Elon Musk is just full of surprises. After his initial success with PayPal, Musk began making his way into the electric cars industry, which resulted in his company we all now know as Tesla. And alongside his earthly projects, his other project, SpaceX, might launch us to Mars.
Elon Musk does not set out to solve simple problems or dream up average ideas. He is a visionary whose career has been defined by manifesting startling ambition and tenacity. As a billionaire, the South African-born, Canadian-American, Musk has now revealed his new home is actually a humble tiny house!
Is He For Real?
The famous tech mogul has been married three times, dated Hollywood celebs, and now has a child with musician Grimes. That much is common knowledge. But Elon Musk still remains a fascinating — if eccentric — figure.
While Musk is able to afford a hefty price tag and choose to live in the world's most lavish mansions, he appears to be quite comfortable with his tiny property, worth $50,000.
He Sold All His Real Estate
So why would a billionaire like Elon Musk want to make such an unexpected move and downsize? Apparently, Musk has recently sold much of his real estate portfolio, also listing his property to focus on SpaceX and his mission to Mars.
Or could it be that he's decided to live way below his means in an attempt to prepare himself for his future on Mars?
His New Home
Back in June 2021, Elon Musk shared some intimate details about his new prefab home via Twitter: “My new home is actually a ~$50k house in Boca Chica, which is situated at the Starbase that I rent from SpaceX," he tweeted.
This seems to be an unprecedented move, even for Elon Musk. The serial entrepreneur's new home in Texas is much more modest than his previous homes.
Downsizing?
Musk made the decision to downsize last year, broadcasting his decision via a post on social media: "I've sold almost all my personal possessions. I won't even own a house".
The tech mogul went on to list all his houses, apart from this massive mansion in a beautiful and affluent neighborhood in San Francisco, which recently was put on the market for $38 million. When this property sells, Musk will have relinquished all of his personal real estate properties.
Living in Texas With Grimes
Elon has parted ways with six of his properties, which happens to be quite a collection of real estate. One of his properties included a ranch-style house estate that was once owned by the famous star, Gene Wilder.
Not long after listing his properties, Musk announced his plan to move to Texas, where his current partner, famous musician Grimes, lives. The couple has a son together named X Æ A-XII, known as X.
A Unique Couple
As unconventional as this couple is — they have both expressed interest in living on Mars, which is quite a lofty concept, but one that Elon is currently exploring through SpaceX.
While Elon and Grimes have yet to tie the knot, we are pretty sure they will do so in a totally non-traditional way, maybe outside the Earth's atmosphere?
A 'Boxable' Home
The Ceo of SpaceX and Tesla, who was once the wealthiest person in the world, is now living in a prefabricated 375-square-foot home that was bought for $50,000! Elon now lives in his new compact home designed by a housing startup company called Boxabl.
Boxabl's housing units can be set up in just 24 hours, their groundbreaking plans can fold up for easy shipment, before being assembled as a home onsite.
The Bare Necessities
Musk now reportedly lives with just the bare necessities; his home is basically one large area that's been partitioned into a living area and bedroom, there's also a fully furnished kitchen and bathroom. The trailblazing company was co-founded in 2017 by designer Galiano and his father, Paolo.
The main goal of this prefab homing company is to produce housing at a mass-scale while keeping it at a price that’s reasonable,” The founders said. “We would like to make housing measurably more affordable for everyone.”
Falcon 9
The news about Elon Musk's new home broke in November 2020, but it was only after we connected the dots that we knew about it. The housing company had posted a promo video, showing a new unit they had delivered to a 'very special' client in Boca Chica, Texas.
What really gave it away though, was the Falcon 9 poster on the unit's door. Falcon 9 was a rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX.
Renovating His New House
When talking about his new home, Musk did add that he renovated his new one, outfitting it to his taste, which means it is worth $70,000 today, still much less than that Tesla Model S.
His new home is completely different from his previous homes. It's totally practical, especially compared to the lavish properties he used to own. Billionaires typically live in much more luxurious homes than most.
Expanding Starbase
Elon Musk and 'Boxabl' seem to be working very closely, seeing as they offered a Casita unit being assembled on Mars as possible accommodation for their astronauts.
'Boxabl' also made a bid to use its tiny homes for the establishment of Starbase. This will allow their site to expand and extend beyond its potential with housing units that are way more compact than a typical apartment.
Elon's Influence
Musk isn't the only one who's known for posting strange content on his social media accounts. But the difference between him and others is that what he says does have genuine implications.
For one thing, people listen to him, so no matter if he's saying it's a joke or suggesting anything a bit weird, others will follow suit.
His Eccentricities
During his appearance earlier in 2021 on 'Saturday Night Live,' Elon Musk made public that he has Asperger's syndrome, which is a form of neurodiversity. "Tonight, I'm making history as the first person to host Saturday Night Live with Asperger's.
Or at least I am the first to admit it," he said. So how does his condition manifest itself? Musk further explained, "When I speak, I don't always have much variation or intonation, which I've been told makes for great comedy."
Defying His Critics
From a young age, Musk’s interests were in science fiction, philosophy, and fantasy novels. All these are now revealed in his idealistic outlook and concern with progress and development—and his corporate career. As one of the wealthiest people in the world, he works in what he has accepted as essential to our future, from the shift to renewable energy to colonizing Mars.
He has disrupted industries, defied critics, and made progress in all his endeavors, from Tesla Motors to SpaceX.
His Charitable Spending Spree
Just recently, Musk seems to have been on his most aggressive streak of philanthropic giving, donating so much so quickly that his recipients can barely keep up. His most generous donation was made to the winner of a climate contest, to the value of $100 million!
Over the first quarter of 2021, the Tesla founder committed nearly $150 million directly to charities and foundations. That generous amount more than doubles all of his donations before 2021, which amounted to about $100 million based on reported estimates.
His Controversial Reputation
In his professional life, Musk has demonstrated a similar speed and ability for innovation. The inventiveness and creativity at SpaceX and Tesla have turned Musk into something of an entertainer, which, if implemented into charity, could help and even repair Musk’s controversial reputation.
Even with this burst of charitable giving, Musk still has quite a way to go before he can be named among the great philanthropists.
Musk's New Project
In no more than 14 years since Musk founded his aerospace company, SpaceX, the genius tech mogul has successfully built a thriving private space program. This is quite the balancing act, as he also has his Tesla empire and he still manages other ventures, like his crazy moonshot project called the Hyperloop.
The concept has explicitly been "open-sourced" by Elon Musk and his company SpaceX, trying to encourage others to further develop bouncing off of their ideas.
SpaceX
His aerospace operation now employs thousands of people. It has earned exclusive deals and contracts with NASA and made tentative plans to set up camp on Mars, to haul containers of cargo to the International Space Station, and has accomplished some profoundly unprecedented launches and landings.
Aside from the news headlines, there's still quite a bit many don't know about the serial entrepreneur.
His Love for Rocket Science
As if running several thriving companies wasn't enough, here’s another little detail about Elon: he basically learned the complicated subject matter that we call rocket science all by himself.
According to a former employee at SpaceX, Musk thought up many of the company’s most pioneering ideas just by reading a couple of textbooks.
SpaceX Almost Ruined Tesla
Back in 2008, Elon faced some bleak financial realities, and it seemed like Tesla might take a nosedive towards its own demise. The California-based aerospace giant was hemorrhaging money, and after all the work and money, was still without a car.
Still, Musk had already put in so much of his own fortune into SpaceX, so there was no way of saving Tesla on his own. However, in the last hour, he managed to gather enough funds from friends to keep Tesla afloat.
Going Public
Back in 2012, the word on the street was that SpaceX might be approaching an IPO, but Elon was quick as a fox to shoot them down. He publicly announced that the Aerospace company will delay any potential IPO until after their space transporter regularly flies.
The Colonial transporter is the spaceship that would be responsible for shuttling masses of people to Mars. Apparently, he doesn't want greedy hands impeding his long-term goals by campaigning for short-term payoffs.
Plans to Reach Mars
Even with his impressive list of accomplishments, many people align SpaceX solely with Elon Musk’s aspirational vision to inhabit the Red Planet and establish its very first human colony.
And sure, he has spoken candidly about his aspirations to live out his final years on Mars. With all that's been said, traveling to Mars, let alone colonizing it, is many years away.
Interplanetary Transport System
But, Elon Musk did present his new and extremely ambitious plan to create a transport system that could eventually make big voyages to Mars plausible, relatively affordable, and also quite fast.
Still, Elon Musk has presented his incredibly enterprising plan to build a system of interplanetary transport that would one day make trips to Mars possible. His much-anticipated scheme includes the blueprint of how long it would take and how much it will cost.
Colonizing the Red Planet
Musk revealed his vision through SpaceX's plan to create a 'multi-planetary species' by colonizing Mars. The intricate system entails huge spaceships and rocket launchers, that can seat up to 200 people, blasting those daring enough on board to Mars.
The entire trip is set to take around 80 days, with one pitstop to refuel their ships.
If All Goes Well
Elon Musk alleges the operation would offer trips to Mars more affordable, announcing a ticket to Mars should cost approximately $200,000.
The brilliant CEO and inventor added that it's more reasonably priced compared to the traditional means which would cost about $10 billion. Various reports have mentioned, Musk stated that if all goes well, it could be achieved within about 10 years and cost approximately $10 billion to complete.
Sooner Than Expected
Musk has confessed the risks involved and even reckoned that accidents "will be expected," according to the news reports.
Nevertheless, there is the probability that people will eventually land on Mars, and if Elon Musk and his company are involved with this mission, it'll happen much sooner than we expect. Perhaps, best of all, some of us might also be able to go.
What's With Their Names?
NASA has definitely used some truly inspiring names for their projects but thanks to Musk’s love of Science Fiction, SpaceX comes first in this naming game. The company's Dragon spacecraft owes its namesake to the hit "Puff, Magic Dragon," by Peter, Paul & Mary.
As for both the Falcon rockets, their names were given in honor of Star Wars. If anything, these names are meant as a defiant display in the face of Musk's critics who consider his plans impossible.
Building a Roller Coaster for SpaceX
It should come as no surprise that tech giants in Silicon Valley are doing their best when it comes to job perks, trying to outdo one another in a bid to keep their employees as happy as they can.
It now seems that Elon Musk is keen to join in on the game. He mentioned in his autobiography that he had been thinking about building an actual roller coaster ride inside his factories, just for his employees.
Global WiFi network
Another ambitious plan of his involves launching thousands of micro-satellites into Earth's orbit to initiate an international satellite internet network, which intends to bring quality WiFi to all corners of the earth.
More recently, the company obtained over $1 billion to finance the project from partners like Google and has also filed for a testing license to begin preparations.
NASA
In 2011 NASA ceased its Shuttle program. Since then, their astronauts have been getting lifts with the Russians up to the International Space Station. When we think about the political climate between the two countries, it isn’t exactly ideal.
In an effort to ditch this outsourcing, NASA recently secured a contract with SpaceX to establish new spaceflight capabilities so that the US can launch their astronauts once again.
He Hates Being the Boss
Elon Musk lives for this sort of impossible challenge, and his track record speaks for itself, but in a rather unsurprising twist, Musk has revealed that he does not enjoy being the boss of Tesla.
What isn't exactly surprising, is that he has said he would much rather spend his time on design and engineering.
Why Did Musk Start the Boring Company?
Musk started the Boring Company as he understood how frustrating waiting in traffic can be. He saw the limitations with the current two-dimensional transportation network as his early inspiration for the project.
During an interview at a TED conference, Musk made a guess and said that The Boring Company project takes about 3% of his time, making this venture a personal hobby.
Free Rides?!
The company is dedicated to excavating tunnels underground to create a new mode of transport. Musk recently shared that Boring is on the verge of opening the service to the public for free test rides, "but they are still pending final approval."
The tunnels will be transporting people around once they're officially open, Musk mentioned. Musk reiterated his project's commitment to pedestrians, making it clear that the electric pods running along the tunnel floor will primarily be used for public transport vehicles, not privately owned cars.
Musk's Vision
A conceptual promo video was released to show what the process could be in a world unaffected by red tape and environmental worries. Of course, the car used is a Tesla.
Once the rides in LA are available they will be free as test rides. Musk still claims that riding through the tunnel will be cheaper than the price of a bus ticket!
Las Vegas
Nevada's tourism agency expressed its interest in reviving a contract to develop and operate an underground tunnel system with Elon Musk. The tunnels would transport commuters around its centers and casinos. The system is said to host more than 1 million annually and would cost $35 million to $55 million.
The Las Vegas government will pay Musk once the contract is approved. With Musk facing recent issues due to his social media habits, officials and residents from Chicago and Los Angeles have expressed their skepticism on whether the project will happen. Still, Las Vegas tourism officials show no doubts about the entrepreneur.
Autonomous Driving
Here's the proposed conceptual entrance of the Las Vegas Convention Center loop. The CEO of Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority told Associated Press that he finds the proposal to be very innovative and that it can be an attraction all in itself. Although it isn't finalized yet, it was mentioned that it would have three to four stations located at the center hall's entrances.
Travelers would be transported to each of these entrances through electric vehicles that travel through the tunnels. It includes Tesla's Model 3, Model X, and one that can carry 16 people and would be driven autonomously.
Sparking Skepticism
The need for a system like this arose as it might take a maximum of two miles for visitors to fully navigate the area once The Las Vegas Convention Center expansion has been completed.
Musk faced a lawsuit from nearby residents due to traffic obstruction caused by his test tunnel project in Los Angeles. It sparked skepticism that the same might happen in Las Vegas. Although, it seems that the city is "committed to innovation" for "as long as it (the tunnel project) continues to make sense."
Building a Tunnel
The conceptual art by The Boring Company owned by Elon Musk demonstrates an autonomous electric vehicle built for high occupancy that would run between tunnels leading through the exhibition halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The president of The Boring Company, Steve Davis, said that the speed at which the vehicles will travel inside the tunnels would depend on the number of stations. They currently test the vehicles every day in Hawthorne, California.
Some Serious Predictions
Elon Musk recently tweeted some serious predictions about Tesla as well as the electric car market in general. While the eccentric tech genius does have a habit of making some eerie comments, this one was pretty positive.
The Tesla CEO took to Twitter and posted that "in seven years, 30 million new electric vehicles will be produced per year. In fact, it may even happen faster: "Maybe in six years, even five years is possible but still unlikely," Musk tweeted.
Tesla's Impact
Seeing as Musk is trying to change the world as it is, many readers understood his comment as meaning Tesla alone will be responsible for producing all these cars by 2030. While it is likely, Musk was quick to correct his followers, saying that he was referring to the market as a whole and not only his company.
Though he did say that if all goes according to plan, his company will probably be responsible for producing around 20 million by or probably before the year 2030. "That will be the total market, not just Tesla. We do manage to see Tesla making 20 million vehicles per year probably before 2030," he tweeted.
The Road Ahead
To get some perspective, 2.1 million electric cars were sold globally in 2019, with Tesla selling 367,500 vehicles that year alone. It's fair to say that it looks like the market and Tesla specifically is heading in that direction.
Still, there they have quite the journey ahead before reaching that much-coveted number. In the second quarter of 2020, the company produced a little over 82,000 vehicles.
An Expensive Price-tag
If Tesla wants to grow, it might have to start appealing to different markets. Unfortunately, this brand only seems to be available to people willing to spend a pretty penny.
Luckily, they have started gearing up for a cheaper product and will be ready in a few years to sell the $25,000 model.
Neuralink
In 2016, Musk co-founded a neurotechnology startup called Neuralink. The company aims to integrate the human brain with artificial intelligence by creating devices to be implanted in the human brain that will merge the brain with machines. It's been proposed that these devices could also improve memory.
At an exhibition held in August 2020, Musk described their device as "a Fitbit in your brain" that could someday cure different illnesses, even ones diagnosed at birth or different disabilities. Many experts have criticized his claims and reported them as "highly speculative" and "neuroscience pageantry."
A Major Milestone
Elon Musk has been taking leaps with his new tech-brain startup, but this time, pigs are involved. In a live-streamed demo, Gertrude the pig eventually came out of hiding, with a wireless link in its skull. It got pretty interesting. The link relayed her brain activity in real-time to a screen.
The pig didn't seem particularly aware of much and just sniffed around on her pen stage, unaware of this live feed being relayed to a bunch of surrounding scientists and viewers.
Like a Fitbit For Brain
The coin-sized device is inserted into a tiny hole that is drilled into the skull and picks up signals from the brain using over a thousand thread-like electrodes.
The chip uses Bluetooth to then transmit data within a range of up to 32 feet. Neuralink's uses have come straight out of a sci-fi film.
A Medical Break-through
The brain machine could be potentially used to treat Parkinson's, epilepsy, and depression. Musk has pitched this as a way to “achieve a sort of symbiosis with artificial intelligence,” to prevent an AI apocalypse.
According to Musk, the FDA has already granted Neuralink status as a “breakthrough device.” This means that its review process could be expedited and put on track for approval as a medical device sooner than we realize.
How It Works
The first human trials will aim to benefit people who’ve lost their movability after spinal cord injuries.
“If we could sense what people want to do with their limbs, we can do a second implant where the initial injury happened and create a kind of neural push,” he said. “I’m confident that it will eventually be possible to restore somebody’s full-body motion.”
The Dangers of AI
Despite his ongoing projects, Musk has repeatedly spoken about the potential threats of artificial intelligence, believing it can possibly be the biggest danger to humanity. Musk's outspoken remarks about AI have caused quite a stir, though.
According to CNBC, the AI research community isn't exactly fond of Elon Musk. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Musk have also differed on the subject, with Zuckerberg calling his predictions "pretty irresponsible."