The man of possibilities

Musk is a real hero and we are fortunate to live in a time when we have someone like him around and also the science that makes what he wants to achieve possible

The American television network CBS has a long running news show called 60 Minutes. In 2008, it ran a feature on what was then a new and upcoming company that made electric cars, Tesla. In a frank and open interview, its chief executive officer, Elon Musk, confessed he had sunk about 55 million dollars of his personal money in the project. He also said that his project had overrun in terms of cost.

It had spent more than double what he had originally estimated. Did he think the project would survive? He said he did not know (and this made him different, according to the 60 Minutes journalists, from the other brash electric car company executives they also interviewed for the same story). However, he added, the goal of Tesla was not to become the next General Motors or any such thing. It was to make sure that the human race was headed towards a sustainable future by moving away from fossil fuels.

The exact quote was, “The goal of Tesla Motors is to accelerate the advent of the electric vehicle.” The show revealed that all the other companies they had interviewed from 10 years ago had gone bankrupt. Tesla is, of course, a giant force in the world of automobiles. It is valued today at over $350 billion. To put that in perspective, General Motors is valued at less than 1/10th of that number. The Ford Motor Company is valued at 30th that number. GM makes and sells five million cars a year. This year, Tesla will likely sell only about 100,000 cars.

The huge difference between the old giants and Tesla is based entirely on what the market thinks Tesla can achieve from here on. Musk is a highly unusual man. That thing he said about his ultimate goal is not just political correctness or fakery. 

On June 12, 2015, Musk posted a blog with the headline, “All our patents belong to you.”

It read: “Yesterday, there was a wall of Tesla patents in the lobby of our Palo Alto headquarters. That is no longer the case. They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.” He continued: “Tesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. If we clear a path for the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal. Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.

When I started out with my first company, Zip2, I thought patents were a good thing and worked hard to obtain them. And maybe they were good long ago, but too often these days, they serve merely to stifle progress, entrench the positions of giant corporations and enrich those in the legal profession, rather than the actual inventor.”

In 2006, Musk posted a blog headlined, “The Secret Tesla Motors Plan (just between you and me)”. It ends with these words: 

“So, in short, the master plan is:

Build sports car

Use that money to build an affordable car

Use that money to build an even more affordable car

While doing above, also provide zero emission electric power generation options.

Don’t tell anyone.”

That was 12 years ago. What happened after that? He built a sports car, the Tesla Roadster, and sold 2,500 of them between 2008 and 2012. With that he raised money to develop a new car, the Tesla Model S in 2012. This car was a breakthrough and one of the greatest inventions in automobile history (though a four-door sedan, it is quicker to 100 kmph than Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche). Tesla made 250,000 of these. In 2017, Tesla began making the “even more affordable car”, the Model 3. The car was sold out before it began production (more than half a million people paid $1,000 to book it). Today, Tesla makes about 1,000 of these cars a day. That is still much fewer than GM or Ford, but it is without question that Musk and his company has achieved what they set out to do. Their mission stands accomplished and, whether or not Tesla succeeds in the future, the world of automobiles has been comprehensively disrupted in favour of electric cars.

Musk has some of the most remarkable views on Artificial Intelligence. Photo: Reuters

Many readers may already be familiar with the story that I have recounted. But the incredible thing is that this is not even all of it or even most of it. 

Musk heads one of the most successful rocket companies on earth, called Space X, which is making the most powerful rockets on the planet. He has plans to send manned missions to Mars. He runs a company (which he has called the Boring Company) that looks at inner city transportation in a network of tunnels. In fact, by the time you read this, there will be an update on the first tunnel that his company has bored in Los Angeles.

And he also runs a firm that looks at artificial intelligence and its dangers to mankind. Musk has some of the most remarkable views on this subject and these may be sourced on YouTube and are highly recommended.

I wrote this in appreciation of the man and what he does and how he goes about doing it. He is a real hero and we are fortunate to live in a time when we have someone like him around and also the science that makes what he wants to achieve possible. I believe some of the greatest minds in human history, like Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs, will have had a lot in common with Musk.

They tell us, all of us, what is possible for one human to achieve.