GETTING TO KNOW ELON MUSK, THE 21ST CENTURY INNOVATOR

I’m Elon Musk. I’m an engineer, an entrepreneur, an explorer and an inventor. I was born on June 28, 1971, in the city of Pretoria, in South Africa. My father is South African, but my mother is from Canada. I’m now a U.S. citizen. Well, I’m always very interested in computers. When I was only 12 years old, I created a video game called ‘Blastar’ and sold it for $500.

I left South Africa in 1989 for Canada. I studied at Queen’s University
in Ontario. After two years, I decided to change to the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. At the age of 24, I graduated with bachelor degrees in physics and economics. After leaving university, still, in my twenties, I helped to create the PayPal Company. Later, I went on to create several other companies. Here are just three of my biggest companies:

• SpaceX – SpaceX makes rockets. With these rockets, I’m making plans for humans to travel to the planet Mars where, I hope, people will soon live.

• Tesla – Tesla is a car company, but it is different from most car companies. It sells electric cars.

• SolarCity – SolarCity makes and sells solar power (electricity made from sunlight). It is the second-largest solar power company in the United States. It may one day be the biggest.