While still in his early forties, Elon Musk had established himself as one of the world's best known entrepreneurs and corporate leaders. His rise to fame began in 1999 when he founded X.com, an online payment company that eventually became PayPal, and was later sold to eBay for $1 5..billion in stock. In a few years, Musk invested this large amount of money into three start-up companies. Musk wanted to start a low-cost Mars mission that would capture the imagination of thousands of people about space travel. To make life interplanetary, Musk reasoned that a transport system was needed that would be completely and rapidly reusable. To meet this need, in 2002, he founded Space Exploration Technologies (or SpaceX). In 2012, the Dragon spacecraft of SpaceX delivered 500 pounds of provisions and equipment to the International Space …show more content…
Dragon returned nine days later, landed in the Pacific Ocean precisely on target two minutes ahead of schedule and in excellent condition. In his quest to help Earth become less dependent on carbon-generating fuels, he cofounded Tesla, the electric car company and SolarCity that manufacture and markets solar-energy systems. Tesla automobiles are sold directly to consumers, often through two dozen stores of galleries in the United States. Traditional dealers dislike this direct approach to sales because they say it violates state franchise laws.Musk was raised in South Africa and Canada before coming to the United States to complete his college education. He holds undergraduate degrees in physics and business from the University of Pennsylvania. Musk acquired his expertise in aerospace engineering on his own, including being guided by textbooks on subjects such as fundamentals of liquid propellants as well as propulsion elements. Musk has also carefully studied the biography of Albert