
Elon Musk is a serial entrepreneur par excellence and a true visionary. After making a fortune as a co-founder of PayPal, Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), which has become a pioneer in the booming private space vehicle market. NASA awarded SpaceX a contract to develop rockets, and in 2012, SpaceX made history by becoming the first private company to send a spacecraft, called the Dragon, to the International Space Station.
(MORE: Tesla Beats the Odds — And the Haters — But Now Comes the Hard Part)
Musk is also a co-founder of Tesla, the electric car company, which has captured the imagination of many people in Silicon Valley. After several rocky years, Tesla recently reported its first profitable quarter. Recently, Consumer Reports gave the Tesla Model S — the company’s most affordable model — a near-perfect rating of 99 out of 100 points. Musk, 41, is now worth an estimated $4.5 billion, thanks in large part to his stake in Tesla.