Who's Who in Computer Science

Who's Who in Computer Science?

    In May 2002 Musk founded Space X, an aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company, of which he is CEO and lead designer. He co-founded Tesla, Inc., an electric vehicle and solar panel manufacturer, in 2003, and operates as its CEO and product architect. In 2006 he inspired the creation of Solar City, a solar energy services company that is now a subsidiary of Tesla, and operates as its chairman. In 2015 Musk co-founded Open AI, a nonprofit research company that aims to promote friendly artificial intelligence. He co-founded Neura link, a neuro-technology company focused on developing brain–computer interfaces, in July 2016 and is its CEO. He founded The Boring Company, an infrastructure and tunnel-construction company, in December 2016.

   Born in Pretoria, Musk taught himself computer programming at the age of 12. He moved to Canada when he was 17 to attend Queen's University. He transferred to the University of Pennsylvania two years later, where he received an economics degree from the Wharton School and a degree in physics from the College of Arts and Sciences. He began a PhD in applied physics and material sciences at Stanford University in 1995 but dropped out after two days to pursue an entrepreneurial career. He subsequently co-founded Zip2, a web software company, which was acquired by Compaq for $340 million in 1999. Musk then founded X.com, an online payment company. It merged with confinity in 2000 and became PayPal, which was bought by eBay for $1.5 billion in October 2002.