Chapter 4: Elon Musk: All-Electric Dreams

 Before diving into today's chapter, make sure to read Chapter 3: Elon Musk: From PayPal to SpaceX to follow Elon Musk's journey from the beginning.

In 2002, talented engineer J.B. Straubel bought a Porsche and transformed it into an electric car. It was a time when there was no movement yet for clean technology. He tried to find investors for his product, but for months, Straubel faced rejection. Finally, he met Elon Musk, who was thrilled about the electric car. Musk brought in his own ideas about batteries and energy storage and agreed to fund Straubel immediately. Their partnership continued for years.

Meanwhile, there were two business partners, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning from Northern California, who were also interested in building electric cars. On July 2003, they founded Tesla Motors, inspired by Nikola Tesla, the inventor of the electric motor. Eberhard and Tarpenning pitched their company to Musk in Los Angeles. They all shared the idea of ending America's dependence on oil. Musk, always an advocate for clean and sustainable energy, became the chairman and largest shareholder of Tesla. Not long after, J.B. Straubel joined the company.

The team realized that big car companies no longer actually manufactured cars. BMW had its parts made overseas, handling only marketing, sales, and final assembly locally. Gone were the days when Ford Motors worked with raw materials. Tesla Motors was determined to build electric cars from scratch. Musk and his team of engineers made the Roadster as their prototype. However, the process took a lot of time, effort, and money. As Tesla developed its next product, Musk was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Pain, Suffering, and Survival

Elon Musk began to gain public attention since PayPal. The press loved to talk about him, and people were curious about this multimillionaire with a unique name. Known for investing heavily in electric cars and spaceships, Musk would hang out with celebrities and other businessmen, putting on a good show. But Musk was actually having problems with the finances of Tesla and SpaceX. The electric car prototypes and rocket launch attempts were consuming all his money, and he was being ridiculed by the press for his failed products.

To make matters worse, his marriage with Justine was falling apart. They already had five children by 2006—a set of twins and a set of triplets. In 2007, Justine suffered from postpart
um depression. Tesla had to recreate its prototype Roadster, and SpaceX was preparing for the Falcon 1 launch. Both projects consumed Musk's time and money, and he was busy with his companies seven days a week, almost never coming home. Justine felt like a trophy wife, not a partner, and Musk filed for divorce in June 2008.

Justine expressed her feelings openly on her blog, posting about Musk and the divorce proceedings. Bill Lee, an investor and friend of Musk, worried about his mental state and invited Musk to take a vacation in London. There, Musk met his second wife, Talulah Riley, a 22-year-old English actress. Riley accompanied Musk for the rest of his London trip, and they spent time talking and dining together.

When Musk returned to Los Angeles, Riley followed a few weeks later. Musk told Riley that he already had five kids and was going through a divorce, but when Musk proposed to her, she still said yes. It was indeed a whirlwind romance. Riley witnessed Musk's struggles with his companies. She said, "He looked like death itself. I remember thinking this guy would have a heart attack and die." SpaceX lost millions from failed rocket launch attempts, and Tesla spent a lot on its prototypes. Both companies were nearing bankruptcy.

Musk had to sell prized possessions like his McLaren F1 and asked his investor friends to fund SpaceX and Tesla through the end of 2008. Some company employees even wrote checks to help. Musk scraped together money to cover payroll every week. Meanwhile, NASA was looking for a contractor to resupply the International Space Station. Musk did everything he could to secure the contract for SpaceX. As for Tesla, he negotiated more funding from investors and put in all his remaining personal funds, even selling some of his stocks in SolarCity.

Fortunately, on December 23, 2008, NASA announced that it had chosen SpaceX to supply the ISS. The agency would pay $1.6 billion for a total of 12 flights. Musk was spending his holidays with Kimbal in Colorado and burst into tears as the transactions proceeded. Elon Musk came to America with nothing, lost a child, and went through a very public divorce. He was on the verge of losing his companies and his entire life's work, but Elon Musk endured. As one of his friends said, "What he went through in 2008 would have broken anyone else. He didn't just survive; he kept working and stayed focused."