Elon had a tough childhood. His parents divorced when he was still a kid. After the divorce of his parents, Musk first lived with his mother and siblings. They were very poor, wore second-hand clothes, and had modest meals. Although Maye’s salary was barely enough to make ends meet, she showed by example how important it was to be independent and responsible. For the record, she was a single mother raising her children and working five jobs. Maye was a good mother who surrounded her kids with boundless love and care. After a while, Elon moved in with his father, which he later regretted. They had a complicated relationship. According to Elon’s mother, Errol was a manipulator and abuser. In his interview with Rolling Stone, Elon Musk said with tears in his eyes:
My dad was such a terrible human being, you have no idea. My dad will have a carefully thought-out plan of evil. He will plan evil. Almost every crime you can possibly think of, he has done. Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done. It’s so terrible, you can’t believe it.
Elon insists that his father is good at making life miserable. The boy was forced to live under one roof with his harsh father for quite a long time. According to Musk, his father was abusive and never believed in him. I think that the things he learned as a child really helped him become the person he is today: incredibly intelligent, resourceful, fearless in the face of risk, and purposeful. When the boy was 12, his father sent him to a survival wilderness camp where children were given small portions of water and food and encouraged to fight over them. As a result, the older kids hit the younger ones and took their food from them. For Elon, it was a real test of survival and psychological torture.
While staying at home, Elon spent most of his time reading to distract himself and minimize communication with his father. They say that Musk was a real bookworm: he could read two books a day. He once said: “I was raised by books. Books, and then my parents.” Since he had a photographic memory, he quickly memorized vast amounts of information and could easily recite everything he had read. Over time, the nickname “know-it-all” stuck to him. Admittedly, Elon did not get along with his peers. He felt like an outsider and was often bullied.
One day, little Elon saw a computer for the first time at one of the shopping malls in Johannesburg. It was love at first sight. At that moment, he knew he would do whatever it took to get it. Luckily, he managed to persuade his father to buy this “miracle machine.” Elon did not waste any time. The brilliant child independently mastered popular programming languages from books and created a space-themed game called Blastar. Surprisingly, Musk found a buyer and sold it for 500 dollars. Just think: the boy was 12 years old then! And it was just the beginning.
In 1989, Elon Musk finally went to Canada to apply for Queen’s University, Ontario. As his mother was born in Canada, he was able to get his Canadian citizenship in a few months. Initially, he had to share a room with five roommates in a youth hostel. Two years later, he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned bachelor’s degrees in two fields: physics and economics. Then, Musk moved to California to pursue a Ph.D. in energy physics at Stanford University, but he left the program after just two days to focus on business.
Elon Musk’s first business venture was Zip2, a software company he co-founded in 1995. It provided and licensed online city guide software to newspapers and was eventually sold to Compaq for 307 million dollars in 1999. From that moment on, Musk was destined to succeed. Some of Elon Musk’s most notable business ventures include:
• SpaceX – Musk founded the company to help reduce space transportation costs and promote the colonization of Mars. Today, SpaceX is one of the top five most valuable private companies in the world.
• Tesla, Inc. – Musk invested 70 million dollars in Tesla’s electric car startup in 2004 and headed the company’s board of directors. Later, he became CEO and product architect. Under his leadership, Tesla has become the leading manufacturer of electric vehicles.
• Neuralink – the company was founded by Elon Musk and a team of seven scientists and engineers. It aims to develop a neurochip – the implantable device that can record and transmit brain signals to external devices, such as computers, smartphones, or tablets. Musk hopes that the product will help those with severe brain injuries caused by stroke or cancer.
• The Boring Company (also known as TBC) – the company aims to reduce traffic congestion through the construction of underground tunnels.
In addition to these major companies, Musk has also been involved in other businesses and philanthropic initiatives. His innovative approach to business and technology as well as his outstanding efficiency have made him one of the most influential entrepreneurs and the richest people in the world. For the record, Musk is notoriously known for being a hard worker who gets very little sleep. He once said: “There are way easier places to work, but nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week.” Do you get the point? Musk is trying to say that long work hours are necessary to change the world.
Vocabulary
mastermind [ˈmæstərmaɪnd] – идейный вдохновитель, руководитель
invention [ɪnˈvenʃn] – изобретение
monumental [ˌmɑːnjuˈmentl] – монументальный, колоссальный, огромный
advancement [ədˈvænsmənt] – достижение, прогресс, развитие
renewable energy [rɪˈnuːəbl ˈenərdʒi] – возобновляемый источник энергии
exceptional [ɪkˈsepʃənl] – выдающийся, незаурядный, исключительный
nutritionist [nuˈtrɪʃənɪst] – диетолог
affluent [ˈæfluənt] – богатый
survival [sərˈvaɪvl] – выживание
torture [ˈtɔːrtʃər] – пытка, мука
memorize [ˈmeməraɪz] – запоминать
recite [rɪˈsaɪt] – повторять наизусть вслух
know-it-all [ˈnəʊ ɪt ɔːl] – всезнайка
get along [get əˈlɔːŋ] – ладить
persuade [pərˈsweɪd] – убеждать, уговаривать
electric vehicle [ɪˈlektrɪk ˈviːəkl] – электромобиль
congestion [kənˈdʒestʃən] – пробка, затор
Exercises
1) Who is Elon Musk?
2) What is Elon Musk famous for?
3) What do his parents do?
4) Did he come from a rich family?
5) What was Elon Musk’s childhood like?
6) What was Elon’s relationship with his peers like?
7) How does Elon Musk feel about his father now as an adult?
8) How old was Elon Musk when he made his first money?
9) What is his educational background?
10) What are some of Elon Musk’s notable businesses?
вокруг доходов его семьи всегда ходило множество слухов; у него были натянутые отношения с отцом; иногда все идет наперекосяк; она была матерью-одиночкой, воспитывающей детей и работающей на пяти работах; отец отправил его в лагерь по выживанию; у него была фотографическая память; он чувствовал себя чужаком; ему пришлось делить комнату с пятью соседями в хостеле
his father is good at making life miserable; an innovator who has achieved tremendous success throughout his career; he denies the rumors about the fabulous income of his family; he had a tough childhood; her salary was barely enough to make ends meet; he didn’t get along with his peers; he spent most of his time reading to distract himself and minimize communication with his father
Creative task No. 4
“Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.” Discuss what this proverb means. State your opinion on the topic.
Jeff Bezos
What character traits should a person possess to become a successful entrepreneur? First, people who reach great heights always have clear-cut goals. Second, all of them are self-motivated and persistent. Third, influential entrepreneurs are commonly risk takers who always believe in themselves. They look for opportunities where others see obstacles. I can continue this list forever. However, some people insist that good entrepreneurs are simply born with certain talents and extraordinary abilities or have superior intelligence. In my opinion, success comes to those who are not afraid of taking risks. It is a simple truth. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and one of the richest people in the world, is more than just a risk taker; he is a visionary. Just imagine that he quit his well-paid steady job at an investment bank to set up his business in the garage of a rented home. I think you’ll agree that not everyone is courageous enough to do so.
Jeffrey Preston Bezos (surname at birth – Jorgenson) was born on January 12, 1964, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His mother, Jacklyn, was under 18 when she gave birth to Jeff. Her love with Ted, the boy’s father, was short-lived, and the couple divorced when Jeff was still a baby. Luckily, Jackie soon met Miguel (Mike) Bezos, who officially adopted Jeff and raised him as his own son. The family moved to Houston, Texas, where Mike became an engineer for the American oil and gas company Exxon. As the story goes, he immigrated to the United States from Cuba at a young age and built a successful career in the oil industry. Bezos’ stepfather was also instrumental in helping him grow as a person. After all, he knew how to succeed in life, not by hearsay but by experience. He was the one who instilled in Jeff the value of hard work, persistence, and resilience. Overall, he taught him important life lessons and shaped his drive for success. Another significant figure in Bezos’ life was his maternal grandfather, Lawrence Preston Gise, who served as the regional director of the AEC (Atomic Energy Commission) in Albuquerque until his retirement. Curiously, he also worked on space technology and missile defense systems for the DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). No wonder Gise instilled in his grandson the passion for intellectual challenge. According to Jeff Bezos, his grandfather was almost his third parent, and he learnt a lot from him. As a child, he enjoyed spending time with him at his ranch in Texas “in the middle of nowhere.” Since they were far from civilization, when something stopped working, his granddad would fix everything himself: make medical needles, look after their livestock, build houses, and so forth. Whatever he did, he did it well. He lived by the principle: if there is a problem, there is a solution. His grandfather’s self-reliance made a lasting impression on young Bezos. According to Jeff, his grandfather was a real problem-solver: resourceful and self-reliant.