In recent days, the next American president, Donald Trump, has been building his future team. Every day, he announces one or more members of it. Among them, Elon Musk. But who is he?
Elon Musk was born in Pretoria in South Africa (a country in the south of Africa), on June 28, 1971. His father is a wealthy engineer and real estate developer (he sells and rents houses), his mother is a model and dietician. He grew up in a wealthy environment.
When he was little, he said he was passionate about video games and building model rockets. At age 12, he coded (designed) his first video game. He sold it for 500 dollars (around 470 euros) to a specialized magazine. A capital (sum of money) which will continue to increase.
A businessman
In the mid-1990s, he co-founded the company Zip2 with his brother. This company produces software (programs) for other companies. In 1999, the two brothers sold it for several million dollars. Elon Musk uses this money to found a new online payment company: PayPal. In 2002, he in turn sold it for more than a billion dollars.
Elon Musk next turns to space. He founded the company SpaceX. A few years later, in 2008, he signed a contract with NASA (the American space agency). SpaceX notably produces tools for the international space station.
Alongside this new project, he is embarking on others, such as Tesla. In 2004, he bought shares in this electric car production company. Its objective is to develop electric vehicles at affordable prices but also to create cars that will not need drivers! These are so-called autonomous cars.
In 2022, Elon Musk will also buy the social network Twitter for the sum of 44 billion dollars. He renamed the social network “X” and modified certain rules of use. In particular, it excludes any form of censorship (control) for publications made on the network.
Elon Musk is a businessman, this is an overview of his many projects. He has a reputation for acting on impulse and being very confident.
Future minister of Donald Trump?
In the eyes of some, Elon Musk is the other big winner of the American presidential election on November 6. He supported Donald Trump, the winner of the election, during the last weeks of his election campaign (a period when you try to convince people to vote for you). Elon Musk accompanied him to rallies, sometimes even taking the stage to defend the Republican candidate.
Elon Musk is one of the richest men in the world, so he did not hesitate to put his hand in his wallet during this election period: he invested more than 100 million dollars. He also used his social network X (former Twitter) as well as his personal account on this network to send messages from candidate Donald Trump.
Next January, Elon Musk is expected to take the helm of a new “Ministry of Government Effectiveness”. This was announced by future President Donald Trump on Tuesday, November 12. In fact, however, it is not a real ministry but an external service to support the government. The service is not part of official government structures. So, Elon Musk will not be a minister. At the head of the service, he will team up with another billionaire (Vivek Ramaswamy).
Several media reactions
The British newspaper The Guardian reacted following the announcement of the attribution of a position to Elon Musk. On November 13, the daily mentioned that it would no longer publish on the social network “toxic media platform”.
Le Guardian explains having thought about leaving “for a while”due to content often promoted on the platform, such as far-right conspiracy theories and racism. The last publication on the newspaper account dates from this Wednesday morning. The accounts of Guardian on the social network are now presented as “archived”. Readers are invited to visit the newspaper's website or download its application.
November 14, it's the Spanish newspaper The Vanguard who announces that he will no longer publish on X, which would have become “a network of disinformation”.
