Elon Musk: Founder, CEO and CTO of SpaceX

Elon Reeve Musk FRS (born June 28, 1971) is a technology entrepreneur and investor. He holds South African, Canadian, and U.S.citizenship and is the founder, CEO, and lead designer of SpaceX; co-founder, CEO, and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; co-founder and CEO of Neuralink; and co-founder of PayPal. In December 2016, he was ranked 21st on the Forbes list of The World’s Most Powerful People. As of October 2018, he has a net worth of $22.3 billion and is listed by Forbes as the 54th-richest person in the world.

Musk then founded X.com, an online bank. It merged with Confinity in 2000 and later that year became PayPal, which was bought by eBay for $1.5 billion in October 2002. In May 2002, Musk founded SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company, of which he is CEO and lead designer. He helped fund Tesla, Inc., an electric vehicle and solar panel manufacturer, in 2003, and became its CEO and product architect. In 2006, he inspired the creation of SolarCity, a solar energy services company that is now a subsidiary of Tesla, and operates as its chairman. In 2015, Musk co-founded OpenAI, a nonprofit research company that aims to promote friendly artificial intelligence. In July 2016, he co-founded Neuralink, a neuro technology company focused on developing brain–computer interfaces, and is its CEO. In December 2016, Musk founded The Boring Company, an infrastructure and tunnel-construction company.

Awards and recognition

In 2006, Musk served as a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board.
Inc Magazine Entrepreneur of the Year award for 2007 for his work on Tesla and SpaceX.
2007 Index Design award for his design of the Tesla Roadster. Global Green 2006 product design award for his design of the Tesla Roadster, presented by Mikhail Gorbachev.
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics George Low award for the most outstanding contribution in the field of space transportation in 2007/2008. Musk was recognized for his design of the Falcon 1, the first privately developed liquid-fuel rocket to reach orbit.
National Wildlife Federation 2008 National Conservation Achievement award for Tesla and SolarCity. Other 2008 recipients include journalist Thomas Friedman, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy(D-VT), and Florida Governor Charlie Crist.
National Space Society’s Von Braun Trophy in 2008/2009, given for leadership of the most significant achievement in space. Prior recipients include Burt Rutan and Steve Squyres.
Listed as one of Time‘s 100 people who most affected the world in 2010.
The world governing body for aerospace records, Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, presented Musk in 2010 with the highest award in air and space, the FAI Gold Space Medal, for designing the first privately developed rocket to reach orbit. Prior recipients include Neil Armstrong, Burt Rutan of Scaled Composites and John Glenn.
Named as one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century by Esquire magazine.
Recognized as a Living Legend of Aviation in 2010 by the Kitty Hawk Foundation for creating the successor to the Space Shuttle (Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft). Other recipients include Buzz Aldrin and Richard Branson.
In February 2011, Forbes listed Musk as one of “America’s 20 Most Powerful CEOs 40 And Under.”
In June 2011, Musk was awarded the US$250,000 Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space Commercialization
In 2012, Musk was awarded the Royal Aeronautical Society’s highest award: a Gold Medal.
Musk was the 2012 recipient of Smithsonian magazine’s American Ingenuity Award in the Technology category.
In 2013, Musk was named the Fortune Businessperson of the year for SpaceX, SolarCity, and Tesla.
In 2015, he was awarded IEEE Honorary Membership.
In June 2016, Business Insider named Musk one of the “Top 10 Business Visionaries Creating Value for the World” along with Mark Zuckerberg and Sal Khan.
In December 2016, Musk was ranked 21st on Forbes list of The World’s Most Powerful People.
In May 2017, Musk was awarded the Oslo Business for Peace Award.
Musk was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2018.