Top 10 - The Rise and Fall of Elon Musk

Launches X.com/PayPal (1999)

After making his first millions in the 1990s dot-com boom, Musk co-founded the online financial services and e-mail payment company X.com in 1999. It merged with Confinity in 2000 and was renamed PayPal. Musk was ousted as CEO but remained the majority shareholder. When eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion in 2002, Musk earned $165 million from the sale, providing him with his first major fortune.

Founds SpaceX (2002)

Unveils Tesla Roadster (2008)

Musk joined Tesla Motors as CEO and product architect in 2008 after initially acting as an early investor. He played a key role in designing the all-electric Tesla Roadster sports car, the first serial production automobile to use lithium-ion battery cells. Released in 2008, the Roadster helped prove the potential for electric vehicles to compete in performance and range.

NASA Commercial Crew Program (2010)

SpaceX made history in 2010 by becoming the first private company to successfully launch and return a spacecraft from orbit as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Development program to develop commercial spaceflight to low Earth orbit. This was a major step in the emergence of private spaceflight.

Hyperloop concept (2013)

Musk garnered significant press attention in 2013 by proposing the Hyperloop, a conceptual high-speed transportation system involving pressurized passenger pods traveling at airliner speeds through a reduced-pressure tube. While the Hyperloop was not actually constructed, this demonstrated Musk's penchant for envisioning extremely advanced futuristic innovations.

Reusable rocket landing (2015)

A major milestone in rocketry was achieved in 2015 when SpaceX successfully vertically landed the first stage of its Falcon 9 orbital rocket back on Earth post-launch. Reusable rockets drastically reduce spaceflight costs. SpaceX went on to pioneer reusability for orbital class rockets.

SolarCity acquisition (2016)

In Musk's drive to promote sustainable energy, Tesla acquired solar panel developer SolarCity in 2016 for $2.6 billion. This significantly expanded Tesla's clean energy business to include solar as well as electric vehicles and battery storage. Musk was also the chairman and largest shareholder of SolarCity.

Launches Heavy Falcon Rocket (2018)

SpaceX launched the Falcon Heavy rocket in 2018, the world's most powerful operational rocket and the first super heavy-lift launch vehicle entirely funded privately as opposed to by a government. The successful launch signaled SpaceX cementing its status as the global leader in commercial spaceflight.

"Pedo guy" tweet (2018)

Musk found himself embroiled in controversy in 2018 when he called a British cave diver involved in the Tham Luang cave rescue a "pedo guy" on Twitter without substantiation, precipitating a defamation lawsuit. Though Musk was found not liable, this marked the beginning of increasing public skepticism regarding his judgment.

Twitter acquisition turmoil (2022)

Musk's reputation substantially deteriorated in 2022 amid his chaotic acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion and the mass layoffs and disorganization within Twitter that followed. Combined with the crash in Tesla stock value, Musk went from being the world's richest person to losing much of his prestige and public faith as his empire showed signs of crumbling.