If there is a trendy figure in the business world who is in the global elite, it’s the controversial founder of Tesla. Many people associate Elon more with his major controversies or some negative news surrounding his projects, which he leverages as one of his great strengths: controversy and the image of a rebellious businessman, turning it into an ally to achieve his goals.
ABOUT ELON REEVE MUSK
He was born on June 18, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa, to a Canadian mother and a father from that nation, which gives him both nationalities in addition to American, as he has lived in the United States since his youth after graduating in Economics and Physics.
He is considered a visionary for the type of companies he has founded, which aim for social impact and the harnessing of technological use. Currently, he has an estimated fortune of $241 billion, positioning him as the richest man on the planet according to Forbes’ ranking as of the close of August 2023.
Elon has fully embraced the North American business model: creating companies through private capital funds with initial development, and once validating the project’s potential, selling these corporations for significant profits.
Below is a brief summary of Musk’s associated companies.
Table 1. Companies Associated with Elon Musk
THE BORING COMPANY
As can be inferred from the translation of “boring,” Musk himself names this company as dull, and its business may not seem particularly enticing. This company is based on drilling and tunneling models, and technically, any infrastructure company can perform this business.
What sets apart tunneling through Boring from a construction company? Musk’s vision is to offer a more efficient and cost-effective drilling technology, with the goal of creating underground transit networks as a solution to traffic congestion in major cities. Could it be that Musk plans to create the underground cities of the future?
NEURALINK
This company could be seen in the field of biotechnology since it aims to treat diseases caused by neurological damage. However, its long-term goal is not only to treat and improve brain functionality but to establish a connection with artificial intelligence where a brain-computer interface will be capable of performing functions through impulses or direct commands.
This company is also not publicly traded and is still in the experimental project development stage, so we will have to wait to fully understand its potential. Initially, it appears to be highly lucrative because there is a lot of ground to cover in the biotechnology sector.
SPACE X
We have been sold more on the glamour of its projects than what truly gives it value and profitability, which is the satellite business. With this, Elon Musk has become the largest operator of satellites globally. Beyond future profitability in a telecommunications-based culture, it gives him a competitive advantage over large corporations.
Projects such as moon missions, Mars missions, space stations, defense, and space tourism are just the beginning of the potential that this company aims to achieve. Will we live long enough to travel to Mars on a SpaceX spacecraft?
TESLA
It is the most important, profitable, and well-known company of the magnate, through which he has achieved his wealth and credibility as an entrepreneur with the goal of promoting the production of electric cars. According to statista.com, Tesla has sold approximately 3.5 million cars from 2016 to 2022, an astonishing figure considering their cost (in the luxury segment) and being one of the youngest automakers in the market.
In the future, Tesla not only plans to be more aggressive in terms of production and sales of larger units but also aims to become the leading producer of electric motors, lithium batteries, chargers, and electric components for use in vehicles from different brands. This gives it immense potential, considering an electric world along with energy storage projects.
OPENAI
This could be considered the crown jewel, as if in Elon’s words, “AI could cause the destruction of civilization,” it seems to be one of his controversial business strategies, given that he is one of the main investors in the mentioned business.
One of the company’s main developments is based on Chatbots that create responsiveness in human interaction or communication, which will revolutionize content creation, services, and precise information synthesis.
X TWITTER
For many, the acquisition of Twitter was considered more of a billionaire’s whim than a potential source of profitability and even a move to control a social network to compete with his technological rival, Mark Zuckerberg. In my opinion, the bet is to have access to a massive source of information that allows the amplification of content on a global level. It is still early to know the plans that will allow this social network to become the most important and credible information channel in the world.
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Email: agarcia@hedeker.com
LinkedIn: Alberto García Medina
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