![]() “For most of the people in Silicon Valley who make it big, a big perk is that there are investors who are willing to give you a lot of money for your next venture – you don’t have to take as much personal risk”, Vance told World Finance. And so, a month after Compaq’s announcement, Musk invested $12m of his own money to create X.com. A firm believer in the web’s potential, Musk was adamant that an internet-based bank could disrupt the global financial market and become wildly successful. Having earned $22m from the Compaq deal, Musk set his sights on an idea that had been brewing ever since he had been an intern at Scotiabank while living in Canada. In February 1999, Compaq Computer made a surprise $307m cash bid – but by then Musk was already dreaming up his next grand plan. Mohr Davidow Ventures’ $3m enabled Musk to go national, while a new strategy helped the company to sell software packages to newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune and The New York Times. Zip2 was a map-linked, searchable business directory that helped them to make that leap.īy February 1996, venture capitalists had come calling. The idea behind the start-up was ingenious many companies were still suspicious of the web and needed help to join this new realm. Together with his brother Kimbal, Musk started his first company, Global Link Information Network, which was later renamed Zip2. Having interned at several tech companies in the area, Musk was convinced he could capitalise on the new phenomenon. Despite the college’s prestige, he was lured away by the scent of the very recent internet boom, dropping out after just two days at Stanford in search of Silicon Valley success. After two years at the college, Musk transferred to the University of Pennsylvania in a bid to open new doors for himself.Īlways striving to do better, Musk completed his studies at Penn and decided to pursue a PhD in materials science and physics at Stanford University. He spent his first year in Canada working various low-paid jobs before enrolling at Queen’s University. ![]() Using his mother’s Canadian roots to obtain a visa, Musk left for Montreal aged 17 with nothing but $100 to his name, taking what would be the first of the many big risks he would become known for. There are many individuals who are incredibly capable, intelligent and ambitious, but it is difficult to deny Musk is in a league of his own It was like misery.” From a very young age, Musk began fantasising about escaping to the US, his oft-dreamt-about land of opportunity. Musk has said very little about those years, but a quote from him in Vance’s book simply states: “It was not a happy childhood. He was sort of like the nerd in the corner in a very masculine, sports-oriented culture – obviously he didn’t really fit in”, said Ashlee Vance, author of Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping Our Future, the only biography of the tech titan that features exclusive interviews with the man himself.Īfter his parents divorced, Musk – the second of three children – moved in with his father, Errol. ![]() “He was tossed down a flight of stairs one time and then punched up after that – he spent about a week in hospital – that was fairly common in his younger days. Musk’s geeky, introverted persona contrasted starkly with the popular ‘jocks’ who dominated the adolescent social circles of Pretoria, making him the victim of brutal bullying throughout his childhood. He was also an obsessive reader, reading up to 10 hours per day and consuming information at an astonishing rate. As a child, Musk was quiet and had a tendency to drift off into a trance-like state – a habit doctors mistook for hearing problems. “When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favour”īorn in 1971 in Pretoria, Elon Reeve Musk grew up amid the chaos of South African apartheid. Top 5 economic risk factors that must be considered.Top 5 ways that the finance industry can prepare for AI. ![]() Top 5 emerging fintech hubs across the globe right now.Top 5 ways that GDPR has impacted digital banking.Top 5 financial services that are ripe for automation.Top 5 ways to boost employee engagement and commitment. ![]()
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