Elon Musk-Thinking Forward | A tale of the man who made magic People take risks, consider the impossible, and dream extraordinarily daily. Elon Musk has made these tasks his everyday reality. Through his innovation and profitability with companies like PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla Motors, and SolarCity, Musk consistently proves his ability to think outside the norms. As a revolutionary entrepreneur, Elon Musk ponders every minute detail in his larger-than-life ideas. Musk has the unprecedented ability to recognize a hurdle with humanity, such as renewable energy, and then innovate. He refines his ideas, and then he profits: both monetarily and humanitarianly. Elon Musk is a forward thinker. Elon Musk showed signs of who he would become at a very young age. His father, a South African, "generally disliked technology and especially computers" (Elon Enthusiast). Elon was born in Pretoria, South Africa in 1971, and by age twelve he had taught himself computer programming. Musk saved up funds from his allowance and purchased his own computer because his parents "refused to use computers and said they would never amount to anything" (Elon Enthusiast). Soon after he bought his computer, he sold the code to his first project, a video game called Blastar, for $500. This would be his first of many profitable projects. Elon Musk graduated from Pretoria Boys High School in 1988 and then moved to Canada. There, he attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario for two years. Following that, Musk transferred to the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. There, he received undergraduate degrees in physics and business and then moved to California to begin his doctorate from Stanford University. He attended classes for "exactly two days" (Elon Musk Profiled) before deciding to pursue his entrepreneurial interests. Elon Musk's first web project was a company called Zip2, a company he founded with his brother. Zip2 created and marketed white-glove Internet "city guides" that he sold to newspapers around the country. Musk's skill and ability in securing contracts with both The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune would set the standard for many business deals in the future. On the coattails of Zip2's success, in March of 1999 Musk co-founded X.com. "X.com was a revolutionary online financial services and email payment company" (Gergson) that was later re-named PayPal. Much of PayPal's early success was credited directly to Musk, who "spent hours and days in the basement, formulating and implementing viral growth campaigns" (Gergson). When PayPal was acquired by eBay in October of 2002 for $1.5 billion, Musk owned 11.7% of PayPal's shares. He became an overnight multi-millionaire. From this sale, Musk founded his next company, a space company: Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX.1192-1816-3237-2620-1227-7583 SpaceX was a perfect playground for Musk to show the world he was not just in the business of developing and manufacturing space vehicles, but that he also had an interest in furthering the human race. "Elon Musk recognized that although we took hundreds of millions of years to evolve as humans, we humans also invented nuclear and ballistic technology that could extinct the planet in a matter of seconds" (Gergson). Sooner or later, "we must expand life beyond this green and blue ball-or go extinct" (Elon Enthusiast). Elon Musk decided to do something about it, and made SpaceX to develop and manufacture space vehicles with an emphasis on advancing space technologies. Musk noted that cost is this sector's greatest challenge, and vigorously attacked the idea of bringing the cost of space flight down low enough to make for-fare space travel (and eventual interplanetary habitation) feasible. Elon Musk was not done yet. In 2008, shortly before the financial crisis, Musk entered into agreements to lead the Series A financing of Tesla Motors. After said crisis, Musk assumed leadership as CEO and also Chief of Product Design. Musk set out to build a road vehicle that not only was extremely energy efficient, used renewable sources, and was fun to drive, but one that would also make living on Earth easier. Enter the Tesla Roadster. The Tesla Roadster was the world's first completely electric car. The Roadster went on sale in 2009 to private buyers for $100,000. Musk was doing something else revolutionary: "rather than having consumers go through the awful practice of using car dealerships, I want them to buy directly from us" (Elon Musk Profiled). This new form of auto sales infuriated dealership owners and fueled Musk's passion for furthering innovation. On June 22, 2010, Tesla began delivery of its $50,000 four-door Model S sedan, and again offered it only directly to consumers. "Our next vehicle will be priced for the average consumer at $30,000, and it will change everything" (Elon Musk Profiled). Part of Musk's unique skillset is the ability to accept criticism and explain. When asked how he expected consumers (and the marketplace) to accept a vehicle that had no alternate fuel source; he simply shows his statistics. "The Model S can go over 200 miles without a recharge. That means that when a typical consumer takes a trip in their Model S, they will be able to drive for around three hours before having to recharge" (Elon Enthusiast). When faced with the time comparison of a traditional gasoline fill-up versus a full vehicle battery charge, Musk again chose to innovate: he invented a charging system "that will charge a vehicle good for another 160 miles in a little over twenty minutes. You can plug your car in, eat lunch, and have enough energy to drive across the state afterwards" (Elon Enthusiast). Looking forward, Musk remains optimistic about his continued profitability and his successes in furthering humankind. His latest project is an energy company called SolarCity. SolarCity aims to free consumers from the electricity companies by installing solar fixtures on their homes. "We will offer completely free installation, free equipment, and a lower monthly bill than anyone is paying now for electricity. Human's ability to harness the sun's enormous amount of energy will ensure our sustainable existence" (Elon Enthusiast). It is not coincidental that his car company's products consume the same energy his power company provides. If SolarCity expands like Elon Musk plans, solar energy will be the plurality in only eighteen years. It is not often a game-changer like Elon Musk comes into the world. Through Musk's extraordinary risks, "the world has literally become a better place and it will continue to do so long as Musk is inventing" (Elon Enthusiast). He sees solutions in things that most consider impossible. "Musk is an astute businessman" (Gergson) and is ready and willing to overcome any obstacle tossed his way. Elon Musk is a forward thinker.