Elon Musk is the CEO and product architect of Tesla Motors and the CEO/CTO of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX).
“He keeps racking it up,” says Finkelstein, referring to Tesla’s
stock price, which has increased 38% year to date after rising 344% in
2013, and SpaceX’s ability to win big government contracts after a
number of successful trips to space. What’s equally amazing, he says, is
that Musk is running two companies simultaneously—something that would
normally court disaster. “The most impressive thing for me,” says
Finkelstein, “is [that] someone who was an entrepreneur built up a
company and then continues to do well.”
Elon Musk is the chief designer for SpaceX, overseeing development of
rockets and spacecraft for missions to Earth orbit and ultimately to
other planets. In 2008, SpaceX’s
Falcon 9 rocket and
Dragon
spacecraft won the NASA contract to provide a commercial replacement
for the cargo transport function of the space shuttle. In 2012, SpaceX
became the first commercial company to dock with the International Space
Station and return cargo to Earth with the
Dragon.
At Tesla, Musk has overseen product development and design from the
beginning, including the all-electric Tesla Roadster, Model S and Model
X, and overseeing the rollout of Supercharger stations to keep the cars
juiced up. (Some of the charging stations use solar energy systems from
SolarCity, of which Musk is the non-executive chair.) Transitioning to a
sustainable energy economy, in which electric vehicles play a pivotal
role, has been one of his central interests for almost two decades. He
co-founded PayPal and served as the company’s chair and CEO.
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