How Smart Is Elon Musk? (Explained)

 

Elon Musk is the wealthiest person on the planet, which can be attributed to his high level of intelligence and smart business decisions over the course of decades.

Musk has worked in a multitude of industries that require a strong education and the ability to learn quickly.

Nobody can deny that Musk’s innovative ideas have changed the world as we know it.

From his work in software development to his advancements in neuroscience, Musk does not let learning a new field get in between him and his next greatest innovation.

 

How Smart Is Elon Musk?

 

Elon Musk has an IQ of somewhere between 150 and 155.

Comparing his IQ to Albert Einstein’s IQ of 160, Musk is an incredibly smart individual.

Those with an IQ of 130 or higher are considered to be gifted, while those with a score of 160 or higher are considered to be geniuses.

The intelligence quotient or IQ measures a person’s ability to think on the spot and reason.

This score shows how well a person can gather information and then use that information to solve a problem.

When testing a person’s IQ, doctors use a variety of questions that assess the person’s short-term and long-term memory.

The person being tested will also be given puzzles to solve and are asked to recall the information they have gathered throughout the test.

Although having a high IQ shows the potential for quicker learners, abstract thinkers, and strong leaders, an individual’s true level of intelligence depends on more than their IQ.

When experts are trying to decipher how smart a person is, they also include traits such as persistence, ambition, the ability to think clearly, being opportunistic, and sometimes simply being lucky.

Elon Musk is known for being incredibly persistent and ambitious, often proclaiming the ways that he intends to change the world for both the short and long term.

Musk has also proven that he is willing to take an opportunity given to him and has what it takes to even create his own opportunities.

Another unique feature that has helped Musk become as smart as he is today is his passion for learning.

By constantly learning about new topics and using his critical thinking skills, Elon Musk is able to maintain a strong sense of fluid thinking and crystal clear thinking.

 

What Degrees Does Elon Musk Have?

 

Elon Musk has two different degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, including a Bachelor of Arts in Physics and a Bachelor in Science in Economics.

The type of Bachelor’s degrees that Musk has in each subject is incredibly strange because many people have a Bachelor’s of Arts in Economics and Bachelor’s of Science in Physics, but this billionaire has proven that being a bit strange is just part of his genius.

From an early age, Musk’s love of learning came from his ambition to change the world.

By the time he was nine years old, he had read the entire encyclopedia and quickly moved onto adult chapter books like the science fiction series Foundation by Isaac Asimov.

After reading about the fictional advancements in science from his favorite stories, young Musk was determined to make science fiction a reality.

Young Musk knew that he would have to leave his home in South Africa to find more opportunities somewhere like the United States.

Once Elon Musk graduated from high school, he moved to Canada to attend Queen’s University for three years before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania in the United States.

Stanford University offered Musk a scholarship to allow him to earn his Ph.D. at the esteemed university, but Musk declined their offer to start a business with his brother, Kimbal.

Despite having multiple degrees and doing incredibly well in school, Elon Musk isn’t fond of the way that people are required to have degrees just to be seen as intelligent or a good potential employee.

When Musk is looking to hire someone, he isn’t looking at who was the best student. Instead, he is looking at who has the ambition, persistence, and passion to learn whatever is necessary.

 

Working As A Software Developer

 

Elon Musk was helping his brother Kimbal create their own computer software well before his time in automotive or aerospace engineering.

When Musk turned down the offer from Stanford University, he instead began working on Zip2.

Zip2 was a precursor to applications like Google Maps that Musk released in 1995.

However, Musk’s decision to end his traditional education allowed him to sell Zip2 to major software company Compaq for $307 million.

With the money that Musk had earned from his first project, he decided to invest $22 million to create an online way of transferring money called X.com.

Peter Thiel and Max Levchin had just recently created an online payment system that they called PayPal.

The two companies merged under one name everyone is now familiar with, and Musk was named CEO.

However, Musk didn’t last long in the position after he made a decision without the consent of the other executives and was given $180 million to leave the company.

The millionaire used $100 million to start SpaceX, $70 million to invest in Tesla, and $10 million for SolarCity.

He used every penny he had gotten from PayPal to invest in his other companies to the point that he had to borrow money for rent.

Elon Musk’s most recent software development project has been OpenAI.

Musk has publicly stated his fear of artificial intelligence becoming too much for humanity to handle, so he created OpenAI to offer the public a transparent view of what artificial intelligence is becoming and to show other software developers how to create AI that is safe for all of humanity.

OpenAI is a nonprofit organization with investors that include Microsoft, Khosla Ventures, and Reid Hoffman’s charitable foundation.

Hoffman also serves as a non-employee for the organization and instead acts as an advisor.

 

His Many Roles At SpaceX

 

Between all of Elon Musk’s business ventures, he works more than 100 hours per week.

However, he still manages to be heavily involved with SpaceX.

The billionaire serves as SpaceX’s CEO, chief technology officer, and the chief designer.

Luckily, he has Gwynne Shotwell to serve as the chief operating officer and handle every aspect of the business except design and engineering.

Not only is Musk smart enough to design and engineer spacecraft, but he is also smart enough to identify individuals who are highly capable and able to work at a similar level as him.

He identifies and surrounds himself with intelligent individuals who have the persistence to maintain a tightly run company.

It was Shotwell who got in contact with NASA for the projects that SpaceX worked on with them.

Although some people may assume that Musk only serves as the face of his companies, he claims that spends upwards of 80% of his time designing and engineering for his companies.

The main projects that Elon Musk is working on with SpaceX include making improvements to the Falcon 9, the Dragon spacecraft, and creating the Mars Colonial architecture.

SpaceX is mostly busy working with private clients or new NASA research projects.

The company is also frequently launching satellites for Starlink, the high-speed internet that Musk plans to offer in the places that need the internet the most.

Musk’s work with SpaceX is meant to save humanity from the situation where Earth is no longer habitable.

Elon Musk has stated that he doesn’t want humanity being a “single-planet species” and believes that the best planet to start on is Mars.

He feels that there’s more opportunity to be found in space travel and feels as if innovation has recently abandoned the final frontier.

 

Ahead Of The Electric Car Curve

 

Experts in the automotive industry believe that Tesla is 10 years ahead of its automotive competitors, especially when it comes to electric car technology.

With the recent gas price increase, more people than ever are considering switching to electric cars.

Traditional automotive titans like Ford or Chrysler have only recently begun to join the electric car race.

Elon Musk has not only designed the best electric car line available on the market, but he also continually looks for ways to improve his electric vehicles and their self-driving technology.

Musk is constantly listening to the feedback that he receives from consumers and uses their critiques to improve the products.

The billionaire wants to better understand what consumers would need from his products to purchase his vehicles over the traditional car brands.

When Musk noticed that his robotic and automated production line wasn’t pushing out cars at a rate that matched demand, he began replacing the robots with human factory workers.

Although the company was once criticized for its low production rates, it is now on track to be making 500,000 cars annually.

One of the most innovative aspects of Tesla’s electric vehicles is the battery technology, according to comedian and car enthusiast Jay Leno in his interview with Yahoo! Finance.

Leno is known for his love of classic cars and car show Jay Leno’s Garage, but this car collector prefers to drive electric for his day-to-day transportation.

If an electric car company is winning over a famous classic car lover like Jay Leno, Elon Musk must be doing something right.

Musk is the one who leads all of the product design, engineering, and global manufacturing of Tesla’s products.

Musk has a strong sense of ambition and is constantly looking to achieve greater heights.

He doesn’t just settle for his best work.

 

Solving The Traffic Crisis

 

By bringing Tesla and SpaceX together, Elon Musk hopes to solve the traffic crisis that has caused more traffic congestion than the United States and many other countries have ever seen.

Anyone on the road, especially in urban areas or places with high populations, has probably noticed that many streets are too narrow for the number of cars that are on the road.

Because a lot of cities were planned at a time when there were fewer vehicles on the road, city planners have found that the placement of buildings and sidewalks limits the amount that they’re able to widen roads.

There was already talk about how city planners were running out of space on a single plane.

Most people who have tried to solve this problem have recommended adding another plane for cars to drive on, but the logistical side of planning such a project presents a multitude of obstacles.

Elon Musk decided to throw his hat into the ring when presenting the idea of Hyperloop.

This high-speed commuter and commercial transporter would be able to reach speeds of nearly 750 miles per hour.

When Musk first thought of Hyperloop, he was simply looking for a way to take commuters from downtown Los Angeles to San Francisco in 30 minutes.

However, the Hyperloop idea has expanded to include even further distances.

In order to reach speeds of 750 miles per hour, the Hyperloop uses pressurized pods and electromagnetic force inside a near-vacuum tube.

The Hyperloop is designed similarly to maglev trains, looking for every possible way to reduce drag and air friction.

Not only would Hyperloop be able to compete with a variety of commuter and freight transporters on land, but would also become a competitor against air travel.

Musk is only planning to charge $20 for a one-way trip.

 

Looking To Innovate Neuroscience

 

As if designing cars, spacecraft, and a new form of transportation weren’t enough to keep Elon Musk occupied, he is also looking to use artificial intelligence to help improve neuroscience and even neurosurgeries.

With the neurotechnology company Neuralink, Musk plans to place electrodes near some of 86 billion neurons in your brain to record their reactions in order to better understand how information travels through the brain.

Although neurologists are able to read neutron activity through the non-invasive EEG, this method of tracking neuron activity collects information from millions of neurons and creates a blurry image of what is actually happening inside the human brain.

By using neutral stimulation through the electrodes placed in a patient’s brain, Neuralink hopes to eliminate pathological patterns of activity that occur in a variety of neurological disorders.

Neuralink is also hoping to create the first neural implant that will let you control computers or smartphones wherever you go.

The neurotechnology company plans to insert micron-scale threads into the parts of the brain that control movement, with each thread containing electrodes connecting the brain to the implant called the Link.

Because the threads are so fine, they have to be placed inside the patient’s brain using a robotic system that allows the neurosurgeon to place the threads accurately and effectively.

Those who receive the Link implant are then able to download a Neuralink application for their smart devices, which then gives them the ability to control their mobile devices with their minds.

Although this may all sound like something from the science fiction novels that Elon Musk used to read as a child, Neuralink is not only making this technology a reality, but they are hoping to make this technology accessible to all of those who need it.

 

Giving The Globe High-Speed Internet

 

Elon Musk understands how important it is for people to have high-quality internet in the modern age.

He also understands what a difference having the internet can make for those countries that may be behind in technological advancements.

Musk created Starlink to help people around the world access the internet more freely, and he has used his ability to send high-quality internet anywhere around the globe to help suffering countries as he has recently done with Ukraine.

When Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation directly messaged Elon Musk on Twitter, the billionaire was quick to answer the country’s plea for help and had Starlink service up within hours.

With the recent threats of cyberattacks and bombs destroying the traditional internet in Ukraine, Starlink has given Ukraine reliable internet once again.

Thousands of Starlink terminals have been sent to the country, and the minister of digital transformation has stated that they have been “very effective” and claims that the internet quality that Starlink provides is “excellent.”

Being able to maintain a reliable connection while a country is being bombed and torn apart by war is one of the biggest tests that a product can go through.

This was also an incredibly smart business move on Musk’s part because Ukrainian citizens will have a positive reception to Starlink and potentially his other products as well.

Although Musk has a history of falling short on some of his promises, minister Mykhailo Fedorov claims that Musk’s contributions have undeniably helped the country.

Musk even had his European Tesla employees creating systems to power Starlink in Ukraine.

 

Elon Musk Is Smart Enough To Change The World

 

There are multiple ways to decipher just how smart Elon Musk is, but the track record and legacy that Musk is laying out for himself is the best way to see just how far someone can push their mind and thinking capabilities.

Few people throughout history have such a strong combination of academic intelligence, real-world knowledge, ambition, persistence, and the ability to see the opportunity for improvement in everything.

Elon Musk isn’t someone who sits back and complains about a problem.

Musk has amassed the wealth and knowledge to allow him to solve whatever problem bothers him.

His ambition and his persistence are among the things that keep him from being satisfied with what he has done and push him ever further toward the limits of what his mind can do.

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