Although often the center of media attention around the rise and fall of Tesla’s stock price, Elon Musk has managed to amass a fortune of over $14B. What can we all learn about investing like Elon, and the mindset that has fueled his success?
Elon the Entrepreneur & Investor
Elon Musk is an entrepreneur, inventor, and investor. He is probably most famous for his Tesla car brand. As of February 13th, 2017 Forbes estimated Musk’s net worth at $14.1B. How did he make it? What lessons can be applied be everyone else to investing for success?
According to the Huffington Post Elon Musk was worth just $2B back in 2013. Yet, his real leap in wealth seems to stem from what he did after he cashed out of PayPal. After learning to code at 10 years old and selling his first video game, Musk embarked on years of learning. Yet, just 2 days after starting at Stanford he dropped out to follow his passion for entrepreneurship. Joining the ‘PayPal mafia’; Peter Thiel, and Max Levchin, the built one of today’s most popular payment platforms, which was bought by eBay.
With his $180M check from the PayPal sale Elon went on an investing spree. He says he invested $100M in SpaceX, $70M in Tesla, and $10M in SolarCity. He was then so broke he said he “had to borrow money for rent.” Investing certainly paid off, but it took courage and vision to make that leap, and stick with it when others might have quit.
7 Quick Tips from Elon’s Success
- Never stop pursuing your dreams
- Think really big
- Surround yourself with smart, positive, and successful people
- Go all in
- Make moves others are afraid to
- You are never too young or old to start something
- Leverage can have its advantages
Why Not Invest Like Elon Musk
People often talk about “investing like Buffett.” Or it could be Elon Musk, or someone else. Of course, the problem is that by the time you find out about that stock buy the best gains are normally over. So, just because Musk made billions in solar, creating spaceships, and cars, doesn’t necessarily mean those are investments that will work out great for you, right this moment. The one thing that he is into right now, that still has big room for growth is real estate. Aside from Tesla powered homes, he is really hot on building a colony on Mars.
Do look for some of the same traits and theories used. Like scalability, innovation, branding, and being unique. Just be wise enough to tell the difference.
Invest Like The 1%, Give Like The 1%
Elon Musk may be ranked as one of the world’s top 100 influencers and wealthy, but perhaps even more important is how much of a positive impact leaders like this can wield. In Elon’s case this isn’t just a great and healthy product. He has also joined the Giving Pledge, under which he’ll give away the majority of his wealth to philanthropy, like Buffett, the Gates, and Richard Branson.
So, invest big, build amazing things, stretch yourself, and give big too.
