Monthly Archives: April 2022

Elon Musk: From Odd Jobs On A Farm, Lumber Mill To Becoming The World’s Richest Man

Many people know Elon Musk as an astute businessman who made his billions from several investments and business ventures, including Tesla, PayPal, SpaceX, and others.

However, a substantial percentage of these people do not know the story behind this fair-looking billionaire’s journey to being the wealthiest man on earth. What were the challenges he faced while growing up, and what were the things he had to do to get by in life? What sacrifices did he make to achieve all he has today?

There are quite a few inspiring things to learn from this man, who sometimes can be as controversial as he is rich, and we would like to discuss them here as we look at his life briefly.

Birth And Early Life

Born Elon Reeve Musk in Pretoria, South Africa, to Errol and Maye Musk on June 28, 1971, Elon was raised in South Africa by his White South African father and Canadian mother. His mother was a dietitian and model, but Elon must have gotten his business and diversification knack from his father, a sailor, electromechanical engineer, pilot, consultant, and a once well-to-do property developer. His father used to co-own an emerald mine close to Lake Tanganyika in Zambia.

After his adenoids were removed as a child, Elon was once pronounced deaf by doctors. His mother, however, reportedly disagreed, saying that her son was “thinking in another world.” He would soon start to prove her right and show his business genius and affinity for technology at 10.

After acquiring a Commodore VIC-20 because he had built a liking of video games and computing, Elon taught himself computer programming from a manual. By the time he was 12, he had made his first $500 by selling the code to two BASIC-based video games he had written called “Office Technology Magazine” and “Blastar to PC.”

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for him, though. He was once hospitalized after some boys tossed him down a flight of stairs, and he was bullied throughout his childhood.

Education

Elon attended Waterkloof House Preparatory School and Bryanston High School, both in Pretoria, before completing his high school education at the Pretoria Boys High School, Pretoria, South Africa.

It was mandatory to serve in the South African Military after high school education. To avoid this, Elon enrolled in the University of Pretoria and spent just five months studying there. He had been seeking a way into the United States of America via his application for a Canadian passport before getting into the university. He left South Africa for Canada immediately after getting it in June 1989.

Upon arriving in Canada, Elon put had to stay with his second cousin for one year, and he worked odd jobs at a lumber mill and a farm in Saskatchewan just to get by. He eventually gained admission into the Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, in 1990, but he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. He finally graduated here with two degrees – a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physics in 1997.

While studying for his degrees, Elon held two internships during the summer in Silicon Valley. One was at the Palo Alto-based startup Rocket Science Games, and the other at an energy storage startup firm called the Pinnacle Research Institute. They were into researching electrolytic ultra-capacitors for energy storage.

Lessons To Learn From The World’s Richest Man

You may observe that right from childhood till his early adult life, Elon had always had a fascination for technology, computers, space-related tech, and being diverse. He was accepted into a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program in Materials Science at Stanford University, California, USA, in 1995. Still, he opted to drop out only two days after his admission because he chose to launch an internet startup and cash in on the internet boom.

Today, it is common knowledge that Elon has made billions of dollars from founding and selling PayPal, founding SpaceX, to becoming the CEO of Tesla. And he is even poised to make a lot more after his recent acquisition of one of the world’s largest social media platforms, Twitter, for a staggering $44 Billion.

But how did it all really start to come together for Elon, though?

After dropping out of Stanford in 1995, Elon and his brother Kimbal Musk co-founded a web software company called “Zip2”. By 1999, the company was bought for $307 million by Compaq. Without wasting any time, Elon took his profits and again co-founded an online bank called “X.com,” which later merged with another online bank, Confinity, to form PayPal in 2000. By 2002, eBay bought PayPal for a whopping $1.5 billion, and Elon made a profit of $180 million from that deal.

What sacrifices did he have to make to become the world’s richest man today?

Speaking during a recent TV interview, Elon recalled how he spent his booty from the sale of PayPal, and we must say that it is one of the things that has made him the billionaire he is today.

According to him, between 2002 and 2004, he split the profit from the PayPal sale into different investments, and after that, he” was so broke that he had to borrow to pay rent.” Now, that is the definition of a man of vision and a person on a mission. He has never been content with having some but has always desired to own it all!

Today, the American citizen is an investor, business magnate, and entrepreneur is the founder of The Boring Company; founder, CEO, and chief engineer at SpaceX; co-founder of Neuralink and OpenAI; angel investor, CEO, and Product Architect of Tesla, Inc., and quite recently, the owner of Twitter Inc.

According to the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list and Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, Elon is currently the richest man globally, with a net worth of over 264.6 billion USD (as of April 2022).

Married twice, with eight children, but divorced on both occasions, the ever-lively and liberal billionaire has been widely criticized for a few things, including his stand on certain things about the COVID-19 pandemic, for which he was accused of allegedly spreading misinformation.

Some have also criticized him for his stand on issues like public transportation, artificial intelligence (AI), cryptocurrency, and even the way he uses Twitter. We guess the latter won’t ever be an issue anymore, though, as he now owns the platform.

2 Reasons Why Ethiopia’s First Female Chief Justice, Meaza Ashenafi, Is An Outstanding Leader.

When Ethiopian lawyer Meaza Ashenafi was appointed as the President of the Federal Supreme Court by the Federal Parliamentary Assembly of Ethiopia in November 2018, it did not surprise many observers, stakeholders, and the people of the Ethiopian nation. She had more than earned that honor.

Born in Asosa, Ethiopia, East Africa, on July 25, 1964, Meaza, 58, was no longer a rookie attorney or a pushover when she was nominated and confirmed as the country’s first female Chief Justice. Before her appointment, Judge Meaza had been very vocal and renowned for championing the cause to have more female participation in politics and public decision-making in her country.

Having served as the President of the Ethiopian Federal Supreme Court since 2018, she has firmly shown and proven herself to be an exceptionally gifted leader. Here are two reasons why we believe she deserves to be regarded as such.

(1) She Is An Astute Business Mind: After reportedly noticing a lacuna in financial provision for women in the country, Judge Meaza co-founded Enat Bank in partnership with some other female businesswomen in Ethiopia.

Enat Bank is the first bank in Ethiopia founded by female-majority shareholders. The move to set it up revealed that Judge Meaza is not only a legal specialist but also a vastly skilled business mind.

(2) She Pioneered The Fight Against Sexual Abuse In Ethiopia: Judge Meaza co-founded a non-profit, non-partisan group called the Ethiopian Women Attorneys Association (EWLA) with a couple of equally visionary young female lawyers in Ethiopia in 1995.

She sits as the association’s Executive Director. Under her leadership, the organization has made remarkable progress in the war against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and the push for women’s rights in Ethiopia. With the help of her legal contacts in 2002, her “Fighting For Women’s Rights In Ethiopia” group recruited over 45 graduate attorneys.

According to Judge Meaza, the primary mission of EWLA is to promote Ethiopian women’s social, economic, legal, and political rights, even as the organization also helps them obtain total protection of the fundamental rights under the country’s constitution and other international human rights conventions as well. EWLA also has a vision of having a country where men and women are treated equally in every area of life.

“When we founded EWLA 20 years ago, we did historical work of getting discriminatory laws such as the family, citizenship, and pension laws repealed. We brought the word ‘Sexual Abuse’ and ‘Sexual Harassment’ into the Amharic Language, as there were no words to describe them back then.”

EWLA’s Legal Aid Program provides free legal assistance to women who are victims of gender-based violence, particularly underprivileged women. Legal advice/counseling, preparing court papers (court charges and affidavits), and representing clients in court are all part of the service. They also provide free legal assistance, public education, capacity building, and research and advocacy for legal change.

Judge Meaza had her elementary and high school education at the Natural Sciences Campus in her birthplace Asosa before heading off to the Law Department of Addis Ababa University. There she obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) and then proceeded to the University of Connecticut, USA, for her Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in International Relations and Gender Studies.

After graduating from Addis Ababa University’s law school, she served as a criminal court judge, where she was the only female graduate of her class year. This vital phase in her life allowed her to experience firsthand how laws discriminate against women.

Between 1989 and 1992, she was a judge on Ethiopia’s Federal Supreme Court. The Ethiopian Constitution Commission designated her as a legal consultant in 1993. Judge Meaza also formerly worked for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

She said about being a leader: “Leadership for me is having a vision and striving to achieve it. Women need to believe that they can do whatever they set themselves to do, despite society’s pressure and people telling them otherwise. You can only have the power to be a change-maker if you believe in yourself.”

Also, a distinguished author of a book titled: “Participation of Women in Politics and Public Decision Making in Ethiopia,” Judge Meaza is married to a Professor of Physics at Addis Ababa University, Dr. Araya Asfaw. Their union is blessed with two daughters.

Inspirational Quote:

“Be Who You Are And Say What You Feel, Because Those Who Mind Don’t Matter, And Those Who Matter Don’t Mind.” – Dr. Seuss.

 

One of the greatest mistakes we make in life is adjusting to a lifestyle, and things we know for sure are not in tune with our personality and gifts. And, more often than not, we do this mainly to please some people and remain in favor with them.

Oh, if only we all know the true meaning of what it means to love something or someone! We would all realize that those who genuinely love you will never leave or forsake you no matter what you say, think, or do.

When this realization genuinely sets in, and we walk by it daily, we will see many more people having the boldness to live their dreams and pursue their true passions.

What you are deep down in your soul is what you are. No matter the pressure or unacceptance you encounter, even from those who should have been your major cheerleaders, you cannot change who you are destined to be. The sooner you know and embrace this truth, the better for you.

Be who you are, and say what you feel always. Those who mind do not matter, and those who matter do not mind. You can never please everyone in life, so you shouldn’t even attempt to do such!

You owe yourself genuine self-discovery so that your true purpose in life is not alien or hidden to you. When this is discovered, keep working on yourself in your closet and prepare for that opportunity that could become your big break.

When it comes, grab it with both hands and excel greatly, and you too will be celebrated as an icon of value and goodness in your generation.