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☆ Elon Musk had just $4,000 when he moved to Canada and shared a room with 5 other people: book
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk left South Africa in 1989 with $4,000 from his parents, per Walter Isaacson's biography. His father, Errol Musk, "gave him $2,000 in traveler's checks" and his mother, Maye Musk, handed him $2,000. However, the biography also confirmed that Errol Musk did not actually own a mine. Isaacson said Errol Musk had swapped a light plane he owned for some emeralds. Errol Musk told Insider in an email: "I exchanged the Cessna 421 Golden Eagle for a share in the mine in 1985.

Persons: Elon Musk, Walter Isaacson's, Musk, Errol Musk, Maye Musk, Isaacson, he'd, Elon Organizations: Service, Canadian, Stanford University, Cessna Locations: South Africa, Wall, Silicon, Canada, North America, Zambia, Russia

☆ Elon Musk chalked up his baseless tweet about Nancy Pelosi's husband to a tendency to post 'some things that are going to be stupid'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk didn't feel too bad about tweeting a baseless conspiracy theory about Paul Pelosi, according to a new book. "I am who I am," Musk reportedly said during a series of meetings with Twitter staff and advertisers. "I'm going to tweet some things that are going to be stupid," Musk also reportedly said. "I am who I am," biographer Walter Isaacson quotes Musk as saying during a series of meetings. "My Twitter account is an extension of me personally, and, like, I'm going to tweet some things that are going to be stupid, and I'm going to make mistakes.

Persons: Elon, Paul Pelosi, Musk, Elon Musk, Walter Isaacson, Pelosi, Isaacson, — Musk, — Organizations: Twitter, Service, Santa Monica Observer, CNBC Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Elon Musk learned hypnosis as a child and managed to convince his sister that she was a dog and to eat raw bacon, a new book says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Sonam Sheth | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk learned magic tricks and hypnosis when he was a kid, according to a new biography. He even convinced his sister, Tosca, that she was a dog and got her to eat raw bacon. Musk didn't have a social life when he was younger and frequently trailed Tosca to parties because he didn't want to be lonely, the book says. That's according to a new biography, "Elon Musk," by the author Walter Isaacson, which hit bookshelves on Thursday. Musk "also learned magic tricks and how to hypnotize people, once convincing Tosca," his little sister, "that she was a dog and getting her to eat raw bacon," it continued.

Persons: Elon Musk, Tosca, Walter Isaacson, Elon, Musk, Isaacson Organizations: Service Locations: Wall, Silicon, Toronto

☆ Elon Musk really was telling the truth by saying his father Errol never owned an emerald mine, biographer says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Jyoti Mann | Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk's biographer set the record straight on whether Errol Musk ever owned an emerald mine. Advertisement Advertisement Watch: How Tesla CEO Elon Musk makes and spends his $19.2 billionWell, it turns out that Elon Musk was telling the truth. Walter Isaacson revealed in Elon Musk's biography, released this week, that Errol Musk never owned a mine. "Many people came to me with stolen parcels," Errol Musk told the writer. The biography also said Errol Musk's emerald business eventually caved in during the 1980s and that he subsequently lost his earnings from it.

Persons: Elon Musk's, Errol Musk, Walter Isaacson, Musk's, Errol, Elon Musk, Maye Musk, Isaacson, Errol Musk's, Errol Musk didn't Organizations: Service, Twitter, CBS Locations: South Africa, Johannesburg, Wall, Silicon, Zambia

☆ Elon Musk just escalated his war against the media
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk is escalating his war on the media. Musk says it's for "esthetics" but his long history of blasting the news media suggests otherwise. AdvertisementAdvertisementElon Musk isn't shy about his disdain for the media, and his latest change to X makes that even more apparent. Musk has previously called The New York Times "propaganda" and "an unregistered lobbying firm for far left politicians." When NPR subsequently said it would quit Twitter, Musk threatened to give its handle away unless it started posting again.

Persons: Elon Musk, Elon, Fortune, Musk, X, Musk's Organizations: Reuters, The New York Times, Facebook, New York Times, Twitter, Times, NPR Locations: clickbait, Washington, The, Russia, China

☆ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman describes Elon Musk's devastating exit: 'I had to reorient a lot of my life and time'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he had to "reorient a lot of my life and time" after Elon Musk left the company. Elon Musk's 2018 departure from OpenAI — the company behind ChatGPT — rocked the artificial intelligence organization, according to a sweeping new report from The New Yorker. It is estimated that Musk poured between $50 million to $100 million of his own funds into OpenAI, The New Yorker reported. In 2018, Musk left the company's board. When he stepped down, Musk also backed out of his commitment to continue funding OpenAI, a source told The New Yorker, which left Altman scrambling.

Persons: Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Musk, Musk's, Elon Musk's, OpenAI, ChatGPT —, Altman, Reid Hoffman, Peter Thiel, Tesla, Semafor, Hoffman, ChatGPT, Andreessen Horowitz, ChatGPT's, company's Organizations: Elon, Morning, Yorker, New Yorker, Microsoft, Sequoia, K2 Global Locations: OpenAI, New Yorker

☆ Elon Musk suggests cage fight with Mark Zuckerberg is on, and will be live-streamed on X
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-06 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk appeared to confirm this his cage fight with Mark Zuckerberg is on. Elon Musk appears to be pressing ahead with his plans to fight Mark Zuckerberg. "Zuck v Musk fight will be live-streamed on X," Musk wrote. An X user asked Musk what the point of the fight is and whether it is simply to motivate him to work out. An X user warned him to "be careful" because Zuckerberg practices jiu-jitsu and Musk fired back that he's "up for a cage match."

Persons: Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, X, Musk, Dana White, Elon Musk didn't Locations: Italian, Rome

☆ Facing lawsuit from Musk, nonprofit head says he won't stop exposing Twitter's problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

And he's insisting that researchers at his nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate remain equally unafraid. Earlier this week, the company formerly known as Twitter filed a lawsuit in federal court against the CCDH, after the organization in June published research that Musk didn't like. Rather, Ahmed told staffers in a meeting after he heard about the lawsuit that they should "double down" on probing X. Lawyers representing X alleged in this week's lawsuit that the CCDH improperly obtained access to social media analysis tool Brandwatch and also illegally scraped data from Twitter using other methods. The CCDH said it obtained the tweets using a data-scraping tool and Twitter's search function.

Persons: Elon Musk, Imran Ahmed, Musk, Ahmed, I've, Jo Cox, there's, X, Brandwatch, He's, TikTok Organizations: Center, Twitter, CNBC, Washington , D.C, University of Cambridge, Labour Party, X Locations: Warsaw, Poland, Washington ,

☆ Nonprofit sued by Elon Musk's X claps back: It's 'straight out of the authoritarian playbook'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Gabriel Rivera | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk's X Corp. sued a nonprofit, alleging it made false claims about harmful content on Twitter. The nonprofit's CEO, Imran Ahmed, said the lawsuit was "straight out of the authoritarian playbook." The nonprofit that Elon Musk's X Corp. sued on Monday isn't holding back in its criticism of the billionaire. "Elon Musk didn't like the reflection he saw in the mirror, and so he sued the mirror," Ahmed wrote on X. Advertisers left in part due to rising concerns about hate speech and misinformation circulating on Twitter under Musk's direction.

Persons: Elon, Imran Ahmed, Ahmed, Musk, X Organizations: Elon Musk's X Corp, Twitter, Morning, Center

☆ Elon Musk pushed for PayPal's website to be rebranded as X.com more than 20 years ago, but focus groups reportedly thought it sounded like a porn website
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Gabriel Rivera | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk rebranded Twitter as X over the weekend — a name that has long been one of his favorites. But focus groups thought the name sounded "seedy," according to Musk biographer Walter Isaacson. Musk wanted the company to be rebranded either as X.com or X-PayPal, but his fellow executives disagreed. Several of Musk's brands among his slate of companies include the letter X, including SpaceX and the more recent company xAI. Over the weekend, he changed the company's logo from the iconic blue bird to a white letter X against a black backdrop.

Persons: Walter Isaacson, Elon Musk, Musk, Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, Max Chafkin, Chafkin, Isaacson Organizations: Elon, PayPal, Service, Twitter, musing, SpaceX Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ A man snatched up a website matching the name of Elon Musk's 'Burnt Hair' cologne — and traded it for a family tour of The Boring Company
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Twitter user Jeromy Sonne said The Boring Company struck a deal with him over a website domain. In exchange for the domain, The Boring Company gave him a tour and company swag, Sonne told Insider. But, when Musk announced The Boring Company planned to sell "Burnt Hair" cologne, Jeromy Sonne said he saw an opportunity. Now, the website domain redirects to The Boring Company's main website. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that the billionaire is in the process of building a company town for SpaceX, Tesla, and The Boring Company employees in Bastrop.

Persons: Jeromy Sonne, Sonne, Elon Musk, swag, It's, Musk, Daypart.AI, they'd, —, we've Organizations: Boring, Elon, The Boring Company, Boring Company, burnthair.com, Twitter, Hair, Street, SpaceX, Tesla Locations: cologne, Austin, Bastrop , Texas, Hair cologne, Bastrop

☆ Tesla shares down on slimming margins, Cybertruck concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

If it holds, it'll be the worst day for Tesla's stock in three months. Analysts also highlighted concerns with Tesla's margin "headwinds," which at 9.6% was the lowest result for at least the last five quarters. Tesla beat on the top and bottom lines, reporting revenue of $24.93 billion and earnings of 91 cents per share, adjusted, for the quarter ended June 30, 2023. Early this month, Tesla reported 466,140 total vehicle deliveries for the second quarter, the closest approximation of sales that Tesla reports. Cybertruck "factory tooling" is on track but the company is only producing "release candidate" builds, the company said in its earnings presentation.

Persons: Tesla, Elon Musk, it'll, Musk, we've, Mark Delaney, Goldman Sachs, Cybertruck, — CNBC's Lora Kolodny, Michael Bloom

☆ Elon Musk keeps responding to a parody account that's insulting Mark Zuckerberg on Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk keeps replying to a parody account that insults Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. Meta just launched its newest social media app called Threads, accused of being a Twitter "copycat." Elon Musk is clearly shaken by Twitter's newest competitor Threads because the billionaire is now responding to a parody account that insults Mark Zuckerberg on his behalf. Parody account @ElonMuskAOC posted the tweets in a screenshot and joked: "At this point, I can't keep track of which account I'm tweeting from." But Musk's anger doesn't just end at cheap swipes on social media.

Persons: Elon, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta, Elon Musk, Musk, Zuckerberg, doesn't, Alex Spiro Organizations: Twitter

☆ Elon Musk's biographer saw him fly into 'demon mode.' It's hard to watch — but it also gets stuff done, he says.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Walter Isaacson said Elon Musk could be "brutal" and would go into "demon mode" at times. She told him that while it can be "unpleasant" to be around Musk when he's in demon mode, it's also the mode that "gets shit done." Isaacson said he attributed Musk's "dark streak" and his willingness to take risks to his relationship with his father, Errol Musk. Errol Musk denied he contributed to Musk's "dark streak" in an emailed statement to Insider, saying that "these days Elon and I are on fairly good terms." Tesla cofounder Martin Eberhard previously told Insider that Musk used to scream at him over press coverage on Tesla.

Persons: Walter Isaacson, Elon, Musk, Elon Musk, Isaacson, Grimes, Musk's, it's, Claire Boucher, Steve Jobs, Leonardo da Vinci, " Isaacson, Theo Wargo, Jekyll, Mr, Hyde, he'd, Errol Musk, Gianliuigi Guercia, he's, Maye Musk, Stone, Maye, Gotham, Tesla, Martin Eberhard, Tim Higgins Organizations: Twitter, SpaceX

SAN FRANCISCO, June 16 (Reuters) - Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk expects his brain-chip startup Neuralink to start its first human trial this year, he said on Friday in France. Speaking at the VivaTech event in Paris, co-founder Musk said Neuralink plans to implant a tetraplegic or paraplegic patient during a webcast monitored by Reuters. The FDA acknowledged in an earlier statement to Reuters that the agency cleared Neuralink to use its brain implant and surgical robot for trials but declined to provide more details. On at least four occasions since 2019, Musk predicted that Neuralink would soon start human trials. Neuralink employees who sat on the company's animal board, which has come under federal scrutiny for potential financial conflicts, stood to benefit from the implant's quick development.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Neuralink, didn't, Rachael Levy, Hyunjoo Jin, David Gregorio Our Organizations: FRANCISCO, Billionaire, Reuters, Twitter, SpaceX, Food, Drug Administration, FDA, Department of Transportation, U.S . Department of Agriculture's, Thomson Locations: France, Paris, U.S, Washington, San Francisco

☆ What it's like to work with a billionaire, according to ex-colleagues of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Sara Blakely
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Jack Sommers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Past colleagues discussed working with Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Sara Blakely. Here, people who've worked alongside Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Sara Blakely talk about what it was like. After buying their company, Gates interrogated Williams and his colleagues about why their product was better than its Microsoft rival's. Reuters 'Girl next door' Sara Blakely was a 'creative genius'Lisa Magazine and Kenya Graham were personal and executive assistants, respectively, to Blakely, the Spanx founder. Read more: Elon Musk was a 'fun' boss but fired people on the spot if they disagreed with him, former Tesla manager says

Persons: Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Sara Blakely, they'd, —, who've, Gates, Alex Wong, Chris Williams, Williams, aul Ellis, Colin Bryar, Bryar, Bezos, I've, Blakely, Lisa, Kenya Graham, Graham, Read, Sara Blakely's, Musk, Dimitrios Kambouris, Elon, Carl Medlock, he'll, Medlock, didn't Organizations: Service, Elon, Microsoft, Amazon, Amazon VP, Reuters, Lisa Magazine, Kenya, Nordic Business, Getty Locations: Blakely, Atlanta, Medlock

☆ Elon Musk spent the last 24 hours spreading increasingly unhinged anti-trans content
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Paul Squire | Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

One of the world's richest men spent the last 24 hours sharing anti-trans content. Elon Musk promoted increasingly radical takes after right-wingers criticized him on Twitter. Elon Musk went all-in on sharing anti-transgender talking points after conservative pundits criticized him online on Thursday. In a tweet hours later to his millions of followers, Musk himself shared the video and declared "Every parent should watch this." As of Friday afternoon, Musk had pinned the tweet sharing the video to the top of his profile.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Matt Walsh, He's, Ron DeSantis, Ryan Mac, Brown, Walsh Organizations: Twitter, Morning, Daily, Twitter Republicans, Republican Party, SpaceX, GOP Florida Gov, Wall Street, New York Times, The Locations: masse

☆ Elon Musk's quest for an irresistible price could spell trouble for Tesla and its stock
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Its goal has been to coax consumers to make the leap to its brand with the lower prices. Finding an 'irresistible' price Tesla's price cuts are an effort to take advantage of that growing market. "We have written extensively on the drag EVs have on margins for legacy [original equipment manufacturers] and the impact of EV price deflation. She added that the price cuts are an effort for Tesla to retain market dominance and stave off competition from big competitors like Ford. Longer term, Tesla's price fluctuations could do more harm than good if they end up turning consumers off.

☆ Elon Musk subpoena in Epstein-JPMorgan lawsuit can be served to Tesla, judge rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Ghislaine Maxwell and Elon Musk attend the 2014 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter on March 2, 2014 in West Hollywood, California. The Virgin Islands is suing JPMorgan in U.S. District Court in Manhattan for allegedly enabling and financially benefiting from Epstein's sex trafficking of young women. Rakoff, in his order Wednesday, authorized the USVI to "arrange alternative service of its Subpoena to Produce Documents by serving Elon Musk via service upon Tesla Inc.'s registered agent." A Tesla spokesperson told The Times, "It is incorrect to say that Epstein ever advised Elon on anything." Epstein killed himself in August 2019, a month after federal authorities arrested him on an indictment charging him with child sex trafficking.

☆ Elon Musk just told Tesla staff he wants to personally approve all new hires. Here's a look into his management style at Twitter, Tesla, and SpaceX over the years.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk told Tesla staff in an email that he wants to personally sign off on all new hires. Here's a closer look at Musk's unconventional style of management and leadership at Twitter, Tesla, and SpaceX. Musk told Tesla staff in the memo that he wants to personally approve all new hires. But in 2018, current and former Tesla employees told CNBC that Musk's micromanagement cost the company time and money. The same year, Tesla employees told Insider that Musk could be demanding and unpredictable.

☆ Elon Musk teases 2 new Tesla products
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk teased two new Tesla vehicles at the company's annual shareholder meeting. He said Tesla will "probably" sell at least 5 million units annually of the two models combined. Elon Musk threw a bone to Tesla fans eager to hear what's next from the company by confirming that the automaker is working on two new vehicles. Tesla says that a robotaxi is in development, so we can assume that's potentially one of the vehicles Musk referred to. And industry analysts say new products and facelifts are needed if Tesla wants to stay at the top of the EV heap.

☆ Twitter's new CEO hasn't even started yet, but she already has a parody account that's 'suspended' Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Yaccarino already has a parody Twitter account – and it's "suspended" Musk. More than four months after vowing to step down as Twitter's CEO, Elon Musk has finally found someone to replace him. While she won't start until June, someone's already created a parody account under the username @lindayaccarina – and one of its first actions was to "suspend" Musk's Twitter account. The account, which states in its bio that it's an "official parody account of the Twitter ceo," already has 13,000 followers. Twitter responded to Insider's request for comment with an automated message that didn't address the inquiry.

☆ Elon Musk says he's found a new Twitter CEO: 'She will be starting in ~6 weeks!'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk said on Thursday that he'd found a new CEO for Twitter. Elon Musk said on Thursday that he'd found a new CEO for Twitter. Musk became Twitter CEO, describing himself as "Chief Twit," last year after he bought the company and fired CEO Parag Agrawal within hours of taking the social-media company private. Since Musk took over as Twitter CEO in November, some Tesla shareholders have expressed concern over his focus on the social-media company as Musk has taken to sleeping at its headquarters. Musk has said from the beginning that he had planned for his stint as Twitter's CEO to be temporary.

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter is purging inactive accounts to 'free up abandoned handles'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter is purging inactive accounts in a bid to free up usernames, said Elon Musk. Elon Musk warned Twitter users on Monday that the platform is purging accounts that have been inactive for a few years. "We're purging accounts that have had no activity at all for several years, so you will probably see follower count drop," Musk tweeted. He also didn't say if or how people might re-activate their inactive accounts. Under the years-old policy, inactive accounts typically get to keep their usernames, and their handles aren't released to active users.

☆ Elon Musk once praised a rocket CEO who didn't go to college for beating Jeff Bezos to orbit, new book reveals: 'Bezos has spent a shitload of money, and he hasn't made it'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A new book reveals Elon Musk once praised a rival New Zealand rocket CEO in a 2018 phone call. Musk said it was "impressive" that Rocket Lab launched a rocket into orbit before Blue Origin, per the book. Like SpaceX, Rocket Lab has been able to launch rockets into orbit — something Bezos' Blue Origin company has not yet achieved. In March, Rocket Lab launched its 35th Electron rocket just a week after launching its 34th Electron rocket. Neither Rocket Lab, Blue Origin, nor Musk responded to Insider's requests for comment.

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