Director: Sonia Anderson
Talent: Elon Musk, Daniela Albers, Per Wimmer, Julie Anderson-Ankenbrandt, Cary Cooper, Richard Branson
Release Date: 4 December 2018
Elon Musk delivers an inspirational performance with his entrepreneurial thinking in this ninety minute story that may alter the way you see the world. Musk talks passionately about changing the mindsets of many industries from cars to rockets as he gives us an in-depth look into his world and how it all started for him. He’s an engineer, an industrial designer, a technology entrepreneur, and a philanthropist all rolled into one, but how did he get to this point in his life?
It all began in South Africa. Son of Maye and Errol Musk, Elon admits that he got into reading very early on while attending Waterkloof House Preparatory School and Bryanston High School in Pretoria. Musk was bullied continuously during his childhood, so he put his head into books to better himself. He developed an interest in computing and, by the age of 12, sold a video game he created for $500. Fast forward a few years and Musk was looking for ways to move to America after concluding that the United States was where he needed to be for a better life. He chose to move to Canada against his father’s advice just before he turned 18. He was able to do that through his Canadian-born mother. From there he was able to move to the United States after he was accepted on a PhD course at Stanford University in California. His business portfolio began to build soon after graduation.
After starting a company called Zip2 with his brother, Kimbal, he quickly moved on to co-founding X.com after receiving a big pay-out from selling his shares in Zip2. X.com then became PayPal, which is now the most popular payment method online used in all walks of life across many different industries. PayPal has more than 325 million active users, and it’s reported that it has 25 percent year-on-year growth of user payment transactions for all types of things ranging from e-commerce shopping to using PayPal for sports betting, subscribing to streaming services, purchasing video games, etc.
Not long after creating PayPal, Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 where he was determined to improve on what NASA was already doing quite successfully. He wanted to send a rocket to Mars. Fast forward to the present day and that dream could become a reality fairly soon as SpaceX continues to shock the world with some magnificent and realistic ideas. He also talks passionately about his Tesla venture, which began in 2003. In 2006, Musk outlined an ambitious plan for Tesla, which is now proving to be a great success:
- 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.
Elon Musk is not your average entrepreneur and tech billionaire. He uses his incredible wealth to create companies that work to change the world and turn science fiction into reality. He is without doubt one of the world’s most influential people today and this documentary gives you a fascinating look into the life of a young nerd from South Africa and the ideas that constantly dominate his brain. It features exclusive interviews with his friends and colleagues, former Vice President of PR at PayPal Julie Anderson-Ankenbrandt, astronaut Per Wimmer, and Daniela Albers of Pretoria Boys High School. If you have 90 minutes spare and you want to know what goes on in the mind of a genius and a billionaire who was afraid of the dark as a kid, watch Elon Musk – The Real Life Iron Man. A title that came from Robert Downey Jr’s 2008 Iron Man movie, for which the coveted actor turned to Musk for help getting into character. I’ve only scratched the surface on what fascinating insights are shared in this documentary.
Words: Ana Bourke
