Elon Musk finally closed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter last week. The billionaire now controls several businesses, including the social networking site with this acquisition.
Musk, 51, is now the wealthiest person in the world because to his leadership and/or co-founding of several successful businesses, including Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company.
Now that Elon Musk, a billionaire, has added Twitter to his list of enterprises, let’s take a closer look at what he’s built.
1. Tesla
Elon Musk is the co-founder and CEO of the American electric car, battery, and solar energy firm Tesla. He is responsible for overseeing all aspects of product development, from concept to worldwide production.
Elon Musk has been Tesla’s CEO since 2008. Prior to that, he was a co-founder, investor, and board member.
Tesla’s goal since its founding in 2003 has been to hasten the global shift to renewable energy sources. The 2008 Roadster sports vehicle was Tesla’s initial product; subsequent years saw the release of the 2012 Model S sedan and the 2015 Model X SUV.
In 2016, Tesla acquired SolarCity, the top supplier of solar power systems in the United States, making it the first vertically-integrated sustainable energy firm in the world. In 2017, Tesla debuted Solar Roof, an inexpensive energy generating solution. Delivery of the Model 3 started the same year, while the Tesla Semi was introduced. The Cybertruck and Model Y small SUV were both introduced by Tesla in 2019.
Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, made a big statement earlier this month when he said, “I envision a route for Tesla to be valued more than Apple and Saudi Aramco combined.” When compared to Apple ($2.5 trillion) and Saudi Aramco ($2.03 trillion), Tesla’s current market value of $716.06 billion on the Nasdaq in the United States is relatively little.
2. SpaceX
Elon Musk established SpaceX in 2002 as a California-based American spacecraft maker, space launch provider, and satellite communications firm. Elon Musk is the CEO of the aerospace company SpaceX, where he directs the company’s efforts to build rockets and spaceships for interplanetary travel.
SpaceX’s Falcon 1 liquid-fueled rocket was the first privately produced rocket to reach orbit in 2008, and in 2017, the company again made history by successfully re-flying a Falcon 9 rocket and a Dragon spacecraft. Not long after that, in 2018, the maiden flight of Falcon Heavy occurred, making it the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. The Tesla website claims that in 2019, SpaceX flew the first demonstration trip of the Dragon spaceship outfitted to carry humans, and that in 2020, the firm will send NASA astronauts to the International Space Station for the first time. Furthermore, Musk’s SpaceX is working toward the ultimate aim of making humanity a multi-planet species by developing a self-sufficient metropolis on Mars. This is being accomplished via the development of reusable rockets.
Starlink is SpaceX’s satellite internet network. SpaceX runs this satellite network to provide Internet connection through satellite to a number of different nations.
3. Neuralink
Elon Musk co-founded the neurotechnology business Neuralink, which is working on ultra-high bandwidth brain-machine interfaces to allow the human brain to communicate with computers.
Elon Musk, Max Hodak, and Paul Merolla established the firm in San Francisco in 2016. Neuralink is shaping the future of brain-computer interfaces by developing current devices with the potential to aid individuals with paralysis and by designing new technologies that may increase human potential, community, and the globe.
4. The Boring Company
The Boring Company was another business Elon Musk started in 2016. To reduce soul-crushing urban congestion and allow high-speed, long-distance travel, American infrastructure and tunnel construction services corporation integrates quick, economical tunnelling technology with an all-electric public transportation system. It aims to alleviate congestion, promote fast, point-to-point mobility, and revolutionise urban areas.
According to Tesla’s website, The Boring Company has already constructed a 1.15-mile R&D tunnel in Hawthorne, and it is said to be in the process of building Vegas Loop, a public transit system near the Las Vegas Convention Center. Tunnels for traffic, utilities, and cargo are the focus, with the goal of making them cheap, quick to dig, and secure.
5. OpenAI
In 2015, OpenAI, a company that operates as an artificial intelligence (AI) research laboratory, began studying AI with the intention of advancing humane AI for the greater good. It was in San Francisco in 2015 when Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and others put up the first US$1 billion to launch OpenAI. OpenAI is a conglomerate of two entities: the nonprofit OpenAI Inc. and the for-profit OpenAI LP.
Microsoft invested $1 billion in OpenAI LP in 2019. Sam Altman, who is 37 years old, is the current CEO of OpenAI.
6. Zip2
The online business directory Zip2 was developed by Elon Musk and his brother Kimbal Musk in 1995 as an electronic replacement for the traditional yellow pages. One of the first firms to provide online navigation, it paved the way for others to follow.
Soon after, in 1999, he sold the business to Compaq Computer Corporation, an American IT giant, for an estimated $300 million.
7. X.Com & PayPal
Elon Musk, Harris Fricker, Christopher Payne, and Ed Ho created X.com in 1999 as an Internet bank based in California. Musk apparently liked Confinity’s simple payment mechanism, so the next year, X.com merged with rival Confinity Inc., a software startup.
Maximum Levchin, Peter Thiel, and Luke Nosek founded Confinity in December 1998. The corporation formerly known as X.com has merged with PayPal and adopted the latter moniker. After its initial public offering (IPO) in 2002 and a subsequent purchase by eBay for $1.5 billion, PayPal eventually became a separate entity in 2015.
8. Twitter
Elon Musk has just added Twitter to his growing empire of businesses. The much-anticipated takeover of Twitter by the “Chief Twit” was finalised last week, and he immediately began his reign by removing several of the company’s senior employees, including (ex-)CEO Parag Agrawal.
Musk has been busy making changes to Twitter since taking it over, with rumours swirling about layoffs, an increased or eliminated character limit for tweets, a new content monitoring committee, and more.
