52 years of Elon Musk and his own revolution in the technological world

Many idolize, others hate. Perhaps there was no other person in the world of technology who could evoke as many opposite feelings as he did. Elon Muskthe eccentric founder of Tesla, who dreams of sending humanity to Mars.

Even Steve Jobs, not to mention Bill Gates. And it’s not that the founders of Apple and Microsoft failed to build commitment (or dislike) to their products. However, something different is happening with Musk: everything his companies do goes through his figure and what he says … or posts on Twitter. Almost as if it were a religion.

From South Africa to conquering Mars

As is often the case with billionaires, how he made his fortune is full of myths. It is known that he had a comfortable childhood in South Africa, where he was born on June 28, 1971, and after a difficult adolescence that came as a result of the separation of his parents, he moved to Canada with his mother, brothers and sisters.

In Canada, he worked as a day laborer and bank clerk in his youth, and later studied at Queen’s University. He later came to the United States, where he enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania to study economics and physics. When he was about to get his PhD from Stanford, he decided to start Zip2, an online directory of businesses (sort of like Yelp), which would later be sold to the defunct Compaq. It was the lucky break he needed. Then came X.com, which later became the payment company PayPal.

However, it was not these companies that supported his global fame, but electric car manufacturer Tesla, biotech company Neuralink and aerospace firm SpaceX, with whom Musk dreams of getting to Mars.

How it revolutionized the world of technology

But what makes The Mask so special? That he does not spend his time (and money) on small ideas, like developing applications or starting other companies, but aims at the progress of mankind and in space. It is this vision of “broad thinking” that has earned him millions of fans ready to defend him from everything and everyone.

With Tesla, Musk wants to fight the danger of climate change; With SpaceX, he aims to stop humanity from being dependent on one planet and opening up to explore new worlds, and with Neuralink, he aims to prevent human obsolescence by inserting chips that allow worn-out functions to be restored.

Episode on Twitter

Elon Musk is the richest man in the world according to Forbes magazine, his fortune is estimated at more than $200,000 million. In addition, he is a very active and controversial user of the social network Twitter, which he bought in October 2022 for $44 billion.

Musk has used Twitter to communicate with his followers, promote his products, criticize his competitors, speak his mind on various topics, and generate reactions in the financial markets. However, he has also faced legal, regulatory and ethical issues due to some of his tweets that have been deemed misleading, libelous or irresponsible.

Some examples of his most controversial tweets:

– In August 2018, Musk tweeted that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 a share. This tweet raised the value of the company’s shares, but turned out to be false. Musk was sued for fraud by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and he had to pay a $20 million fine and step down as president of Tesla.

– In July 2018, Musk called Vernon Unsworth, a British diver who helped rescue children stuck in a cave in Thailand, a “pedophile”. Musk was upset that Unsworth criticized his proposal to send a mini-sub to help with the operation. Unsworth sued Musk for defamation, but in December 2019, a jury acquitted him.

– In May 2020, Musk tweeted: “Tesla stock price is way too high IMHO.” The tweet sent the company’s share price down 10%. Many investors have wondered if Musk is violating an agreement he reached with the SEC in 2018 that requires him to pre-screen his Tesla tweets.

In April 2020, Musk tweeted “Free America Now” in support of protests against containment measures due to the covid-19 pandemic. The tweet drew criticism from public health experts who felt that Musk was misinforming and putting his employees and customers at risk.

– In February 2021, Musk tweeted “Doge” and “ur welcome” (Welcome), referring to the Dogecoin cryptocurrency, which took off in the market thanks to the support of a businessman. This tweet was taken as a way to manipulate the price of the cryptocurrency and take advantage of its followers.

– In April 2022, Musk announced that he had reached an agreement to buy Twitter for $44 billion. However, a few months later, he attempted to back out of the deal, claiming there were too many bots on the platform and that a whistleblower had exposed wrongdoing within the company. Twitter sued Musk to force him to abide by the agreement, which was finally implemented in October of that year. After taking over Twitter, Musk fired CEO Parag Agrawal and CFO Ned Segal. He also said he would change the content moderation policy and allow the return of former President Donald Trump, who was ousted from the platform in January 2021.

Musk has earned a reputation not only as an eccentric CEO, tech giant and billionaire, but also as an internet personality. Few have the power like Musk to move the markets, secure millions of dollars in investor funds, and grab the headlines with tweets like the latest episodes of cryptocurrencies.

While other entrepreneurs rely on large communications equipment, Musk only needs Twitter and a phone. And despite the fact that, according to him, he works 120 hours a week, he finds time to communicate with his subscribers, the ones who are ready to do anything for him.