Elon Musk

About

Elon Musk is a South African-Canadian-American entrepreneur known for co-founding several largely successful companies including: Zip2, PayPal, Tesla Motors, and SpaceX.

Career

In 1995, Musk co-founded the web software company Zip2.^[1] In 1999, Musk co-founded the online financial services company X.com, serving as CEO of the company until October 2000. In 2001, the company merged with Confinity to become PayPal. In June 2002, Musk founded the aerospace manufacturing company SpaceX. In 2004, Musk became a co-founder of Tesla Motors, leading the automotive and energy storage company's Series A round of investment. In July 2006, the energy service provider SolarCity was founded by brothers Peter and Lyndon Rive, who were inspired to create the company based on a suggestion from Musk. In 2008, Musk became CEO of Tesla Motors. In 2015, Musk unveiled the not-for-profit artificial intelligence (AI) research company OpenAI,^[3] which aims to create open-source friendly AI technology that is helpful for humanity.

Online History

In June 2009, Musk created the @elonmusk^[2] Twitter account, garnering upwards of 18.8 million followers in the next nine years. As of February 2018, Musk also maintains the @elonmusk Instagram with 5.3 million followers.^[5] In February of 2013, TED released a video in which Musk discusses many of his projects (shown below).

On January 6th, 2015, Musk participated in an "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) thread on the /r/IAmA^[4] subreddit where it accumulated more than 8,600 votes (97% upvoted) and 11,200 comments.

Tesla Home Energy Unveiling

On May 1st, 2015, the Tesla channel uploaded footage of Musk presenting the Tesla Powerwall rechargeable battery, which stores electricity for domestic use (below left). In three years, the video received just below a million views and 5,000 likes. On Oct 28, 2016, the Tesla channel uploaded Musk's unveiling of the Tesla Powerwall 2 and new Tesla Solar Roof products (below right) which received 1.4 million views and 17,000 likes in 2 years.

SpaceX Successes

On December 21nd, 2015, SpaceX successfully landed the first Falcon 9 rocket booster. In a tweet, Musk confirmed the landing of the booster, as well as the deployment of the satellites that were aboard the rocket (seen below). As of February 2018, the tweet received more than 19,000 likes.

On February 6th, 2018, SpaceX successfully launched their Falcon Heavy reusable super heavy-lift launch vehicle. That day, Musk tweeted video footage from the vehicle, showing a mannequin dressed in a space suit driving a Tesla Roadster inside the Falcon Heavy (shown below) which received more than 450,000 likes in 24 hours.

Buy Elon Musk a Couch

On April 13th, 2018, CBS aired an interview with Elon Musk about the production of Model 3. During the interview, in which he discussed production problems, he showed off the couch in his office that he sometimes sleeps on (shown below, left).

On April 16th, GoFundMe ^[6] user Ben Sullins launched a fundraising campaign to "Buy Elon Musk a Couch." In the description of the page, he wrote, "Elon Musk is transforming our world to run on sustainable energy and use sustainable forms of transportation. Lately, he's been sleeping at the Fremont factory in an effort to improve Model 3 production. This is the couch he is sleeping on As a community, we cannot let this stand. Let's band together to buy Elon a new couch to sleep on!" Within two days, more than 450 donors raised more than $5,000 toward the purchase of a couch.

Two days later, CBS aired a segment about the fundraiser. Within 24 hours, the video of the segment received more than 3,000 views on YouTube (shown below, right).

Several other media outlets covered the fundraiser, including Mashable, ^[7] CNET,^[8] TechCrunch^[9] and more.

Pravda

On May 23rd, 2018, Musk tweeted that he would be launching a website that allows users to rate the truth of any news article and the credibility of journalists. The site would be tentatively called "Pravda," meaning "truth." He tweeted,^[13] "Going to create a site where the public can rate the core truth of any article & track the credibility score over time of each journalist, editor & publication. Thinking of calling it Pravda …" The post (shown below) received more than 43,000 retweets and 198,000 likes in 24 hours.

Musk continued to tweet about the company over the next few hours. Shortly after the initial post, he tweeted,^[14] "Even if some of the public doesn’t care about the credibility score, the journalists, editors & publications will. It is how they define themselves." The post (shown below, left) received more than 4,400 retweets and 43,000 likes in 24 hours.

He also posted a poll^[15] about the site with the options "Yes, this would be good" and "No, media are awesome." The poll (shown below, center) received more than 11,000 retweets, 27,000 likes and 675,000 votes in 24 hours.

Finally, he tweeted,^[16] "Amazingly, the 'media is awesome' vote is declining, despite hundreds of articles attacking this very poll🤔." The post (shown below, right) received more than 1,300 retweets and 18,000 likes in 24 hours.

That night, Twitter^[17] user @meharris tweeted an image of the incorporation documents of Pravda and wrote, "Er, he's not kidding folks. I noticed that one of Musk's agents had incorporated Pravda Corp in California back in October last year. I was wondering what it was all about…" The post (shown below) received more than 800 retweets and 5,300 likes in 24 hours.

Several media outlets covered and criticized Musk's announcement, including, The Washington Post,^[18] Business Insider,^[19] Fobes,^[20] The LA Times^[21] and more.

Tesla Sabotage

On June 17th, 2018, Musk sent out a company-wide email to Tesla employees announcing that an unnamed employee confessed to sabotaging a Tesla plant in Freemont, California. In the email, Tesla claimed the employee made malicious changes to the company's computer code and leaked sensitive company data to outside parties, motivated by wanting "a promotion that he did not receive." Musk also speculated that people outside of the company may have been involved, including Wall Street short-sellers:

"There are a long list of organizations that want Tesla to die. These include Wall Street short-sellers, who have already lost billions of dollars and stand to lose a lot more. Then there are the oil & gas companies, the wealthiest industries in the world -- they don't love the idea of Tesla advancing the progress of solar power & electric cars. Don't want to blow your mind, but rumor has it that those companies are sometimes not super nice. Then there are the multitude of big gas/diesel car company competitors. If they're willing to cheat so much about emissions, maybe they're willing to cheat in other ways?"^[22]

On June 19th, shares of TSLA fell 5%.

Farting Unicorn Mug

On February 4th, 2017, Musk tweeted photographs of a unicorn mug, created and sold by Colorado-based artist Tom Edwards,^[24] along with the message "Rainbows, unicorns and electric cars" (shown below).^[23] The tweet has since been removed.

On March 29th, Musk tweeted a recreation of the unicorn picture drawn on the Tesla sketch pad application (shown below).^[25] The tweet has since been removed.

On June 26th, 2018, Thomas' daughter tweeted a link to an article about Tesla's use of the artwork along with the message "hey y’all Grimes’ boyfriend ripped off my dad’s art!" Musk responded by noting that the sketch pad drawing was created by someone else, claiming "we gained no financial benefit." Musk addressed a potential lawsuit, referring to it as "kinda lame."

That day, The Guardian published an interview with Edwards, who criticized Musk for using the unicorn artwork as an icon on the Tesla operating system and in a Christmas message.

"It’s part of their branding now. I love the fact that it’s in the cars, but I just want them to do the right thing and pay me adequately for it. Elon Musk can be a hero for standing up for artists’ rights."

"Funding Secured" Tweet

On August 7th, 2018, Musk tweeted that he was "considering taking Tesla private at $420," followed by the claim "funding secured" (shown below). Within 24 hours, the tweet gained over 80,400 likes and 15,000 retweets.^[26]

That day, shares in Tesla rose seven percent before trading of the company was halted. Meanwhile, Twitter users began posting various joke tweets using the expression "funding secured" (shown below). Also on August 7th, the Twitter reactions were highlighted on Mashable^[28] and Twitter Moments.^[29] The following day, former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt revealed that Musk could face penalities if his tweet contained a false statement.^[27]

SEC Lawsuit

On September 27th, 2018, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.) filed a lawsuit against Musk, accusing him of committing fraud and misleading investors for posting the tweet. The suit called for Musk to be prevented from serving as an executive in publicly traded companies, including Tesla. That day, co-director of the SEC's enforcement division alleged that the $420 price was chosen by Musk "because of the significance of that number in marijuana culture and his belief that his girlfriend would be amused by it." Meanwhile, the news site Bloomberg published an emailed statement from Musk, who claimed characterized the lawsuit as "unjustified":

"This unjustified action by the SEC leaves me deeply saddened and disappointed. I have always taken action in the best interests of truth, transparency and investors. Integrity is the most important value in my life and the facts will show I never compromised this in any way.”

SEC Settlement

On September 29th, Musk agreed to resign as chairman of Tesla and pay a $20 million fine. While Musk would be able to remain CEO of the company, the settlement requires his chairman position to be replaced with an independent chairman and that he must not seek re-election for three years. On October 1st, Musk tweeted a YouTube link to the music video for the 1991 hip-hop song "O.P.P." by Naughty by Nature (shown below).

That day, Tesla stock rose 16% to over $310 per share, erasing losses that occurred the previous week.

Tham Luang Cave Rescue Involvement

During the Tham Luang Cave Rescue, when several boys on a Thai soccer team were trapped underground, Musk attempted to get involved by constructing an escape pod for them. On July 5th, Musk tweeted ^[5] that he would be making an escape pod to help bring the boys trapped in the cave to safety. He wrote in three tweets, "Some good feedback from cave experts in Thailand. Iterating with them on an escape pod design that might be safe enough to try. Also building an inflatable tube with airlocks. Less likely to work, given tricky contours, but great if it does […] Got more great feedback from Thailand. Primary path is basically a tiny, kid-size submarine using the liquid oxygen transfer tube of Falcon rocket as hull. Light enough to be carried by 2 divers, small enough to get through narrow gaps. Extremely robust […] Continue to be amazed by the bravery, resilience & tenacity of kids & diving team in Thailand. Human character at its best." The post (shown below) received more than 25,000 retweets and 200,000 likes, collectively.

Three days later, he published a video of the pod being tested. The post (shown below) received more than 10,000 retweets and 55,000 likes.

On July 10th, all 13 imprisoned members of the soccer team were freed. That day, Elon Musk tweeted,^[7] "Just returned from Cave 3. Mini-sub is ready if needed. It is made of rocket parts & named Wild Boar after kids’ soccer team. Leaving here in case it may be useful in the future. Thailand is so beautiful." The post (shown below) received more than 79,000 retweets and 270,000 likes in 24 hours.

While some praised Musk for his efforts, others mocked him for not providing any real assistance. Twitter^[8] user @EnriqueDiazAlva tweeted, "The unsung heroes here are the security personnel tasked with keeping Elon Musk from fucking up the rescue." The post (shown below, left) received more than 75 retweets and 390 likes in 24 hours.

Twitter^[9] user @IllyBocean tweeted a photoshopped scene from The Simpsons in which Elon says his work is "done here." When questioned about what exactly he did, Musk disappears. The post (shown below, right) received more than 1,000 retweets and 5,600 likes in 24 hours.

That day, Twitter^[10] published a Moments page, archiving the reaction to Musk's submarine.

"Pedophile" Accusation Controversy

Commenting on Musk's involvement in the rescue, British diver Vern Unsworth called Musk's involvement a PR stunt.^[30] Musk responded by tweeting “We will make one (video) of the mini-sub/pod going all the way to Cave 5 no problem. Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it.”

Musk later deleted the tweet and apologized, saying on July 18th, "My words were spoken in anger after Mr. Unsworth said several untruths & suggested I engage in a sexual act with the mini-sub, which had been built as an act of kindness & according to specifications from the dive team leader."

On August 28th, Musk tweeted that he found it strange that Unsworth hadn't sued him, implying that Unsworth hadn't done so because he had something to hide (shown below, left). However, Unsworth's lawyer, Lin Wood, had contacted Musk about potentially pursuing legal action against him on behalf of his client. Wood tweeted a screenshot of his e-mail to Musk in response to Musk's tweet (shown below, right).

On September 17th, 2018, Reuters^[31] reported that Unsworth was suing Musk for $75,000. In addition to the pedophile tweets, Musk had apparently e-mailed Buzzfeed News to claim Unsworth was a child rapist and sex trafficker.

Teslaquila

On April 1st, 2018, Musk tweeted a prank in which Tesla was going bankrupt, and that he had passed out from drinking too much Tesla-branded tequila, "Teslaquila" (shown below).

Over six months later, on October 12th, 2018, CNBC reported that Tesla had filed a trademark for "Teslaquila."^[32] The filing was an "intent to use" trademark, meaning that while Teslaquila is not currently in production, the company may use it in the future. Musk responded to the news on Twitter by saying "Teslaquila" was "coming soon"^[33] and he provided a "visual approximation" of what the product may look like (shown below). The news was covered by Daily Dot,^[34] Fortune,^[35] Fox News,^[36] and others.

Dank Memes Tweet

On October 25th, 2018, Musk posted a tweet asking for viewers to send him "ur dankest memes!!" (shown below). Within 24 hours, the tweet gained over 294,000 likes and 64,800 retweets.^[37]

That evening, a Twitter Moments^[39] page titled "Elon Musk’s call for ‘dank memes’ might have backfired" was published, showcasing various humorous responses to the tweet (shown below). The following day, The Daily Dot^[38] published an article about the tweet titled "Elon Musk tweets completely out-of-touch request for dank memes," highlighting other responses to his tweet.

Reddit Posts

On October 28th, Redditor Weak_Tomato submitted a screenshot of Tommy Wiseau in The Room with the caption "Oh, hi Elon" (shown below, left). Within 48 hours, the post gained more than 24,200 points (92% upvoted) and 180 comments on /r/memes.^[43] The same day, Redditor DMC777 posted an Epic Handshake meme about being unsure about the authenticity of both Elon Musk and Donald Trump tweet screenshots to /r/dankmemes/^[42]

On October 29th, 2018, Redditor Tedious_Turtle submitted a photograph of a classroom projector with a message about Musk browsing the me_irl subreddit (shown below).^[40] On October 30th, The Daily Dot^[41] published an article titled "Reddit is hunting for Elon Musk’s alleged secret account," noting that some Redditors began speculating the Elon Musk's Reddit username was /u/ElongatedMuskrat.

Billie Eilish Tweet

On February 25th, 2019, Redditor rabidspleen uploaded a picture to r/dankmemes^[45] of
Billie Eilish, young Elon Musk and an air conditioning pair coil featuring a version of Albers Einstein copypasta reading, "One day, Billie Eilish was walking outside and she saw a boy crying. She said to him 'Here kid, have a roll of Air Conditioning Pair Coil 1/4' x 3/8' 410A 20m Polyethylene UV protected insulated Copper heat resistant to 120C. You're destined to do great things That boy was Elon Musk" (shown below, left). The post gained over 73,400 points (84% upvoted) in three months. On May 16th, Elon Musk^[44] tweeted the image saying "And I am forever grateful" (shown below, right). His tweet accumulated over 504,000 likes and 92,200 retweets in a day.

2B Fan Art

On June 15th, 2019, Elon Musk^[46] tweeted a fan art image of Nier Automata character 2B by artist Meli Melo without crediting them (shown below, left). The tweet has since been deleted. He continued in responses to avoid crediting the artist and saying crediting the artist "destroys the medium" (shown below, right).

The next day, The original artist @MagaliProd^[47] tweeted, "OMGGGGGG, IIITTSSSSSS MEEEEEE 😱 My account explodes. JUSTE THANKS A LOT ALL for protecting my art and for notifying me 💙 (Ps: Elon you're not cool for haven't credited me 😖)" (shown below, left). The tweet garnered over 12,800 likes and 3,600 retweets in a day. Later that night @elonmusk^[48] tweeted, "Just deleted my Twitter account" (shown below, right) which gained over 175,400 likes and 19,700 retweets in a day. He also changed his profile name to Daddy DotCom, before reversing the change on the following day.

Additionally, Musk changed his Twitter profile picture to what appeared to be a solid black image. However, increasing the brightness level of the image revealed a hidden message reading "f art".^[49] Sometime later, Musk changed the image to another one containing hidden "i 🖤 fanart" message^[50] before again changing it to a picture referencing lyrics from RIP Harambe rap song on June 18th, 2019.

Teletubbies Tweet

On August 4th, 2019, Elon Musk^[51] tweeted a picture of the Teletubbies with the caption, " Teletub 🐝" (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 108,800 likes and 10,000 retweets in a day. Immediately after, he tweeted^[52] a photoshopped picture of four Queen Elizabeths in a Teletubbie landscape with the caption, "Queen 🐝" (shown below, right). The tweet garnered over 125,800 likes and 15,600 retweets in a day.

Twitter users immediately responded by mocking either Musk referencing Teletubbies on Twitter or his use of the bee emoji. Twitter user @IAmStaka^[53] tweeted, a photoshopped image of the Teletubbies with Musk's face captioned, "Elon🐝" (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 270 likes in a day. @RadioAshgarde^[54] tweeted, "Elon, should we🐝worried about you?" (shown below, right). The next day Dexerto^[55] reported on the incident saying, "Regardless, nobody has been able to figure out why Musk made the post – or if there is significance behind it. Yet, knowing his history with memes, it’s likely just something he finds hilarious and we’ll never get an answer to."

Not Sure About Good Of Twitter

On November 1st, 2019, Elon Musk^[56] tweeted three separate times saying, "Not sure about good of Twitter", "Reddit still seems good though" and "Going offline" and each tweet gained over 80,000 likes in three days (shown below, left). Reddit's Twitter^[57] account responded to Musk's tweet saying "Thanks, Elon" (shown below, right). Many people were confused by the Tweets and responded by asking him if he was okay. That same day, when Redditor steepleton replied to some confusion about Musk's Tweets on r/outoftheloop^[58] by saying, "He’s about to go to court over calling the guy who rescued those kids from a cave a pedo for insulting musks little submarine. He’s probably been advised to shut his idiot mouth on social media and stay off the weed" referring to the "Pedophile" Accusation Controversy. On November 2nd, Mashable^[59] reported on his tweets using the headline "Sad internet boy Elon Musk decides to log off. Again." The article referred to several other incidents in which Musk decided to take a break from Twitter.

Personal Life

Musk was born on June 28th, 1971, in Transvaal, South Africa. Musk received a degree in physics from the Penn's College of Arts and Sciences and a degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In 2004, Musk attended the Burning Man festival in Nevada, where he originally thought up the idea for SolarCity. In 2008, Musk married Canadian author Justine Musk, with whom he had six sons before separating in 2008. In 2010, Musk married English actress Talulah Riley.

Relationship With Grimes

On May 7th, 2018, the New York Post's gossip sister site Page Six^[10] reported that Musk was supposedly dating electronic musician Grimes. According to the site, the pair met after Musk was doing research to make a joke on Twitter only to see that Grimes had made the same joke three years prior. It was rumored that the two would attend the 2018 Met Gala that evening, which they later did.

The news led to a wave of jokes and outcry on Twitter, particularly among people in media and music journalism. Popular jokes about the couple include a post by @pajamashaw that depicted the couple as characters from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, gaining over 12,000 retweets and 48,000 likes (shown below, left). A tweet by @evepeyser highlighted a She Was His Queen gag with the couple (shown below, right). Reactions to the news were covered by Twitter Moments^[11] and The Daily Dot.^[12] The news and confirmation of their dating led to a popular series of photo parodies.

Search Interest

External References