All language subtitles for Tech Billionaires Elon Musk.eng

[soft music]

There's so many things
that make people sad

or depressed about the future,

but I think becoming a
space-faring civilization is one

of those things that makes
you excited about the future.

Space is one of those
things that I think

almost everyone is inspired
by and if you asked people

what was the most
inspiring event in history,

it was probably
landing on the moon.

[air whooshes]

[determined music]

You know, I think all transport,

with the exception of rockets,
will go fully electric.

Owning a car that is not
self-driving in the longterm

will be like owning a horse.

You would own it for,

and you would use it
for sentimental reasons,

but not for, you know,
not for daily use, really.

[Narrator] Our generation has
seen incredible advancements

in technology.

For that we can thank one
of the most successful,

influential and notorious
entrepreneurs of the 21st century.

Elon Musk, the
mind behind PayPal,

founder of Tesla and SpaceX,

the second richest
man in the world

after Amazon
founder, Jeff Bezos,

with an estimated net worth
of 163 billion US dollars.

He is the ambitious
genius, intellectual

and eccentric tech billionaire
who shook the entire world

with groundbreaking inventions.

This man is an engineer,
a charismatic leader,

a philanthropist.

Elon Musk is so many things.

Today he has a dream, one
that many believe unreachable,

at least during his lifetime,

space colonization.

This is the story
of an individual

whose inventions revolutionize
the tech industry.

After creating space
rockets, electric cars,

solar batteries, and robots,

his astounding success
puts him on top of the rank

of the world's wealthiest men.

They are masterminds,

ambitious, competitive and
ruthless, not afraid of failure,

dedicated to their mission
of bettering the world.

Always reaching for excellence,
they lead by example.

Unlike many industries,

the tech billionaires
are mostly self-made.

It is through their genius

that they revolutionize
the industry

and together they
change the world.

Join us in this series
as we take a look

at some of the wealthiest
entrepreneurs in the modern world,

the tech billionaires,
Bill Gates, Elon Musk,

Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos.

Together they're
worth a collective

of more than 900
billion US dollars.

They will be
remembered in history

as the most influential
people of the 21st century.

[inspiring music]

[letters clinking]

[letters clinking]

[upbeat music]

Elon Reeve Musk was born
on the 28th of June 1971,

in Pretoria, South Africa.

His father, Errol,
was a wealthy,

successful South
African engineer

and his mother, Maye Musk,
was a Canadian model.

Elon was the oldest
of three children

and he spent all of his childhood
with his brother, Kimbal,

and his sister, Tosca,
in South Africa.

They could be one
beautiful, happy family,

everything looked
amazing on the surface,

but the reality
was much different.

Elon grew up in a
tumultuous household

and had a difficult
and lonely childhood.

His father was abusive
towards his mother

and denied Elon any help to
begin a career in business.

He wasn't interested in his
children's happiness or success.

His parents would divorce
when Elon was 10 years old.

Elon was different.

From the age of three,

he was already showing
signs of ingenuity.

His mother called him a nerd.

In her autobiography
published in 2019,

"A Woman Makes A Plan,"

she shared some humble
photographs of his childhood

and wrote, "When Elon was young,

I noticed that he
read everything."

She realized that he
had something special.

Elon was bullied at
school and he struggled

with having social life,
unlike his sibling.

He was short and introverted.

He liked to read, which
didn't make him popular

among the other children.

He said, "I was this
little bookworm kid

and probably a bit
of a smart aleck

so this is a recipe
for disaster."

He described these years
as lonely and brutal.

His only bright
escape, technology.

He was so consumed in his
daydreams of inventions

that his parents had a test done

to check his hearing abilities.

He soon developed an
interest in computers

and electronic devices.

After finally getting
his first computer,

he learned to code
at only 10 years old.

He taught himself programming

after realizing the
classes weren't helping

because he was ahead
of his teachers.

He did not always get good
grades, especially in subjects

where he couldn't see
the point learning them,

like learning Afrikaans.

Rather he would spend his
time playing video games,

reading books, or coding.

But for the subjects that
were important to him,

such as physics and computers,

he would get the highest grade.

To this day, he
still uses reading

to become an expert in a
field that interests him.

Even comic books would
eventually inspire him

to push humanity forward

as the stories in them were
always about saving the world.

Elon quickly figured out

that if he could write and
sell a better software,

than he could buy
better computers.

So he created his first piece
of space-gaming software,

called Blastar.

He sold it to a
magazine for $500.

At 12 years old, he had sold
his first commercial program.

In his college days, he
would sell computer parts

out of his dorm room to
earn some extra cash.

At this point, he had no plan
of becoming a billionaire,

but it seems that he was born
with a creative superpower.

Not afraid of experimenting
and figuring things out,

he was already thinking
like an entrepreneur

at a very young age and was
born to innovate and create.

His childhood was tough, but
it gave him an important asset,

the ability to adapt

and overcome the most
difficult challenges.

[lively music]

In June 1989, the second
part of his life began.

At 17 and against
his father's wishes,

he decided to embark
on a plane to Canada,

leaving South Africa and his
childhood behind forever.

He had in mind the
American dream.

Elon remembered thinking

that America's where
great things are possible,

more than in any other
country in the world.

He didn't have a concrete plan,

but he knew that staying
in his home country

wouldn't get him
where he wanted to go.

Growing up during apartheid,

he knew he had to
make a decision

and joining the mandatory
service in the army

was out of the question.

He described the
apartheid as surreal

and he didn't believe
in the government.

After arriving in Canada,

he went to Queens
University in Ontario,

where he met his first
wife, Justine Wilson.

They got married in 2000 and
would have five children.

He then moved to the US

to attend the University of
Pennsylvania in Philadelphia

where he graduated
with BA degrees

in economics and
physics in 1997.

He was 24 when he moved to
the Bay Area, California

to pursue a degree in
energy physics at Stanford,

but he dropped out
after only two days

and went on to bigger things.

Musk is not the first big
name in Silicon Valley

to have dropped out of college
and gone on to find success.

Apple co-founder, Steve Jobs,

and two of the
world's richest men,

Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg,

all dropped out of school
to start their own company.

Since it was the
dawn of the internet,

Musk wanted to work
on new technology

and he decided to move to
Silicon Valley in California,

the promise land for any
entrepreneur in the tech world.

That is where he thought
he would thrive the most.

It was soon revealed that
Musk was a problem solver.

By the time he had
moved to Silicon Valley

he had a grand vision, ensuring
the future of humanity.

[hopeful piano music]

[soft music]

But first, he knew
that he wanted

to make useful things
happen on the internet.

In 1995, he created his
first company, Zip2,

with his brother Kimbal,

which was an online version
of the yellow pages,

however, he had no idea

how difficult the first
years would end up being.

Having moved from South Africa

and having huge
student college debt,

Musk was so poor that he was
unable to afford both a home

and an office for his company.

He ended up having
to sleep on the couch

of his small office space
and showering at a local gym.

The first few months
were a lot of excitement

but after several months,

it started to get
really difficult.

Reality was kicking in.

With only just one computer

he was working
seven days a week,

running the website during
the day and coding at night.

He has declared that in
order to have success

you have to have a
high pain threshold.

Building a company from
scratch is painful.

Eventually his company
took off and grew.

In February 1999, tech
company Compaq acquired Zip2

for $307 million in cash

and $34 million
in stock options.

Musk was just 28 years old

when he joined the rank of
Silicon Valley millionaires.

He had just gone

from a broke man sleeping
on his office couch

to a multimillionaire overnight.

But he wanted more, he wanted
to make a bigger impact.

How about transforming
the banking industry?

After selling Zip2 his
confidence had grown

and he was ready
for a new challenge.

In 1999, only a month
after selling Zip2,

Elon and Kimbal used the
money from their sale

to found X.com,

now known as the
incredibly popular PayPal.

Money transactions
used to be very slow.

Musk noticed that there
was an opportunity

to make a real profound
change to the financial world.

He invented PayPal to
make money transfers

and payments easier without
having to deal with cash.

In the beginning, the
company was small and unknown

but Musk was ahead of his time.

Thanks to his experience,

his second business was
easier than the first.

It grew fast and by
the end of year two,

it exploded with a
million customers.

In 2002, eBay purchased
PayPal for $1.5 billion.

After selling PayPal, Musk
and his wife, Justine,

moved from Silicon Valley
down to Los Angeles

to be closer to
the space industry,

the next adventure that he
wanted to tackle after PayPal.

But money can't buy happiness
and that year, tragedy struck.

[plane engines roar]

By the time they
had moved to LA,

their first child was born,

a boy they named
Nevada Alexander.

That same week which
catapulted Elon's net worth,

their baby boy suddenly
stopped breathing.

He died from SIDS, Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome.

He was just 10 weeks old.
[somber music]

Elon had just earned his
first billion dollars

but he had lost a child.

Afterwards, he refused to
talk about Nevada's death

and he and his wife decided

that they wanted to have children
again as soon as possible.

Within the next five years,
and with the help of IVF,

Justine gave birth to
twins, then triplets.

Five sons in total,

named Griffin, Xavier,

Damian, Saxon, and Kai.

He and his family were living
a dream or so it seemed.

Justine declared feeling

that she had turned
into a trophy wife

and that their relationship
had become unhealthy

and unsustainable.

The tragic death of
their first child

and Elon's priorities
and obsession with work

led them to growing apart,

and ultimately to
their divorce in 2008,

a year that would be
full of challenges.

Not long after in 2010,

he met his second wife, the
British actor, Talulah Riley.

He proposed after
dating for only 10 days.

They divorced then
remarried, first in 2013,

and then again, in 2016,
their marriage ended.

Despite the troubles
and obstacles,

Musk had finally
reached the impact

that he'd been working for.

His new company
created something

that we now all
take for granted,

but it changed the way
money is transferred,

how the world buys things.

In 2002, at 31, Musk
had become a US citizen

and a billionaire.

At this point, he could
have easily retired,

bought private tropical islands

and sipped on Mai Tais
for the rest of his life,

but that was not something
he has interest in.

Instead, he spends most
of his time at the office

or in factories working
80 to 90 hours a week.

The entrepreneur is a busy man
with a relentless work ethic.

One of his rules for
success is work like hell.

He has said

that his children are his
priority outside of work

and he is known to
be a doting father,

but not everyone can
handle his busy schedule.

After PayPal, Musk
got interested

in a more inspiring future,
like exploring outer space.

His new goal, enabling
the human civilization

to become multiplanetary.

A little child with no
big or clear vision,

evolved into a
genius entrepreneur

who now holds a vision bigger

than what most can
possibly imagine.

[wondrous music]

Support us and become VIP member
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[determined music]

In 2002, he founded the private
interstellar travel company,

SpaceX, with the intention of
reigniting the dream of Apollo

and building spacecraft for
commercial space travel.

His goal was to
improve the technology

of space transportation

by making cheaper
and reusable rockets,

though space industry experts

believed reusable
rockets were infeasible.

Presence on another
heavenly body,

actually the kind of
the Moon base and then,

yeah, and then getting
people to Mars and beyond.

And, you know, it's sort
of like the continuance

of the dream of
Apollo that, like,

people are really looking for.

[Narrator] SpaceX would
be established in 2008,

but not everyone was a
fan of this idea of his.

Even moonwalkers
and American heroes,

Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan,
criticized Musk's plans.

He said in an
emotional interview

that it was painful to hear that

I was very sad to see that

because those guys are, yeah,

you know, that those
guys are heroes of mine

so it's really tough.

You know, I wish they
would come and visit

and see the hard work
that we're doing here.

And I think that would
change their mind.

They inspired you to
do this didn't they?

Yes.

[Scott] And to see them
casting stones in your direction.

It's difficult.

[determined music]

[Narrator] Back in the
'90s, the original reason

Musk moved to Silicon
Valley in the first place

was to work on electric cars.

At the time, he decided
that it would be better

to become part of the
internet as it was booming,

but his dream of
building electric cars

stayed in the back of
his mind all these years.

He recalled in an interview
being passionate about it

very early on at college.

I actually met, I met a woman
I dated briefly in college,

who now works at "Scientific
American" as a writer

And she related the anecdote
that we went on a date,

all I was talking about
was electric cars.

[audience laughs]

That was not a
winning conversation.

[interviewer and
audience laughs]

So it was a bit of
a monologue, was it?

Yeah, she said, the first
question I asked her was,

"Do you ever think about
electric cars?" [laughs]

[interviewer and
audience laughs]

She says, "No, she never does."

[Narrator] Musk is not
only a tech entrepreneur,

[dramatic music]

he is also a strong believer

in the future of
renewable energy,

and he sees it as a key
factor in humanity's future.

[determined music]

Having always been fascinated
by rockets and fast cars,

Musk wanted to find a way
to reduce global warming

and end the destructive
use of fossil fuels.

[suspenseful music]

And we do have
significant danger

with fracking technology,
which is, I think,

really still

at an early stage,

because I think fracking

probably increases the accessible
oil and gas in the world

by perhaps a factor of 10.

I mean, we didn't really know
what the full extent of it is,

but it's probably something
like an order of magnitude,

which means the potential
harm to the climate

is really much, much
greater than it was before.

[dramatic music]

And we can't rely on scarcity

to drive the price
of oil and gas high

and have that be an
adequate forcing function

to move electric.

So we have to figure out
how to make electric cars

themselves compelling without
that economic forcing function

of high gas prices.

[determined music]

[Narrator] Two years
after founding SpaceX,

2004 was the year he got
involved in a company

that he believed would
change the course of humanity

and build a more
sustainable future.

A company with
revolutionary technology

dedicated to the environment,

to the best customer
experience, to success,

the incredibly
popular, Tesla Motors,

named after the electrical
inventor pioneer, Nikola Tesla.

Tesla's plan was to produce a
car that everyone would want,

affordable, environmentally
friendly and fast.

Although Musk didn't
start this company,

it was actually started by
two less-known engineers

who simply had a vision
for transport using energy

that was better for
the environment.

In April 2004, he
helped them launch Tesla

with $6.5 million
of his own money

and was appointed as
chairman of the company.

[inspiring music]

[Elon] There's a certain
probability that is irreducible

that something may
happen to earth,

despite our best intentions,

despite everything we try to do.

There's a probability
at a certain point

that either an external force,

or some internal unforced error

causes civilization
to be destroyed.

[Narrator] In 2006 at 32,

and in this continuing effort
to advance sustainable energy,

he helped his cousins,
Lyndon and Peter Rive,

start SolarCity, a
company that develops

and sells solar panels
and solar roof tiles.

Owned by Tesla, SolarCity
is now the largest provider

of solar service in the US.

For him,

the sun is an indefinitely
plentiful source of energy

which he believes
could easily power

and benefit the entire world.

A big part of this mission

is how he plans to
power the planet.

And it can even work in the UK,

despite the cloudy
British weather.

You still get
probably 80 to 90%

of the energy coming
through the clouds.

It's just that you don't
have that bright point source

of a sun.

And a way to appreciate this
perhaps is to look at the fact

that plants are essentially

a solar-powered
chemical reaction

and the UK is a
very green country.

[wondrous music]

[Narrator] In 2008,

Tesla released the
first Tesla Roadster,

a sports car capable
of accelerating

from zero to 60 miles
per hour in 3.7 seconds,

paving the way for its first
affordable electric car,

the Model 3.

But Musk had underestimated
the production cost

of such high-end cars.

Our goal is to get to cars

that everyone can afford
as soon as possible,

but any technology has to
go through a learning curve,

it has to go through
economies of scale

and that kind of thing.

So for us being
a little startup,

we had to start up with a car
that was in low production

and necessarily expensive,

and of course it has only the
first version of technology.

[Reporter] Tesla have
only sold 1,300 Roadsters

so critics have argued that
as such a small company,

they'll never have the scale

to revolutionized the
automobile industry.

But they have sold their
battery technology to Daimler,

who will build it into
an electric smart car

and they hope that the Roadster

is a convincing enough
replica of a regular car

that the public
might just believe

that the future
really is electric.

[determined music]

I think all transport, with
the exception of rockets,

will go fully electric.

So that's why, I mean,
I see the value of Tesla

as an accelerant, as a
catalyst in that transition.

[solemn music]

[Narrator] By 2007,
the company was running out of money.

They weren't able to predict

how difficult the
following years would be.

Musk faced tough challenges

before the success
of Tesla and SpaceX.

2008 would be the
worst year of his life.

The global financial crisis
shook the entire economy.

All three of Musk's
companies appeared to be

in serious financial trouble.

By this time, SpaceX had
failed its first three launches

and Tesla was burning
through millions of dollars

- every month.
- There's a friend of mine,

who's got a good phrase
for doing a startup,

"It's like eating glass
and staring at the abyss."

So it's, if you go into it
expecting it's gonna be just fun,

you would be disappointed.

It's not.

It's quite painful.

It's much easier to
get a job somewhere.

[group laughs]

Much, much easier and
much less stressful.

You'll have more time
for other things-

- But would you be happier?

It depends on who you are.

- You know-
- Are you?

- Oh, would I be happier?
- Yeah.

No, I wouldn't be
happy, any happier.

[solemn music]

[Narrator] Just before
Christmas in 2008,

Tesla was two days
away from bankruptcy.

Both Tesla and SpaceX had
about 10% chances of surviving.

The bank funding their leases
also pulled out of the deal.

Musk was in the
fight of his life.

This year was also the year his
marriage with Justine ended.

He was going through a
very difficult period

after having put on the
line everything he owned

without any guarantee that
it would make a difference.

However, as Tesla was on
the verge of bankruptcy,

Musk saved the company
in its darkest hour

with an act of heroism.

Fighting for it to the end
and risking everything,

he invested all that he had left

from the sale of
PayPal into Tesla.

In September of that year,
Musk was finally successful

with the Falcon 9 rocket launch,

the last launch that
they had money for.

[rocket engines roar]

And a few days before
Christmas, a miracle happened.

NASA called and awarded SpaceX

with a $1.6 billion contract

to supply the International
Space Station.

This human spaceflight
is the reason

that SpaceX was created

and we're incredibly
honored to partner with NASA

and to make this happen.

[hopeful music]

What the National Space
Agency would like to do,

of course, is slowly
hand over operation

of the entire International
Space Station's

commercial companies.

We, as an agency, we want
to go to Mars and even beyond.

And of course we're very excited

about the excitement that
Elon is bringing to this,

that SpaceX is
bringing to this idea

of humans expanding
throughout the solar system.

[Narrator] In 2010,
he took Tesla public

and his fortune skyrocketed.

Not everyone was as upbeat
about the company's future.

In fact, it was
voted by Wall Street

as the least likely to succeed,

but investors
ignored the skeptics.

Even Musk started Tesla
and SpaceX in mind

that the most likely
outcome was failure,

but he was willing
to take the risk.

Well, the reason
that I'm doing it,

and so many, a lot of people
at Tesla are doing it,

is because we think it
actually is gonna make

a difference to the world

if we transition to
sustainable transport sooner

rather than later.

We're not doing this because
we thought it was, like,

a way to get rich or
anything like that.

Like I said, we felt, I felt
maybe 10% chance of success

at the beginning.

I thought I would just
lose all my money.

It almost did, so
it's not like it was,

that was, I came very
close to losing everything.

[soft music]
[photographers shout]

[Photographer] Come on down.

Come all the down over here

- Elon.
- Elon, down here.

- Elon.
- Elon. [whistles]

- Come on.
- Come on.

[photographers shout]

[Photographer]
Elon, stay here.

[Narrator] Tesla
continues to thrive and grow

and it now has more than
12,000 superchargers

across North America,
Europe and Asia.

By promoting clean driving
and showing the world

that electric cars are in
fact better than gasoline,

Musk is about to trigger an
electric transport revolution.

I would encourage
more participation

by whoever it is to
create electric vehicles.

It's quite hard to do, but I
think companies, like Apple,

will probably make a
compelling electric car.

It seems like the
obvious thing to do.

[Narrator] It had worked.

Elon was back.

However, Tesla continues
to be controversial.

Throughout the years, critics
have slammed the company

for its cars' quality issues,

and Musk himself
admitted to the defects.

Recently, they also
faced lawsuits,

investigations and layoffs.

Their reputation
have taken many hits

and they have faced
turbulent years.

Facebook was the
only other company

to experience a larger decline
than Tesla in the 2019 poll.

Musk said making
mistakes is inevitable,

but he's dedicated to constantly
improving, making progress.

He hasn't stopped
innovating and taking risks.

He made history
on May 22nd, 2012,

when after a flawless liftoff,

the Falcon 9 rocket thundered
unmanned into space.

[Announcer] T-minus
10, nine, eight,

seven,

six,

five,

four,

three,

two,

one,

zero.

[rocket engines roar]

And launch of the
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket

as NASA turns to
the private sector

to resupply the
International Space Station.

[rocket engines roar]
[dramatic music]

[Narrator] It would send
the first commercial vehicle

to the International
Space Station,

delivering a Dragon
cargo capsule full

of groceries and supplies.

"Every bit of adrenaline
in my body released

at that moment," said Elon Musk

about the moment the
rocket lifted off the pad.

First of all, some
people don't realize

we have a space station.

Like, "You cannot
of be serious."

We have a gigantic space
station, it's huge. [laughs]

It's really gigantic.

I mean, it's a pretty
incredible structure

that we have orbiting the earth.

And I think just, I'd
recommend like, man,

we've got to do something
to educate the public

about the awesomeness
of the space station

because it is pretty amazing.

[Narrator] SpaceX now
regularly shoots satellites

into space.

[soft piano music]
[engines roar]

[Operator] There's
a solar telemetry link

and power systems are normal.

We are entering a new
era of space exploration

which is extremely exciting.

And it's not just SpaceX,

but there's a number
of other companies

that have developed
new approaches

and NASA is taking new
approaches to things,

which is really exciting.

The alternative is to become
a space-faring civilization

and a multi-planet species,

which I hope you would agree
that is the right way to go.

[hopeful music]

The thing that's happened
in the last couple of years,

which I'm really excited about

and I think makes the
difference for access to space,

is the landing

of the Falcon 9 rocket booster.

And in the,

[audience applauding]
yeah.

[Narrator] In 2013,

the business side of
things was booming for him.

The financial crisis became
somewhat of a distant memory.

He came up with more inventions.

[suspenseful music]

In August 2013, Musk
released the Hyperloop,

a form of transport that
would allow commuting

between major cities in a
very short amount of time

while severely reducing traffic.

Ideally powered by
renewable energy,

the high-speed transit
systems would repel riders

in pods through tubes

at speeds reaching more
than 700 miles per hour.

[determined music]

In 2015, SpaceX began
development of the Starlink

to provide satellite
internet access.

On May 24th, 2019,

the first 60 operational
satellites were launched.

The project costs
about $10 billion.

[dramatic music]

[determined music]

For Musk, the future
also means having to deal

with artificial intelligence.

So in 2015, he
co-founded OpenAI,

a nonprofit research company

that aims to promote friendly
artificial intelligence.

He also co-founded
Neuralink in 2016,

a startup company focused

on developing
brain-computer interfaces.

These advancements
could improve memory

or help human beings
merge with software.

In December 2016, determined
to eliminate city traffic,

Musk created The Boring Company,

a tunnel and transport startup.

Musk saw limitations with the
current transportation network

and the infamous Los Angeles
traffic and he had a vision

of a futuristic underground
public transport system.

Their first self-driving
tunnel is almost complete

under Las Vegas.

He intends to use the tunnels
for the Hyperloop vehicles.

That year he announced

that self-driving electric
cars are the future.

My guess is in
probably 10 years,

it will be very unusual
for cars to be built

that are not fully autonomous.

Owning a car that is not
self-driving in the long term

will be like owning a horse.

You would own it for

and you would use it
for sentimental reasons,

but not for, you know,
not for daily use, really.

[air whooshes]

[soft music]

[Narrator] He also announced
that getting humans to Mars

was officially one
of his main goals.

A cool goal that even
has a set date, 2024.

It'll be cool to be born on
earth and die on Mars, yeah.

You said before you
want to retire on Mars,

is this more or less feasible?

Well, actually
it was asked, do I,

it's more like if
I were to retire,

it's not like I want to retire,

but if I were to retire
on the verge of senility

I'd like it to be on
Mars, that would be cool.

[soft music]

[Narrator] He hopes making
space travel affordable,

around $100,000 per person,
would hopefully entice humans

to permanently moved
to the red planet.

In 2018, he announced the
first private astronaut

to travel to the moon.

I'd like to introduce the
first paying customer of BFR.

Yusaku Maezawa,
please come forward.

Yeah.
[audience cheers]

See what's up.

Thank you, Elon.

Thank you.

Thank you, everyone.
[audience applauding]

Wow.

In 2023,

as the host,

I'd like to invite
six to eight artists

from around the world to join me

on this mission to the moon.

A future where we are a
space-faring civilization

and out there among the stars
is infinitely more exciting

and inspiring than
one where we are not.

You basically, I think,
have to hate humanity

if you don't like that future.

[hopeful music]

[Narrator] We've
come a long way

since the beginning
of the space race.

In 1969, the first person
set foot on the moon,

making history.

Today, SpaceX brings
us one step closer

to the next giant
leap for mankind.

In May 2018, Musk
appeared at the Met Gala

with his new
girlfriend on his arm,

the Canadian singer,
Claire Boucher,

professionally known as Grimes.

They met online a
few weeks before,

after Musk discovered
a joke on Twitter

about artificial intelligence
on Grime's account.

He reached out to her

and they started dating
quietly since then.

Musk told "The Wall
Street Journal"

that he loves her for her
wild, artistic creativity

and intense work ethic.

Two years later, in May 2020,
Elon announced the birth

of their first son on Twitter,

a son with the
most unusual name.

The couple initially announced

that they had named their
new baby X Ash A-12 Musk.

The baby's surname is
simply Musk, or Little X.

I mean, it's just
X, the letter X.

And then the AE is,
like, pronounced Ash.

[Joe laughs]

Yeah.

And then A-12, A-12
is my contribution.

Oh, why A-12?

Archangel 12, the
precursor to the SR-71,

the coolest plane ever.

[Reporter] I love
how Rogan was laughing

because we were all like, "Ash,
how did you get out of it?"

But look at this baby.

- How adorable is he?
- Oh.

[Narrator] The name
of Grimes and Musk's son

isn't the only thing
controversial about him.

He's been known to be infamously
controversial on Twitter.

In May 2020, he wiped off
$14 billion of Tesla's value

with just one Tweet.

By writing, "Tesla stock
price is too high,"

$3 billion were taken
off his own stake

as investors bailed
following his Tweet.

On May 1st, 2020, Musk decided
that he was going to put

all of his seven
homes on the market.

He Tweeted, "I'm selling almost
all physical possessions.

Will own no house."

He was also seen smoking weed

in an interview with Joe Rogan.

- I mean, it's legal, right?
- It's totally legal.

Okay.

[Joe] How does that work?

Do people get upset at you
if you do certain things?

[Ruhle] Do you
see this right here?

Elon Musk.

[Joe] There's tobacco
and marijuana in there.

[Velshi] Is he inhaling?

Yeah, I'm not sure.

[Ruhle] Okay, whether
or not he's inhaling,

he's in a state
where it's legal.

[soft music]

[Narrator] After being
married three times,

twice to the same woman,
having six children

and costing his shareholders
billions with his Tweets,

it is fair to say that
his personal life has been

as vertiginous as his
professional life.

His journey wasn't always made

of bright moments and successes,

but Elon Musk finally
reached the heights

that he was aiming for.

His oversized personality gets
him in trouble occasionally,

but he also has a vision
and is driven by a purpose.

At the Emerging
Technologies event in 2018,

he said that building
the future is his goal.

The thing drives me is that

I want to be able to
think about the future

and

you feel good about that

so

that, you know, we're
doing what we can

to have the future be
as good as possible,

to be inspired by what
is likely to happen

and to look forward
to the next day.

[Narrator] Recently, he
has also become a proponent

of digital currencies

and Tesla invested $1.5
billion in Bitcoin.

After climbing to the top
of American capitalism

at an incredible speed,

in January 2021, he briefly
surpassed Jeff Bezos

as the richest
person in the world

as his net worth
increased to $209 billion.

In 2002, he founded
the Musk Foundation

which supports renewable
energy, space exploration,

science, pediatric and
artificial intelligence research.

And he has donated

at least $257 million
to the organization.

Musk doesn't do
typical philanthropy

as we know it, like Bill Gates,

most of his money goes straight
back into his companies.

But he works for
a better planet.

and this is most definitely
being philanthropic.

In 2012, Musk
joined billionaires,

like Bill Gates and
Mark Zuckerberg,

in signing The Giving Pledge,

a commitment to give away
the majority of their wealth

either during their
lifetimes or in their will.

[upbeat music]

Are there limitations

for where your imagination
can take your reality?

Elon Musk doesn't
seem to think so.

His visions for the future
are beyond imagination

and inspiring.

He has come a long way from
a South African immigrant

and a bullied boy to a
self-made CEO billionaire,

taking on more than
five industries.

He showed us all how
to do something new

that we didn't think
was possible before.

As we look at his accomplishments,
there is no denying

that Elon Musk is a genuine
Silicon Valley success story.

He was named one of
"Time" magazine's"

most influential
people in the world.

He was never short of
confidence and optimism.

He has defied the critics.

He kept fighting on the
hardest days and never gave up.

PayPal, SpaceX,

Tesla, SolarCity,

they all have had an
important impact on the world.

The tech billionaires
are an example.

We learn from them that even
heroes go through tough times

to get where they are today.

It can all start
with one individual

and their dreams and ambition,

with someone who wanted to
make the world a better place.

It can all start
with a small step.

It seems that for Elon Musk,
not even the sky is the limit.

There are no limits.

[hopeful music]

Space is one of those things

that I think almost
everyone is inspired by.

And if you asked people

what was the most
inspiring event in history,

it was probably
landing on the moon,

you know, if you ask
people anywhere, I'd say.

[letters clinking]

[letters clinking]

[solemn music