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Sky News
30-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News
From Tesla tequila to Iron Man inspiration: 7 things you may not know about Elon Musk
The name Elon Musk is perhaps one of the most recognisable in the modern day. The richest man in the world is known for being the owner of various companies including electric vehicle maker Tesla and Space X, his takeover of social media company Twitter - which he renamed X - and, until most recently, his work within the US government. After nearly 130 days as head of the Department of Government Efficiency - known as DOGE for short - Musk announced he is leaving his role within Donald Trump's administration. His work within the department and his close relationship with Mr Trump led to Musk being in the headlines more than ever, but there is much to the billionaire businessman that is rarely reported. Here are seven things you may not know about Musk. Child video game creator In the early 1980s, at the age of 12, Musk created the video game Blastar. He created the game, which tasks players to use their keyboards to shoot at alien fighter spaceships, through his knowledge of coding and programming, which he picked up at the age of nine, according to Ashlee Vance's 2015 biography of the tech mogul. By 1984 the game was so good, Musk sold it to PC and Office Technology magazine for $500 (£371), where it featured in the publication's December issue. First big pay cheque From the get-go, it was clear Musk had a talent for business. In 1995, age 24, he set up his first company, Zip2 with his brother, Kimbal. The pair set up the company, which created online city guides for newspapers, for around $28,000 (£20,000). It was sold for around $300m (£222m) four years later in 1999. Before cashing in on the success of Zip2, Musk said he and his brother were pretty much broke and both slept in the office where they worked - a behaviour he reportedly replicated in the early days of Tesla. From the sale of the company, Musk walked away from Zip2 with a cool $22m, and the first thing he bought was a McLaren F1. He told CNN at the time: "Just three years ago I was sleeping on the office floor, and now I've got a million-dollar car." Musk's musk Despite having huge success, some of Musk's ideas have not proved to be as long-lasting. In 2022, he launched a perfume called Burnt Hair, which is described on his The Boring Company website as "the essence of repugnant desire". The scent, which cost $100 (£74) a bottle, was a smash hit, according to Musk, who said it had sold 10,000 bottles in just a few hours, earning him a million dollars. "With a name like mine, getting into the fragrance business was inevitable - why did I even fight it for so long!?" Musk said at the time. It is unknown if the product was serious, and (sadly) is no longer available on The Boring Company website. In addition to perfume, Tesla launched its own tequila in 2020, and in the same year, Musk followed through on a joke to sell limited edition pairs of Tesla short shorts as a way to prove investors who bet against the electric vehicle maker wrong. The original PayPal Long before Twitter became X, Musk created an online banking and financial services company. The platform quickly attracted a large customer base, and in the year 2000, it merged with Confinity, which was co-founded by tech entrepreneurs Peter Thiel and Max Levchin. The platform was later renamed PayPal. Musk went on to become chief executive of PayPal, but was later ousted from the position as arguments over the company's name and overall direction emerged. In 2002, the banking site was bought by eBay for $1.5bn (£1.4bn). Years later, in 2017, eBay sold the domain back to Musk. Inspiration for Iron Man Musk's life as a billionaire entrepreneur sounds like the start of a Hollywood blockbuster. And in reality, Musk's personality and accomplishments were partly used as inspiration for Robert Downey Jr's portrayal of Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In a 2022 interview, Iron Man screenwriter Mark Fergus said his version of Tony Stark was based on a culmination of Musk, Mr Trump and Apple creator Steve Jobs. "Musk took the brilliance of Jobs with the showmanship of Trump. He was the only one who had the fun factor and the celebrity vibe and actual business substance," Mr Fergus told New York Magazine. Musk's unusual connection to the fictionalised billionaire was played out on camera when he made a cameo in Iron Man 2 in 2010. The real Tesla founder? Contrary to belief, Musk did not start Tesla. He was actually an early investor in the company and was the fourth chief executive when he took over the role in 2008 - shortly after the company released its first car - the Roadster sports car. It was in fact, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning who founded the company in 2003, albeit Musk was the one to propel it on to a global stage. Desire for the 'everything app' After taking over social media platform X for $44bn in 2022, Musk became one step closer to achieving his goal of creating an "everything app". 13:05 The tech mogul has previously said he wishes for X to become similar to WeChat - a Chinese app that offers a wide range of features beyond messaging, including payments, ordering taxis, sharing social media posts and conducting business - think of it as a mix between Facebook, Apple Pay, WhatsApp and Google. Musk's vision of this "super app" seems to be shared by those at X, including chief executive Linda Yaccarino, who said at the end of last year that 2025 would be the year that X "connect[s] you in ways never thought possible. X TV, X Money, Grok and more". And this appears to be somewhat coming true. In January, Musk announced X had partnered with payment giant Visa, which will allow users to move funds between traditional banks and a digital X wallet and make payments to friends.
Time of India
08-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Elon Musk's first wife Justine Musk could have been a billionaire
Elon Musk's ex-wife, Justine Musk, is not a billionaire. Her divorce settlement played a key role. A post-nuptial agreement limited her claims. She rejected an $80 million settlement. Instead, she sought Tesla and SpaceX equity. The court ruled in favour of Elon. Justine received $20 million and the Bel Air home. Other billionaire divorces yielded larger settlements. Elon Musk , the world's richest person with a net worth exceeding $364 billion, is often associated with his groundbreaking ventures like Tesla and SpaceX. Yet, despite his vast wealth, his first wife, Justine Musk , remains far from the billionaire status. A Canadian-born novelist and mother of six of Musk's children, Justine Musk's financial journey diverged significantly from that of her former husband. Operation Sindoor 'Op Sindoor's precision & execution was unimaginable': Rajnath Singh Operation Sindoor: India repels drone, missile attack across LoC Operation Sindoor: Several airports in India closed - check full list Although she requested shares in both Tesla and SpaceX during their divorce proceedings, she ultimately received no stake in either company. Justine's financial situation today is modest compared to Elon's fortune, with her net worth estimated at around $15 million. How Zip2 kickstarted Elon Musk's fortune and family life According to reports, Elon Musk's journey to wealth began with the founding of Zip2 in 1995, a software company he started with his brother Kimbal and a friend, Greg Kouri. After selling Zip2 to Compaq in 1999 for approximately $300 million, Musk pocketed around $20 million. This windfall marked the start of his entrepreneurial ascent, enabling investments in subsequent ventures like which eventually became PayPal. During this period, Justine Wilson, a budding novelist, and Elon Musk met while both were students at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada. Their relationship rekindled when Justine moved to Silicon Valley, where they shared an apartment while Musk worked on Zip2. The couple married in 2000 and settled in Los Angeles in 2002. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 3 Capital Gains Tax Strategies for Seniors SmartAsset Learn More Undo Elon Musk's marriage and financial dynamics After their marriage, Elon Musk continued to build his empire. In 2002, he founded SpaceX, followed by an investment in Tesla in 2004. By 2006, Justine had given birth to six sons, including twins and triplets. During these years, Justine pursued her writing career, publishing three fiction novels between 2005 and 2008. Despite Musk's increasing wealth, their relationship faced challenges. In 2008, Elon filed for divorce. At that time, SpaceX and Tesla were still in their developmental phases, and Musk had not yet achieved his current level of success. How one legal document kept Justine Musk from joining the billionaire club As per reports, Justine Musk's financial situation today is largely a consequence of the divorce settlement and the legal agreements she signed. Initially, Justine asked for child support, the family home, $6 million, a glacier-blue Tesla Roadster, and a percentage of Musk's Tesla and SpaceX shares. However, she did not secure these requests. The main reason for this outcome was a post-nuptial agreement that Justine had signed in March 2000, which essentially waived her right to Musk's financial assets, apart from the family home. During the divorce proceedings, Justine contested the validity of this agreement, arguing that Musk did not disclose the pending merger between and Confinity, which later became PayPal. Despite the legal battle, the court ruled in favor of Musk. Why Justine Musk chose equity over an $80 million settlement According to Musk, he initially offered Justine $80 million before taxes as a settlement, which she declined. Instead, she aimed for equity in Tesla and SpaceX, anticipating their growth. However, because of the signed post-nuptial agreement, she received $20 million after taxes, including half the value of their Bel Air home and monthly support payments of $20,000 for discretionary expenses and household needs. The Bel Air mansion, which was eventually sold for $6.5 million, was less valuable than initially estimated. Justine reinvested a portion into a smaller Los Angeles home, now valued at over $8 million. In hindsight, had she invested the proceeds from the mansion sale into the stock market, her financial standing might have been significantly stronger. Elon Musk and Justine Musk divorce comparison with other high-profile divorces The disparity between Justine Musk's financial outcome and that of other billionaire divorces is striking. For example: Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott : MacKenzie Scott received a 25% stake in Amazon during her 2019 divorce, valued at $36 billion at the time. Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates : Although the exact terms remain private, Melinda reportedly received about $25 billion. In contrast, Justine's decision to forgo an $80 million lump sum for a stake in companies that were still in their infancy ultimately left her with much less wealth. Why Justine isn't a billionaire The primary reasons for Justine Musk's modest net worth are: Post-nuptial agreement : This legally binding document significantly limited her financial claims during the divorce. Rejection of initial settlement : Preferring company shares over a guaranteed $80 million turned out to be a financially disadvantageous decision. Limited investments post-divorce : The proceeds from her property sales were not significantly invested, reducing her potential to grow wealth over time. Justine Musk's current financial standing and public perception Today, Justine Musk continues her life as a writer, maintaining a relatively low profile. Her involvement in public debates, particularly regarding social issues, has occasionally drawn attention. Despite being the mother of Musk's first five surviving children, her financial standing remains a small fraction of Elon's vast fortune. Also read | Genshin Impact Codes | Fruit Battlegrounds Codes | Blox Fruits Codes | Peroxide Codes AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Time of India
26-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Young Elon Musk told an investor he's the 'reincarnation' of Alexander the Great, reveals new book
Elon Musk told an investor he is the reincarnation of the spirit of Alexander the Great. A new book on Elon Musk , published this week, has revealed that a young Musk told an investor 30 years ago that he is the 'reincarnation' of Greek conqueror Alexander the Great. It was at a lunch that Derek Proudian , then at Mohr Davidow Ventures, met a young Musk 30 years ago. The moot point was bankrolling Musk's first startup Zip2 which aimed to bring the Yellow Pages online. Musk told him Zip2 was going to be the biggest company ever. 'No—you don't understand," Mus said. 'I'm the reincarnation of the spirit of Alexander the Great.' Proudian was not willing to give any importance to what young Musk was saying but Musk kept on saying that he had got the samurai spirit. 'I've got the samurai spirit,' he said. 'I'd rather commit seppuku than fail," the book titled Hubris Maximus by Washington Post's Faiz Siddiqui says, as reported by The Daily Beast. 'I know how ruthless he is' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like People In Assam Say Goodbye To Mosquitoes With This Revolutionary Solution Mosquito Eliminator Read More Undo Proudian said in the book he did not take the words of 23-year-old Musk seriously but now that he looks back he knows how smart he is and how ruthless he is. 'I am really concerned because I know how smart this guy is and I know how much money he has and I know how ruthless he is, and it's playing out in front of my own eyes,' he said. 'Elon Musk cannot stand being told what to do' Ross Gerber, a former Tesla investor and one of the company's biggest cheerleaders, told Siddiqui that Musk cannot stand being told what to do—even by the Securities and Exchange Commission. 'He just basically has a complete disdain for any authority period,' said Gerber, whose relationship with Musk eventually soured. 'I have a completely different opinion about the hubris of thumbing your nose at the people that could really hurt you.' The book has details of the time when Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022. When he called the executives for a meeting, it was bizarre. "One high-level exec recalled waiting for 90 minutes outside of Musk's office. When he was finally allowed to enter, Musk was watching a YouTube video on his phone. There ensued an awkward 10 minutes of silence during which the executive waited for Musk to acknowledge his presence," the Daily Beast report narrated. Siddiqui wrote how whenever he tried to reach Musk for a story, Musk would invariably say "Give my regards to your puppetmaster," referring to Post's owner Jeff Bezos.
Time of India
22-04-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
Did Elon Musk start Tesla? The truth behind his rise to the topelon musk tesla ownership
is widely recognized as the face of Tesla, the electric vehicle (EV) giant known for redefining modern transportation. From high-profile product launches to bold predictions about sustainable energy, Musk is often viewed as the founder of the company. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now However, historical records reveal that Tesla was actually founded by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in 2003, before Musk joined the venture. Below you can read how Musk, through a combination of strategic investments, public relations, and legal decisions, successfully positioned himself as a co-founder of Tesla. The transformation of Tesla's founding narrative offers an illustrative example of how perception, legal frameworks, and media influence can shape public memory and business history. Elon Musk is not the real co-founder of Tesla Tesla Motors was founded in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, two engineers and entrepreneurs with a vision to produce fully electric vehicles that could rival traditional combustion-engine cars in performance and design. The company was named after Nikola Tesla, the 19th-century inventor known for his work in electricity and electromagnetism. The initial objective of Tesla was to build a high-end sports car using lithium-ion battery technology, something that had not been achieved successfully at the time. Eberhard and Tarpenning funded the early stages of the company themselves and had already developed a detailed business plan and technical foundation for their concept. When Elon Musk joined Tesla: The 2004 investment that changed everything Elon Musk entered the Tesla narrative in February 2004 by leading the Series A investment round. He contributed $6.5 million of the $7.5 million raised, making him the company's largest shareholder and the chairman of the board. Musk had already made a name for himself as a tech entrepreneur through ventures such as Zip2 and which later became PayPal. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Though not a founder, Musk played an influential role early on. He contributed to product development discussions, branding decisions, and long-term vision strategies. His growing involvement and financial stake gave him significant leverage in shaping the company's future. When Elon Musk claimed Tesla's vision as his own Initially, Martin Eberhard was recognized as the public face of Tesla. He was frequently quoted in interviews and appeared in media campaigns, including one notable ad in which he was portrayed in a style reminiscent of Steve Jobs. At this time, Elon Musk remained largely in the background, despite his financial influence. As Tesla began to gain recognition in the media, Musk became concerned about his lack of visibility. Internal emails from this period reportedly indicate Musk's dissatisfaction with the coverage and his desire to be more prominently associated with Tesla's identity and vision. In 2006, Musk took a major step to change that by publishing the 'Top Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan' blog post. This document outlined Tesla's long-term strategy and positioned Musk as the architect of the company's direction, even though the core ideas had been established by the original founders. Elon Musk's role in Eberhard's removal at Tesla As Tesla moved into production of the Roadster, internal disagreements between Eberhard and Musk intensified. Disputes arose over deadlines, budgets, and managerial styles. Musk's approach was known to be highly demanding, and eventually, these tensions culminated in Eberhard's removal as CEO in August 2007. Though the company cited performance reasons, many viewed it as a strategic move by Musk to consolidate power. Eberhard was later officially removed from the company's leadership and board, marking a turning point in Tesla's leadership dynamics. Following his departure, he filed a defamation lawsuit against Musk in 2009, alleging that Musk had spread false information and was attempting to erase his contributions to Tesla's founding. How a legal settlement made Elon Musk Tesla's official co-founder The legal dispute between Eberhard and Musk was settled out of court. A key outcome of the settlement was that Musk, along with several others including JB Straubel and Ian Wright, was granted the legal right to use the title of "co-founder" of Tesla. This agreement effectively allowed Musk to publicly and officially call himself a co-founder, despite not being part of the initial formation of the company in 2003. How Musk reinforced his identity as Tesla's visionary leader Following the legal resolution, Musk actively reinforced his identity as Tesla's founder. His numerous public speeches, interviews, and company statements consistently positioned him as the visionary who built Tesla from the ground up. The company's own press releases and website began to reflect this narrative, with Musk often being introduced as a co-founder. Several strategies contributed to this solidification: Media management : Musk's active presence on platforms like Twitter and in major news outlets helped him steer public discourse. : Musk's active presence on platforms like Twitter and in major news outlets helped him steer public discourse. Public appearances : By front-lining product launches, delivering keynote addresses, and participating in technology forums, Musk maintained a high visibility. : By front-lining product launches, delivering keynote addresses, and participating in technology forums, Musk maintained a high visibility. Narrative ownership: Tesla's communication and branding materials consistently framed Musk as the central figure behind the company's innovations and success. The broader impact on public memory Today, most people associate Tesla with Elon Musk, rarely mentioning Eberhard or Tarpenning. While industry insiders and historians acknowledge the contributions of the original founders, the broader public perception credits Musk with founding the company. This phenomenon underscores how public memory can be influenced more by narrative control and visibility than by factual chronology. Musk's role in Tesla is undeniable in terms of scaling the company, securing funding, and guiding its strategy during critical phases. However, the distinction between founding a company and transforming it is significant, and in Tesla's case, these roles were played by different individuals at different times.
Forbes
18-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Elon Musk Has Made Many People Rich. Not His Ex-Wives
Long before he became a household name–and before he began fathering multiple children with several single women–Elon Musk was a married man. His first marriage, to Canada-born novelist Justine Wilson Musk, lasted eight years, from 2000 to 2008. During that time, Justine bore him six children, the first of whom died tragically as an infant, followed by twins and triplets. But while Elon is now the wealthiest person in the world, Justine is merely a millionaire–worth some $15 million, Forbes estimates, or about 1/24,000th of Elon's current $364 billion fortune. In many ways, his handling of Justine gave Elon a template for how to treat all the mothers (at least four so far) of his much desired 'legion' of children—now counting 14 known kids. Musk offered Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of his children, $15 million and $100,000 a month in exchange for her silence about the child, whom they named Romulus—and quickly pulled back the offer after St. Clair went public about Musk being the father, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week. While Elon has recently taken to X to proposition women to have his children, according to the Journal, he met his first wife an old fashioned way: at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada, when both were students there until Musk transferred to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton school to finish his degree. They picked up dating again in the mid 1990s, when Justine moved to Silicon Valley and lived with Elon in an apartment they shared with roommates, while he was busy building software firm Zip2, which he founded in 1995 with his brother Kimbal and a friend, Greg Kouri. In 1999, Elon and his cofounders sold Zip2 to Compaq for a reported $300 million, with Elon pocketing an estimated $20 million. He bought an 1,800-square-foot condo in Palo Alto and dropped $1 million on a McLaren F1 sports car, which CNN filmed being delivered to Elon's home in 1999 with Justine at his side. 'It's a million dollars for a car. It's decadent,' Justine told CNN at the time. 'My fear is that we become spoiled brats, that we lose a sense of appreciation and perspective.' (Musk later totaled the car.) Elon and Justine married the following year, and by 2002 had moved to Los Angeles, where he founded SpaceX. Two years later he invested in Tesla and joined the board. In just four years between 2002 and 2006, Justine gave birth to six boys. She also pursued her passion for creative writing, publishing three fiction books between 2005 and 2008. Elon asked for a divorce in the late spring of 2008, just months before he became CEO of Tesla (and four years before his 2012 debut on Forbes' list of the World's Billionaires, with a $2 billion net worth)—and six weeks before he got engaged to his next wife. During the divorce proceedings, Justine wrote, she asked Elon for their house, child support, 10% of his Tesla shares, 5% of his SpaceX shares, $6 million and a glacier-blue Tesla Roadster. Had she gotten all that, she'd be worth $17.3 billion today, Forbes figures, enough to make her the planet's 113th-richest person. It's a stark contrast to how two other superwealthy divorces went down: Jeff Bezos gave his ex MacKenzie Scott one quarter of his then 16% stake in e-commerce giant Amazon in their 2019 divorce, worth $36 billion at the time; Bill Gates' 2021 divorce settlement with Melinda French Gates wasn't made public, but Forbes estimates she got $25 billion of his then $124 billion estimated fortune. Instead, according to Elon, he offered Justine a settlement of $80 million before taxes, which she turned down, preferring the Tesla shares and a SpaceX stake, a smart move given that both were in their relative infancy. She got neither and ended up with a lot less than his original offer. The main reason: She signed a post-nuptial agreement in March 2000. Amid the divorce proceedings in 2010, she wrote in Marie Claire about signing it, 'I trusted my husband — why else had I married him? — and I told myself it didn't matter. We were soul mates. We would never get divorced.' Only later did it become clear to her what was in the agreement. 'I had effectively signed away all my rights as a married person, including any claim to community property except our house, which was to be vested in my name once we had a child.' Justine took Elon to court in 2008, contesting the validity of the post-nup agreement because Elon hadn't disclosed the pending merger between his payments firm (not to be confused with his social media platform X) and another payments firm, Confinity. After that merger, the company renamed itself PayPal and sold two years later to eBay for $1.5 billion in stock; Musk's estimated take was at least $100 million. The lawsuit dragged on for two years, cost Elon at least $4 million in legal bills and ended with the judge ruling in favor of Elon. After all that, according to Elon, Justine got $20 million after taxes–half of which was the value of their home in Bel Air, and half to be paid out in monthly installments of $20,000 for clothing, shoes and discretionary items, plus payments to cover 'all of her household expenses and anything related to the children,' Elon wrote. (No word on the Roadster.) But she didn't get $10 million out of the house. Property records show Justine sold the 6,500-square-foot mansion in April 2011 for $6.5 million. A month later, she bought a 4,900-square-foot home in Los Angeles for $4.3 million. That house is now worth over $8 million. Meanwhile, the nearly $2 million cash she got from the Bel Air house sale could be worth upwards of $6.5 million today had she invested most of it in the stock market. Neither Justine nor a spokesperson for Elon responded to Forbes' requests for comment. Shortly after filing for divorce from Justine, Musk met British actress Talulah Riley. It didn't take long for them to fall for each other. 'It all happened very fast. We were engaged within two weeks of knowing each other,' Riley said in 2018 during a 60 Minutes story on Musk. 'I was 22. He was very charming and definitely the most interesting and eccentric person.' Musk was married to Riley twice: from 2010 to 2012, then again from 2013 to 2016. The pair did not have any children, but she reportedly still got a similar sum to Justine from the two divorces combined. In 2022 Riley called Musk 'the perfect ex-husband" and 'a great friend.' He hasn't married again, but was in a long-term relationship with singer Grimes, with whom he has three children, and has been spending time with Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis, with whom he has four children–part of his plan to repopulate the planet. According to the Journal, Zilis lives at a gated compound in Texas where Musk intended all his progeny and their mothers to reside. Justine Musk has kept a relatively low profile since her divorce. She published one short story in 2016, and she did have a blog for a while. It's safe to say she is not on board with her ex when it comes to Donald Trump. 'Electing a man for President of the United States even though he has an admitted history of sexually harassing women and has been found guilty of sexual assault and defamation in a court of law, seems the very definition of rape culture. Just saying,' she tweeted in January 2024. 'There is always something deeply ironic about a powerful white man complaining about being the object of a witch hunt,' she posted a day later. Justine has not tweeted for over a year. Presumably, Justine is not thrilled by Elon's treatment of Vivian Jenna Wilson, one of the twins, who is now a transgender woman, and whom Elon has publicly ridiculed along with the trans community as a whole. 'She is very supportive of my transition,' Vivian said about her mother in a March interview with Teen Vogue. 'When I came out to her, she pretended to be slightly surprised for 30 seconds and then was like, 'Yeah, honey. Okay.'' Her dad? 'He was not as supportive as my mom.' Wilson, age 20, told the magazine she's been financially independent from her father since she came out as trans in 2020. As for her legion of siblings, Vivian quipped: 'I will say I do not actually know how many siblings I have, if you include half-siblings. That's just a fun fact. It's really good for two truths and a lie. I found out about the Shivon Zilis thing the same time everyone else did. I had no idea before that.' There's a good chance even more Musk children are out there, or else certainly more on the way.
