Eunkyo Oh: Investigation 2

## **Elon Musk**

Elon Musk is an entrepreneur and an innovator that changed, and is changing, the world. Elon Reeve Musk was born on June 28, 1971 in South Africa from a Canadian mother and a South African father. He has a brother and a sister, Kimbal and Tosca respectably. From his childhood he always had an interest in computers. At the age of 10, his parents divorced. He taught himself programming and made his first project when he was 12. A video game he called Blastar.

Elon Musk moved to Canada in 1992, age 17, to attend Queen’s University. By doing so, he avoided mandatory enrollment to South African military. However, he left Queen’s University in 1992 to study business and physics at the University of Pennsylvania. He first graduated with an undergraduate degree in economics, and then stayed for a second bachelor’s degree in physics. Elon Musk then went to Stanford University to study energy physics for a Ph.D. However, he dropped out after two days at Stanford to launch his first company called Zip2 Corporation.

Zip2 Corporation was an online city guide that eventually provided content for The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune in 1999. He was not afraid to take his chance at the age of internet boom. Musk also co-founded X.com in 1999. It was the predecessor of the online financing payment company known as PayPal. PayPal was sold to eBay for a price of $1.5 billion in stock in 2002.

He did not stop there, he founded his third company, SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) in 2002. He dreamed about creating spacecrafts for commercial space travel. SpaceX earned the contract to handle cargo transports for the International Space Station by NASA in 2008.

Elon Musk is also a co-founder of Tesla Motors. Tesla produces electric cars targeting the mass-market. In April 2017,Tesla surpasses General Motors to be the most valuable U.S car maker brand. Tesla is also pushing in the field of AI.

Elon Musk is a person who always aspire to do great things. He has a lot of ambition and his companies push the boundaries of current technologies. He also cares about the nature and humanity. Musk always challenges himself and has always succeeded at beating himself.

https://www.biography.com/people/elon-musk-20837159

## **Steve Jobs**

Steve Jobs is an entrepreneur, a creative inventor and a designer. He is the co-founder of Apple along with Steve Wozniak, and he is responsible for creating revolutionary products such as iPhone, iPod, iPad, and the MacIntosh.

Steve was born in 1955 under Joanne Schieble and Abdulfattah Jandali. The two were University of Wisconsin graduates, but they gave Steve Jobs up for adoption. He was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs who gave him his name. Paul was a machinist and an engineer, and Steve gained his interest in technology from him.

Steve in school was a hard kid to discipline. He always caused troubles in elementary school and high school, but always had high scores in all subjects. He caused a lot of hassle for his parents. Steve Jobs enrolled in Reed College in Portland after high school, but dropped out after 6 months. He then dropped in on courses without being a student at the school, to learn about many different subjects. Steve worked as a video game designer at Atari, where he played around with Steve Wozniak.

In 1974, Steve Jobs went on a journey to find a spiritual enlightenment in India. He started experimenting with psychedelic drugs. On his return, he was obsessed with calming of his mind. He would be obsessed with meditating, trying new intensive diets, and also smoking different types of drugs.

He created Apple in 1976 with Steve Wozniak. Together, they created computers that competed with other big companies such as IBM. Jobs always forced his employees to work at their limit. He also had some conflicting views than other shareholders of Apple. After releasing Mcintosh, Jobs was relocated to a different position, and Jobs left Apple in 1985.

Steve bought Pixar from George Lucas in 1986. Jobs invested $50 million of his money to Pixar. Steve Jobs believed in the possibilities of the animation company, and it made well known, popular movies such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo.

Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 as CEO. Just like he lead Apple in the 1970’s he created innovative products including Macbooks, iPhones, and iPads. He changed the field of technology with his brilliant, creative mind.

Steve Jobs also always pushed himself to a limit. He was a very creative thinker, and his imaginative view of the future to some extent became a reality. He was always exploring the possibilities and his dedication shaped the world with his products.

https://www.biography.com/people/steve-jobs-9354805

## **Mark Zuckerberg**

Mark Zuckerberg is the co-founder of Facebook, a social networking platform. Mark Zuckerberg was born on May 14, 1984 in New York. He comes from a upper-middle class, well-educated family, where his father was a dentist and his mother was a psychiatrist. He first developed interest in computers in age of 12. He created his first software named Zucknet for his father to use at his dentistry office. Zuckerberg also created many computer games for fun with his friends.

Mark went to Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. From there he showed talent in fencing. He also continued his computer intestate. He created a music software, which he called Synapse, and companies like microsoft expressed an interest in purchasing that software.

Zuckerberg enrolled into Harvard University in 2002. He was very well-known within the university as a software developer. He built a program called CourseMatch. It helped student select their courses based on other peer’s courses. He also created the notorious Facemash, which showed pictures of two students on campus and users voted on who is more attractive.

Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook on his sophomore year with his friends Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, and Eduardo Saverin from his dorm room. He dropped out of Harvard University to work on Facebook the full time. Facebook had gained 1 million users by end of 2004.

Mark Zuckerberg donated $100 million to save public schools in New Jersey. He also promised to donate at least 50 percent of his wealth to charity over the course of his lifetime,

https://www.biography.com/people/mark-zuckerberg-507402

### If I could interview one person.

If I could interview one of my role models it would be Elon Musk. I want to ask him how he was not afraid of failures and only pushed himself forward. I wonder what his motivation is to continue changing the world even though he can stop at any given time given that he is one of the richest men on the planet. I admire his drive to creating a more convenient world for people.