Do You Know: Elon Musk Has Invested in Which Companies?

Tuesday, October 19, 2021 | Chimniii Desk

Highlights

While Musk is best known for his work at SpaceX, he is also a serial entrepreneur and investor.
As is the case with any long-term investor, some of his investments have failed, but others have thrived and are among the most exciting names in technology.
Here are just a few of the companies in which Elon Musk has invested, some of which are well-known and others that have yet to make major headlines.
Zip2 Corporation is notable as the first of Elon Musk's numerous publicly disclosed investments.
Indeed, two of Elon Musk's companies, SpaceX and Tesla, both own Bitcoin.

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Visionary Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, is frequently in the news for his outrageous quotes and inspired ideas. While Musk is best known for his work at Tesla, he is also a serial entrepreneur and investor.

As is the case with any long-term investor, some of his investments have failed, but others have thrived and are among the most exciting names in technology. Here are just a few of the companies in which Elon Musk has invested, some of which are well-known and others that have yet to make major headlines.

Tesla (TSLA)

CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK

Elon Musk's investment portfolio must begin and end with Tesla, which made history as the first viable and profitable manufacturer of electric vehicles. Musk and Tesla have continued to innovate, from the original roadster to the more recent Model S, Model 3, and new Roadster models. Tesla stock soared nearly 700 percent in 2020 alone, helping Musk become the world's wealthiest person.

SpaceX

CREDIT: Reuters

Elon Musk's second most popular moniker is SpaceX. As is the case with the majority of Musk's endeavours, SpaceX is not "just" a rocket company. The primary selling point of SpaceX is that it is significantly more affordable than traditional rocket technology, owing in large part to the company's self-landing and reusable rockets. This type of innovation is laying the groundwork for the next great leap in space exploration, which is one of founder Musk's greatest ambitions.

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PayPal/X.com (PYPL)

CREDIT: Getty images

Musk's innovative investments are primarily focused on technology, but they span a wide range of industries. Musk's first investment was in X.com, a payment processing company that predated PayPal. Musk can also be considered the father of email payment processing in this regard.

The Boring Corporation

CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

Despite its name, the Boring Company will do everything possible to keep you awake. This Musk company aims to solve the problem of traffic congestion by boring underground tunnels. Loop, an all-electric, zero-emission underground public transportation system, is one of its most exciting projects. At the Las Vegas Convention Center, there is already one commercially operated Loop system.

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DeepMind

CREDIT: Deep Mind

Musk is well-known for his apprehension about the future of artificial intelligence, fearful that it will be misused. Perhaps Musk's investment in DeepMind was a way for him to keep an eye on how that industry was developing. DeepMind, which Google acquired, claims to want to "solve intelligence" by fusing computer technology and neuroscience in order to create "artificial general intelligence."

Zip2 Corporation

CREDIT: zip2 corporation

Zip2 Corporation is notable as the first of Elon Musk's numerous publicly disclosed investments. Zip2 Corporation filled in the blanks in 1995, when the internet required yellow pages – that is, before search engines like Yahoo and Google. Musk later sold the company to Compaq for $307 million, the largest sum ever paid for an internet company at the time.

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Neuralink

CREDIT: IBRo Journal

Musk co-founded Neuralink in 2016, and the company recently raised an additional $205 million in capital from Google Ventures and others. As the company's name implies, it seeks to establish a neural connection between brains and computers via high-bandwidth brain implants. While this may sound a little "Terminator"-esque, the company's primary objective is to assist quadriplegics in interacting with digital devices such as computers and smartphones.

SolarCity

CREDIT: mashable

Musk is well-known for his support of environmental and sustainable causes in his capacity as Tesla's CEO. As such, it's unsurprising that he's a fan of SolarCity, one of the largest solar panel installers in the country. Indeed, Musk's Tesla acquired the company in 2016. This created legal complications for Musk, as he is currently defending the acquisition, which was alleged to have enriched family members unjustly.

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NeuroVigil

CREDIT: neurovigil

Musk appears to have a strong interest in technology and the mind, as NeuroVigil is another of his investments in that area. The company develops brain monitors and algorithms to detect signs of pathology in individuals who do not exhibit other symptoms, such as those with brain cancer or neurodegeneration. Musk was one of several investors in the company's 2015 second financing round.

Cryptocurrency

CREDIT: shutterstock

While cryptocurrency is not a company, Musk views it as a significant investment that dominates news headlines. Musk is even dubbed the "DogeFather" by some investors for bringing the previously obscure cryptocurrency Dogecoin to national prominence. However, Musk has made significant gains on Ethereum and Bitcoin, the two most popular cryptocurrencies. Indeed, two of Elon Musk's companies, SpaceX and Tesla, both own Bitcoin. Musk is so influential in the cryptocurrency space that a single tweet can precipitously increase or decrease the value of those assets.

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