Yahoo Finance Why Elon Musk’s Path May Not Be Your Key to Wealth
Elon Musk, with a net worth of over $194 billion, is clearly a success story. He co-founded the digital payment pioneer PayPal, and started SpaceX, the space exploration company that makes spacecraft and launch vehicles. He is chief executive officer of Tesla, the automobile manufacturer whose name has become synonymous with electric vehicles. He also acquired the social media company formerly known as Twitter, which he renamed X.
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So, how exactly did Musk build wealth — and can you do the same? Here’s what you need to know.
Musk’s Entrepreneurial Ventures
Musk was born in South Africa in 1972. His father is South African, and his mother is Canadian. At just 12 years old, he developed a video game which he later sold.
In 1995, while still in college, he founded Zip2, a company that provided digital maps and directories. That company was bought by Compaq, a computer manufacturer, four years later for $307 million. He then founded X.com, which became the digital money transfer platform PayPal. PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002.
Musk used the money he earned from the sale of PayPal to found SpaceX, with the idea that he could develop and build more cost-effective rockets that would make space exploration more accessible. SpaceX has developed and launched several successful rockets and is currently working with NASA to put astronauts back on the moon by 2025.
The company that Musk’s name is most closely associated with is one that he did not found. He made a significant investment in Tesla Motors in 2004, but the company was founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.
In 2022, Musk began buying up shares of social media platform Twitter. After much back-and-forth and several lawsuits, Musk ended up buying the platform for $44 billion and renaming it X.
Emulating Musk’s Success
While it would be nice to envision Musk’s success as a rags-to-riches story, he came from a wealthy family. His parents were successful in their own right: his mother was a successful model, and his father was a real estate developer. The senior Musk purchased a Zambian emerald mine when Elon was a child, and the family wealth was estimated to be over $100 million in the 1980s.
Musk has said that his success is due to his own initiative rather than his family’s money. However, coming from a wealthy family clearly provided him with some advantages. He was able to attend good schools, and he could take risks without worrying that he wouldn’t be able to pay the rent if things went south.
Following in Musk’s Footsteps
It’s probably not possible to replicate Musk’s success without the advantages he had from the start, but there are still some parts of his story that entrepreneurs can learn from.
Musk is a visionary, and many of his successful business ventures were born of his vision. He founded Zip2 and X.com, for example, because he realized the potential of the internet and the fact that people would soon be using it for navigation, financial services and other everyday tasks.
Musk’s belief that electric cars are the future led to his investment in Tesla, and he developed SpaceX because he believes that humankind must be able to live on other planets besides Earth.
So, what can we mere mortals learn from Elon Musk? No dream is too big, and no idea is too outrageous. Much of Musk’s wealth can be traced back to ventures that were revolutionary.
The other thing we can learn is to continually innovate. Musk didn’t stop at video games, digital maps or even electronic funds transfer. He continued to develop new technologies and use existing ones in new ways.
These are two lessons we can take from Musk’s success — even if we don’t come from a wealthy family.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Why Elon Musk’s Path May Not Be Your Key to Wealth
