On the Amazing Elon Musk

Is it just me, or does the name Elon Musk not get enough press? I read a one-page article about him ("Rocket Man") in the March 22 issue of The Economist, and I was floored that I haven't heard his name more often. I mean, you hear the names of creators of tech companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and so on... all the time. But I only vaguely remembered the name Elon Musk.

So what has this 35 year-old accomplished in his life so far? Well, he co-founded the company that became PayPal, the online payment service that was enventually sold in 2002 to eBay for $1.5 billion. Since I use PayPal all the time... thank you Mr. Musk!

Then in June 2002 he founded SpaceX (he is currently CEO), a company that develops and manufactures space launch vehicles, with an emphasis on low cost and high reliability. Their Falcon two-stage rocket recently launched and climbed to an altitute of 200 miles. As the article notes: "Although the second stage failed to reach its intended orbit, the Falcon can claim to be the first rocket designed, developed, and financed by private sector that is anywhere near carrying a payload into space. Mr. Musk founded SpaceX five years ago and designed much of the rocket himself."

What else? Well, Musk is the principal owner and Board Chairman of Tesla motors, an innovative company that produces electric cars. The article notes: "In July Tesla unveiled its first model: a sports car which is faster than a Ferrari, more environmentally friendly than a Toyota Prius, and can travel 250 miles after charging overnight through an ordinary household socket. The first few have been pre-sold, but the concept will be properly tested only when they start rolling off the production line in August."

For info about him, see the Elon Musk entry at Wikipedia.