remembered his dream of flying to Mars. And in 2012, the head of SpaceX announced plans to explore and colonize the Red Planet. He intended first to land on the surface of Mars a small number of people (10-15 people) and a large volume of payload (up to 100 tons). Later, according to his calculations, the colony could be expanded to 80 thousand people. According to the entrepreneur, the study of Mars would allow to set the price for transport flights to the planet at the level of $ 500 thousand. Of course, Musk admitted that at first interplanetary flights will not be carried out very often due to their high cost. But over time, the situation must change. To this end, SpaceX began to develop the Mars Colonial Transporter (MCT) project, a system that did not exist before. Led by Mask, SpaceX engineers are working on innovative rocket engines and spacecraft to transport people from Earth to Mars. The MCT presentation is scheduled for the end of 2015. Simultaneously with the system, Musk is going to present a new spacesuit from Space. The general director of the company promises that the “costume” will be not only functional, but also very modern in design.
According to the billionaire, the possibility of life on other planets serves as a defense against the threat of extinction of man, as a species.
According to Mask, in 10-20 years, fantasy may well become a reality. “I would like to die on Mars. But just not breaking on the surface of the planet "- the billionaire jokes
In 2012, Musk announced another project - the high-speed vacuum train Hyperloop (Hyperloop). He presented his idea as the fifth mode of transport, the fastest and cheapest.
Hyperloop was conceived as an overhead pipeline located on supports, inside of which single transport capsules move at a speed of 480 to 1,220 km / h with an interval of 30 seconds in one direction. Two options were assumed: a passenger with an internal diameter of 2.23 m, a capsule section of 1.35 mx 1.1 m, which can accommodate 2 rows of seats with 14 seats each; passenger and cargo with an internal pipe diameter of 3.3 m.
Hyperloop project
The capsule had to move with the help of a linear electric motor. To this end, it was envisaged to obtain energy using solar panels. They must generate 57 MW with the system need only 21 MW. Musk promises passengers an unprecedented level of security. In case of emergencies in the nose of the capsule behind the fan there was an electric compressor, which was supposed to accumulate compressed air on board during depressurization. Also in the stern placed 1.5 tons of batteries, which will last for 45 minutes. This time is enough to get to the nearest station during a power outage.
In January 2015, Musk announced his intention to build a special track for testing Hyperloop. According to preliminary information, the project will be implemented in Texas.
Mask is actively interested in the development of artificial intelligence. As a person who grew up on sci-fi literature, he fears the repetition of fantastic plots with the uprising of machines and the like.
In 2014, the billionaire invested $ 40 million in the company Vicarious FPC, which develops artificial intelligence. The founders of the project plan to copy the areas of the cerebral cortex that are responsible for sensory perception, thinking, motor skills, speech - and convert everything into program code.
Mask has sent $ 10 million to the institute, engaged in research in the field of security of the human future. He also composed a letter for scientists in which he described in detail what they had to do, how to manage the money received and what goals they were facing. Musk is trying to keep his finger on the pulse.
By the way, the comparison of Ilona Mask with the "iron man" Tony Stark is really remarkable. In addition to thirst for revolutionary inventions, these two heroes have much in common and in characteristics. Both American billionaire engineers who followed in the footsteps of their fathers. The mask, like Stark, is interested in research in the field of engineering, new technologies, and space. Even their height and physique are the same ...
Ilon Mask: "I want to be part of what changes the world"
')
A future genius was born in 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa, in the family of a local engineer and a former Canadian model. When Ilona was 9 years old, his parents divorced. The boy lived mostly with his father.
He loved books since childhood and read a lot. The legendary trilogy of John Tolkien's “The Lord of the Rings” and the fantastic satire of Douglas Adams “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” played a special role in the development of the character of the young Mask.
Quote Mask:
“The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” taught me that the most difficult thing on earth is to choose which particular question to ask. But if you made the right choice, then everything else will go easy.
Musk began programming from school age
Mask trained on their own. From the age of 10 he started programming and at the age of 12 he sold the first game Blastar he created for $ 500. At the age of 17 (1988), with the support of his mother, the young man went to Montreal (Canada), where he was engaged in various jobs, balancing on the verge of poverty. In 1990, he entered the Royal University of Ontario, where he studied for 2 years. There he met his future wife and mother of five children. Then he continued his studies in Pennsylvania, where he received a diploma in economics and physics. At 24, Musk went to Stanford, California. But in the class really did not appear, the place of science was taken by entrepreneurship. At the start of his career, he successfully chose three progressive industries to conquer: the Internet, clean energy and space.
Zip2, X.com and PayPal Projects
Mask began to rapidly conquer the Internet when he was 23 years old. The global network was just beginning its formation and was one of the most promising areas for business. In 1995, together with Brother Kimball, they created a program for supporting websites and publishing media content - Zip2. The brothers used a rented apartment in Palo Alto as an “office”.
In 1999, the Zip2 program was acquired by Compaq for $ 307 million. Musk made a profit of 7% of the sale amount ($ 22 million). This money went to new projects.
Peter Thiel and Ilon Musk
Musk began to master electronic payments. He became one of the founders of the X.com startup (e-mail payment systems).
In 2000, X.com merged with the company of Max Levchin, Peter Thiel - Confinity. One of the branches of this company was PayPal. Both systems (X.com and PayPal) were engaged in providing personal electronic money transfers via email.
But disagreements arose in joint work, which led to the fact that Musk left the post of general director of the company. Thanks to the well-done and competent marketing strategy of the company, PayPal’s audience has rapidly increased. And in 2002, eBay bought the PayPal online auction for $ 1.5 billion. As the largest shareholder, Musk received his share of the sale.
Tesla Motors Company
In 2003, Musk became one of the founders of Tesla Motors. The company's activity is the production of electricity-powered machines. The mask is very interested in the idea of ​​creating an electric sports car. Together with Jeffrey Strobel, they decided, together with the other founders, to create Tesla Motors. Musk provided the lion's share of funding, and also acted as chairman and head of the design department when developing the Tesla Roadster sports car, and later the Model S. The development of the transmission remained on Strobel. The Roadster was officially launched on July 19, 2006 in Santa Monica, California. The prototype Model S was first shown in 2009 at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
Tesla Motors
Musk remained chairman of the board of directors and did not assume operational management of the company. But the financial crisis in 2008 contributed to the fact that he became the CEO and chief designer of the company.
After the company survived the crisis, things went smoothly. The German concern Daimler invested about $ 50 million in Tesla. The state also provided financial assistance (for which it was criticized by society, because the benchmark of Tesla Motors products was directed solely to wealthy buyers).
The most successful model of the company was the Model S luxury sedan with a battery charge of 426 km, bright design and good speed characteristics (acceleration to 96 km / h in 3.9 s). In the first quarter of 2013, 4,750 Tesla Model S models were sold in the United States. This model even won the Motor Trend 2013 Car of the Year award.
October 6, 2014 Tesla introduced a new car - Model S P85D. His main difference from its predecessor was the presence of all-wheel drive. Model S accelerates to 100 km / h in just 3.2 seconds.
SolarCity Company
The near future: the project of a block of houses with solar roofs
Along the way, with Tesla Motors, Musk took on the startup of his first cousins ​​Lyndon and Peter Rive - SolarCity, where he invested about $ 10 million.
The company SolarCity was engaged in the installation of modular private solar power plants with a capacity of several kilowatts. This solution was ideal for small organizations and homes. SolarCity was engaged in long-term leasing, that is, it did not sell, but leased products for up to 20 years. Buyers paid exclusively for the energy that the station produced. The deals were financed by third-party lenders who received tax breaks for supporting the green economy.
The concept of SolarCity was economical, environmentally friendly and fully consistent with the principles of Mask. The company also built batteries for Tesla Motors electric car charging stations.
Musk is still the main shareholder of the company, whose capital is approaching $ 3 billion. SolarCity is one of the largest suppliers of solar energy systems in the United States.
Musk shared his revolutionary ideas in The Simpsons
SpaceX Space Project
The mask has always attracted space. As a child, he dreamed of how to create a space rocket and fly to Mars. They were captured by an ambitious idea - to create a platform for multiple human travels to other planets. Starting, naturally, with the cherished Mars.
In 2002, a businessman founded the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation - SpaceX. The company, which was engaged in private development of a series of launch vehicles, has become a commercial operator of space systems. In this project, Musk invested a fortune and became the chief engineer of the company himself.
Chief engineer on the background of the spacecraft Dragon
Here is what Musk says about SpaceX:
We strive for a great philosophical goal, although we are engaged in business. If we manage to build a company that will help a person to become an interplanetary view, this will be tantamount to finding the Holy Grail. But if we create something that can deliver humans and equipment to Mars, I will consider the SpaceX task completed. At least at the current stage.
The first serious development of SpaceX was the Falcon 1 rocket project. It took about four years to build, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment. As a result, a rocket was created, and with it, three types of liquid engines - Merlin, Kestrel and Draco.
In 2008, SpaceX developed an interest in NASA. This government space agency has signed a contract with Mask for $ 1.6 billion for 12 launches of Falcon and the Dragon spacecraft.
The first three launches of Falcon 1 in the period from 2006 to 2008 were not crowned with success. But from the fourth attempt the rocket launched, and from the fifth - successfully put the cargo into orbit and completed its flight. As Mask later put it, the future of SpaceX depended on the outcome of the launch of the rocket.
Falcon 9 was used to launch the Dragon private cargo spacecraft as part of the International Space Station supply program. The ship in the future had to accommodate crews of seven astronauts.
On the tests of the Falcon 9 rocket, 2010
In 2015, another successful launch of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle took place - the satellite successfully reached orbit. But it was not possible to carefully plant the first stage, it landed too hard on a special platform and some of the equipment was seriously damaged.
Max remembered his dream of flying to Mars. And in 2012, the head of SpaceX announced plans to explore and colonize the Red Planet. He intended first to land on the surface of Mars a small number of people (10-15 people) and a large volume of payload (up to 100 tons). Later, according to his calculations, the colony could be expanded to 80 thousand people. According to the entrepreneur, the study of Mars would allow to set the price for transport flights to the planet at the level of $ 500 thousand. Of course, Musk admitted that at first interplanetary flights will not be carried out very often due to their high cost. But over time, the situation must change. To this end, SpaceX began to develop the Mars Colonial Transporter (MCT) project, a system that did not exist before. Led by Mask, SpaceX engineers are working on innovative rocket engines and spacecraft to transport people from Earth to Mars. The MCT presentation is scheduled for the end of 2015. Simultaneously with the system, Musk is going to present a new spacesuit from Space. The general director of the company promises that the “costume” will be not only functional, but also very modern in design.
According to the billionaire, the possibility of life on other planets serves as a defense against the threat of extinction of man, as a species.
An asteroid or a super volcano is able to destroy us, we are faced with risks that dinosaurs never dreamed of: some kind of insane virus - the fruit of bioengineering, a randomly created micro black hole, catastrophic global warming or as yet unknown technology. All this can mean the end for us. Mankind has evolved over millions of years, but over the past sixty years, the atomic weapons created pose a threat to complete self-destruction. Sooner or later, we must extend life beyond our globe. Otherwise, we face extinction.
According to Mask, in 10-20 years, fantasy may well become a reality. “I would like to die on Mars. But just not breaking on the surface of the planet "- the billionaire jokes
Hyperloop - the transport of the future
In 2012, Musk announced another project - the high-speed vacuum train Hyperloop (Hyperloop). He presented his idea as the fifth mode of transport, the fastest and cheapest.
Hyperloop was conceived as an overhead pipeline located on supports, inside of which single transport capsules move at a speed of 480 to 1,220 km / h with an interval of 30 seconds in one direction. Two options were assumed: a passenger with an internal diameter of 2.23 m, a capsule section of 1.35 mx 1.1 m, which can accommodate 2 rows of seats with 14 seats each; passenger and cargo with an internal pipe diameter of 3.3 m.
Hyperloop project
The capsule had to move with the help of a linear electric motor. To this end, it was envisaged to obtain energy using solar panels. They must generate 57 MW with the system need only 21 MW. Musk promises passengers an unprecedented level of security. In case of emergencies in the nose of the capsule behind the fan there was an electric compressor, which was supposed to accumulate compressed air on board during depressurization. Also in the stern placed 1.5 tons of batteries, which will last for 45 minutes. This time is enough to get to the nearest station during a power outage.
In January 2015, Musk announced his intention to build a special track for testing Hyperloop. According to preliminary information, the project will be implemented in Texas.
Security Artificial Intelligence
Mask is actively interested in the development of artificial intelligence. As a person who grew up on sci-fi literature, he fears the repetition of fantastic plots with the uprising of machines and the like.
In 2014, the billionaire invested $ 40 million in the company Vicarious FPC, which develops artificial intelligence. The founders of the project plan to copy the areas of the cerebral cortex that are responsible for sensory perception, thinking, motor skills, speech - and convert everything into program code.
Mask has sent $ 10 million to the institute, engaged in research in the field of security of the human future. He also composed a letter for scientists in which he described in detail what they had to do, how to manage the money received and what goals they were facing. Musk is trying to keep his finger on the pulse.
By the way, the comparison of Ilona Mask with the "iron man" Tony Stark is really remarkable. In addition to thirst for revolutionary inventions, these two heroes have much in common and in characteristics. Both American billionaire engineers who followed in the footsteps of their fathers. The mask, like Stark, is interested in research in the field of engineering, new technologies, and space. Even their height and physique are the same ...
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/369153/
All Articles