Tech visionary turned social media king Elon Musk's A-list enterprises and how much they are worth
Sometimes it feels like it's Elon Musk's world and we just live in it.
The incessantly inventive, endlessly eccentric billionaire has succeeded in buying Twitter, putting him in charge of the social media platform where the world debates, gathers, and bickers.
It's Musk's latest achievement, after he revolutionised the automobile business, launched his own rocket into space, and even amassed the world's largest wealth becoming the world's richest person last year, dethroning Amazon's Jeff Bezos.
Let's take a look at his companies, what they do and how much they are worth:
SpaceX
Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 to lower the cost of space exploration.
The private company that creates, manufactures, and launches sophisticated aircraft. Since its inception, SpaceXthe company has launched 144 rockets and spacecraft, 106 of which have successfully landed.
SpaceX is the only commercial firm that has successfully returned a spacecraft from low-Earth orbit and transported people to and from the International Space Station. Late last year sent it four tourists into space, on the first ever orbital mission with no professional astronauts on board.
The firm is the world's second most valuable private company, with a market capitalization of more than $100.3 billion.
(Photograph:WION Web Team)
Tesla
Tesla, an electric vehicle and clean energy corporation based in California, has generated headlines since its creation in 2003 as a result of its automotive achievements and sustainable energy endeavours.
Tesla stock has climbed dramatically since its first public offering in 2010, and it became the most valuable carmaker in summer 2020, with a market worth of almost $1.025 trillion.
(Photograph:WION Web Team)
SolarCity & Tesla Energy
SolarCity, a company that sells solar energy generation equipment door-to-door, was acquired by Tesla in 2016. The company was started in 2004 by two of Musk's cousins.
SolarCity became the United States' second-largest provider of solar power systems by 2013 and is valued at $2.6 Billion.
In 2016, Tesla combined it with its battery energy storage products division to form Tesla Energy.
(Photograph:WION Web Team)
Neuralink
Musk co-founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology startup business, in 2016 with the goal of integrating the human brain with artificial intelligence (AI) by developing devices that are placed in the brain to allow it to merge with machines.
He described one of the company's early gadgets as "a Fitbit in your skull" that might soon heal paralysis, deafness, blindness, and other ailments at a live demonstration in August 2020.
However, many neuroscientists and journals dismissed these claims as very "speculative" and "neuroscience theatre."
The company is currently valued at between $500 Million and $1 Billion.
(Photograph:WION Web Team)
The Boring Company
Elon Musk launched The Boring Company, which provides infrastructure and tunnel building services in 2016. It began as a division of SpaceX before becoming a separate and entirely independent company in 2018.
Its current and proposed initiatives are aimed at intra-city ("loop") transportation systems.
Early inspiration for the concept came from Musk's frustration with Los Angeles traffic and what he perceives as the constraints of the city's two-dimensional transit network.
The company is valued at $5.6 Billion.
(Photograph:WION Web Team)