Jump to content

Talk:Elon Musk

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Vanity?

He sold the F1 according to http://moschus.livejournal.com/81449.html


I'd agree that something needs to be done about at least the intro. Currently reads that he "invented" the roadster and "designed" Falcon/Dragon as a "successor to the Space Shuttle"... Summarizing is one thing but those descriptions of his involvement in the projects (and their goals) are just inaccurate. Bureaucromancer (talk) 17:39, 16 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

An anonymous writer changed B.S. in Physics to B.A. in Physics under education. I have never known physics to be a B.A. degree, but does U. Penn. do it differently? Dschmelzer 15:54, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC) Similarly, I mentioned below that Wharton currently offers only a B.S, NOT a B.A at all.


Does he really have a B.S. in Physics from Penn at all? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.177.197.119 (talk) 18:46, 11 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Is Elon Musk Jewish?

Elon is a Jewish name. Could he be Jewish? What is his earlier history?

Well? Is he? Being South African with a name like Elon Musk, I would say there is a 90% chance that he is Jewish. Why doesn't someone ask him? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.126.159.9 (talk) 01:44, 11 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

His religion is irrelevant to the article. Petershank (talk) 19:01, 13 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It is not irrelevant to his biography. Religion is a commonly marked subject on wikipedia biographies. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.139.41.17 (talk) 09:14, 30 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

His mother's Haldeman line is definitely not Jewish. I doubt his father is Jewish either. He gets his name, "Elon", I would assume, from his maternal great-grandfather, John Elon Haldeman, who was not Jewish. All Hallow's Wraith (talk) 06:52, 5 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

This article says that while "Elon" is Hebrew for oak tree, he is of Pennsylvania Dutch heritage. http://www.forbes.com/sites/hannahelliott/2012/03/26/at-home-with-elon-musk-the-soon-to-be-bachelor-billionaire/ tharsaile (talk) 12:15, 26 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Religion(Atheist)

http://www.oninnovation.com/topics/detail.aspx?playlist=1421&title=Elon%20Musk

(Click on the tenth video titled "Going to Mars") There are 22 videos all together.

Religion would be classed as atheist:

10 of 22 Going to Mars: (Denying belief in master intelligence)

INTERVIEWER:
It's almost like part of a grandness.[Do] you think there is some kind of destiny involved in this? Or is it just physics
ELON MUSK:
Well, I do. Do I think that there's some sort of master intelligence architecting all of this stuff? I think probably not because then you have to say: "Where does the master intelligence come from?" So it sort of begs the question. So I think really you can explain this with the fundamental laws of physics. You know its complex phenomenon from simple elements.


10 of 22 Going to Mars: (Accepting the theory of evolution)

ELON MUSK:
You have to go hundreds of millions of miles across extremely hostile environment to a planet which is completely unlike anything you've evolved to live on. And that's just really an extremely difficult problem. In fact, I think it's an impossible problem without the advent of consciousness. So consciousness is a necessary precursor for that.


QUOTES TAKEN FROM TRANSCRIPT ON THE LINK PROVIDED:

http://www.oninnovation.com/topics/detail.aspx?playlist=1421&title=Elon%20Musk

(Click on the tenth video titled "Going to Mars") There are 22 videos all together.


Just because you don't believe in a "master intelligence" does not necessarily make you an atheist, see Pantheism for example. What has evolution got to do with anything? Many Christians accept the fact evolution happens, evolution says absolutely nothing about god and it has no bearing on the question unless you believe rigidly that everything in the Old Testament is "fact".
Your assumptions are based quite squarely on Christian (and a minority of it at that) concepts of religion. Btw I'm not commenting either way on his religion or lack thereof, just that these quotes don't prove anything, certainly not enough for it not to be considered original research. ChiZeroOne (talk) 16:22, 5 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Read after the bold writing: "So I think really you can explain this with the fundamental laws of physics. You know its complex phenomenon from simple elements." Panthiests use god to relate to the unviverse. Elon clearly states he uses the laws of physics to relate the universe; therefore he is not pantheist. Elon says he doesn't believe in a "master intelligence architecting all of this stuff". So he clearly says there is no higher being or greater intelligence. He then continues "Where does the master intelligence come from? So it sort of begs the question." further stating his discontent with the idea of a infinite lasting omnipotent being. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.15.187.208 (talk) 14:24, 6 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

"Panthiests use god to relate to the unviverse. Elon clearly states he uses the laws of physics to relate the universe; therefore he is not pantheist.". Nonsense. I guess you missed Naturalistic pantheism, linked to from the "Varieties" section of the Pantheism page. Again you are making assumptions based on purposefully limited interpretations of theology. There is not a single quote you mention that for certain means he is an atheist. In the end unless you have a reliable source stating that he is an atheist (perhaps even a quote from Elon himself?) then it is still original research. ChiZeroOne (talk) 11:56, 26 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Philatrophy

This is definitely not related in the article. This topic was just made up and something put under it. Delete the heading ? --Dtox 15:53, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

Citizen of?

Can we call him a South African-America.. or American or Canadian-American etc.. what are his citizenships? -- Stbalbach 04:15, 24 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

According to this, he's a naturalized American citizen. Not sure if he retained South African citizenship though. --Josh Atkins (talk - contribs) 17:35, 7 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I've added the South African part of him into the intro. (Gryffindor (talk) 23:37, 29 October 2009 (UTC))[reply]
Why "South-African American" and not simply "African-American?" 76.126.238.69 (talk) 01:17, 18 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]
He is African-American if you think about it. The fact that he's caucasian is beside the point. 64.134.58.5 (talk) 20:41, 26 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Donations to Wikipedia?

Does anyone want to look and see his donations to wikipedia? I see a recent one for $1000, and I'm sure there are more.--72.132.52.138 05:54, 12 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That's great (cheers Musk), but I don't think it would be appropriate to mention it in the article. -- Stbalbach 13:46, 12 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Birthday?

We have had two versions of his birthday: June 28 and November 7th (both 1971). Which is correct? --Stbalbach 21:03, 9 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Anon editor User:66.163.20.125 removed the reference to Nov 7th from the article (it said "Born Nov 7th or June 28th"), so I assume this editor on good faith knows what they are talking about. -- Stbalbach 12:32, 11 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Pronunciation

How do we pronounce "Elon"? ► Adriaan90 ( Talk ♥ Contribs ) ♪♫ 17:41, 5 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Tesla Motors

i am far from an expert on Mr. Musk but i wonder at the lack of detail on Tesla Motors. Does he own it? What is it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.118.89.222 (talk) 16:41, 25 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This section is factually incorrect. Mr. Musk was one of the initial lead venture capitalists behind Tesla Motors, but he did not found the company. Tesla was founded by Mark Tarpenning and Martin Eberhard. A quick check of the Tesla Motors wiki page referenced with both Mr. Tarpenning and Mr. Eberhard's pages seems to confirm this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.135.134.34 (talk) 22:24, 4 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Re: Who founded tesla? http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090729006483&newsLang=en Elon is a co-founder. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.202.165.64 (talk) 01:37, 28 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]


Does anyone have a link to the original incorporation documents for Tesla Motors? Before Eberhard was ousted, his Oct 2007 slide show at Stanford (search for pressguild.swf and audio podcast) told the story of how Eberhard and Tarpenning incorporated Tesla Motors in July 2003. They met with Lotus and had 3 employees by Jan 2004, and a complete business plan in Feb, all before April of 2004 when Elon Musk led the Series A funding and they finally reached the 5 employees considered "co-founders." It seems to me that those incorporation documents might shed some light on the significance of those 10 months before Musk. BrianWilloughby (talk) 10:18, 7 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Tesla - viable?

Ok - Tesla indeed made an interesting automobile. But to call a vehicle which sold around 600 units a year - globally - viable is an extreme stretch, compared to - for example - the Nissan Leaf, which has sold significantly more. To be viable - surely must mean 'viable in the market'. When the vehicle sold around the same as some tiny UK independent makers - surely this is a stretch? --Speedevil (talk) 15:41, 28 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Viable doesn't mean everyone and their mom gets one, it means it is profitable. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.70.254.91 (talk) 16:54, 2 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

controversy?

martain's forced resignation, Elon's taking credit, etc. it all should be in the article. TrevorLSciAct (talk) 18:15, 15 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well, it is done. And to spice things up, there is also the memo leak entrapment plot. - Jacob Poon 20:36, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

After 7 years participating in Wikipedia, I finally understand why people complain about its accuracy. This article should be used as an example of how revisionist history can be strong-armed into a supposedly public resource. This article reads more like 'spin' than an encyclopedia. BrianWilloughby (talk) 23:18, 17 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I am confused by the reference to "the source of the company's reported financial status". Does this mean the source of the leaked report, or the source of the financial trouble - i.e. the man who took the money? The article certainly implies - but does not clarify - that the shortage of funds was due to theft or mismanagement. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.197.15.138 (talk) 03:32, 24 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Chess master?

I think he is.--Jrm2007 (talk) 09:14, 27 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Educational credentials questioned

The founder of Tesla motors has sued Elon Musk. Interestingly, the complaint states that Elon Musk lied about attending graduate school at Stanford and a second degree in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Here a link to the complaint:

http://openaccess1.sanmateocourt.org/getpdf/pdftemp/200906101523474407/A-0000081554-1.pdf

If these allegations are true then perhaps a section outlining this controversy should be included in the article, certainly the legal battle itself has become international news.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/11/eberhard_v_musk_tesla_lawsuit/

Note: I see someone already beat me to the punch, so the only question is whether we should modify his educational background and mention the allegations of actively lying about them?

Lordvolton (talk) 20:38, 12 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I added some additional information regarding the complaint against Elon Musk. We should probably remove the false educational information if we can independently verify it was in fact a lie.

Lordvolton (talk) 20:49, 12 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]


Also, the article states he received a B.A in Economics from Wharton, check out Undergraduate degree program: http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/about/facts-and-figures.cfm . I believe it should be a B.S —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.144.45.76 (talk) 01:49, 2 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Are the initial different in the US from the UK? BA in UK would suggest an arts subject, which seems wrong for a physics qualification. 195.162.12.14 (talk) 08:54, 24 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Is the movie stuff lede-worthy?

The lede currently states that

According to Jon Favreau, director of the Iron Man movies, Musk is the inspiration for his and Robert Downey Jr.'s interpretation of Tony Stark.(reference here)

My initial take is that this is not something that is worthy of being in the lede in Musk's biography since the man's notability is overwhelmingly related to accomplishments in his life, not what fiction writers may have done that was inspired, in part, by his life. What do others think? What criteria have been established in Wikipedia policy that might help us think about this? N2e (talk) 01:40, 2 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks to User:Gribeco, the movie trivia has been moved out of the lede. N2e (talk) 04:41, 4 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Recent news media articles

Here are two interesting, fairly thorough, Musk biographical sources (August 2010):

Several facts about Falcon 1, Falcon 9, SpaceX, Dragon, including the origin of the names for Falcon and Dragon, could be sourced from these articles as well. Cheers. N2e (talk) 04:37, 4 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Engineer?

The article lists Musk's occupation as an engineer and categorizes Musk as an aerospace engineer. Honorary degrees aside, he may be involved in engineering businesses, but he is not an engineer. Would someone running a pacemaker business be considered a doctor? HyperCapitalist (talk) 02:31, 5 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Musk is clearly doing work as an "engineer"; he is practicing "engineering." This is attested to by numerous verifiable, reliable secondary sources. One of the standard definitions of engineering is applied technology development work; i.e., applying the more basic science of pure research or pure science (if such a thing exists) to the use of technology to accomplish human goals. To me, it smacks of credentialism to worry about what specific degrees one holds before using the term "engineer". Moreover, it would violate WP:NPOV to pull it out of Wikipedia, despite what some labor organizations of "engineers" might like. Now, if the article were to declare that Musk is a Professional Engineer, a specific credential—and in the United States, a State-issued license—then that would be an unverified claim and something we should not assert in Wikipedia. Full disclosure: I say this as an engineer, and one who just happens to have the State credential as well (licensed PE); but I've never put much truck in credentialism personally. Cheers. N2e (talk) 18:31, 5 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Your make good points. I'm on the fence on this one. Much of what you say though, I'm not sure of. For example, what work is Musk personally doing that can be called "engineering?" Is he performing stress analyses? Is he designing the batteries? Or perhaps he is just doing engineering economics. I haven't seen any citations from any sources for this. Don't get me wrong -- I think perhaps he is. Additionally, in full disclosure, I am an engineer and I am probably guilty of credentialism. At what point can I publicly claim I am an engineer? More importantly, by what standard can the occupation of engineer be applied to a Wikipedia entry? HyperCapitalist (talk) 05:16, 6 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for your open and thoughtful response to my argument. I'll leave further comment on most of what I've said and what you've said to other editors. However I will here make just one additional point. The engineering process consists of many phases, each dealing at different levels of abstraction to the final technology product that utilizes the basic scientific characteristics of materials, chemical components, electronics, software, etc. For example, early in my engineering career, I did mostly detailed design and detailed "implemention" (drawings, flow charts, code, etc.). A few years later, with more experience, I did more high-level design of larger subassemblies involving the work of multiple engineers. Later yet, I did even higher-level design, or product "architecture", and much less of the sub-component-level and component-level design and "implementation". Later, as a development engineering manager, I did only architecture, and also a critically important piece of work that is a yet higher level of abstraction: product requirements, and even "business requirements" (less geeky: how is the technology solution going to solve a "business" problem, not just the technical stuff like how much speed, or thoughput, or technical bells and whistles we can put on the product). I maintain that at each of these phases of my career, and my contributions to the projects I was on, I was practicing engineering. I believe the situation is exactly analogous with Elon Musk: he has no doubt always done much more "requirements engineering" and "product architecture", or "high-level design" -- even while perhaps doing no stress analysis or battery design. This is all engineering. Hope this additional perspective is helpful. N2e (talk) 19:36, 8 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
So we are in agreement on what we would call an engineer. The only issue that I'm left with is that we call Elon Musk an engineer with a link that defines an engineer as someone practicing a profession founded upon specialized educational training -- which Musk does not have. HyperCapitalist (talk) 21:00, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I have been wondering why Elon Musk's occupation was listed as an Engineer, because he is not an Engineer even with the above arguments. Even considerding the argument of Credentialism and saying a degree is not required to be an Engineer, Elon Musk is still not an Engineer. His profession is not one of Engineering, and being called one has requirements. Webster's defines Engineering as "a person who is trained in or follows as a profession a branch of engineering" neither of which fit Elon Musk. The Engineering article on Wikipedia also presents several definitions, but Elon’s involvement is not low level enough to meet the definitions of Engineering. Someone with a high level idea does not always have the knowledge to make the idea become a reality and you would not call them an Engineer; perhaps a businessperson, inventor, or investor, but never Engineer.
Sometimes touching the line of a topic of Engineering does not make someone an engineer just like using a meat thermometer everyday as a professional chef would not make someone also a meteorologist.
Nor is his current level of involvement one that would warrant the title of Engineer. Though a project has many levels as mentioned above, it does not mean each level requires an engineer or warrants them to be titled Engineer. Those doing the design and their managers are obviously doing engineering. Each level above those levels the technical knowledge decreases and you move into management. Keeping project on target, on budget, and settling arguments between teams is not engineering. With Elon being at the top, there is some technical knowledge required, but its like the knowledge the president of Bunny Bread has about baking. He knows what he needs to know to manage and make business decisions. It is not engineering; it is management. Elon is doing high-level design (think Architect), feature design (think marketing), and management (think MBA), but none of these qualify him an Engineer.
At what point do you call a fabricator an Engineer? There are many better examples in the industrial world, but when would someone like Paul Teutul, Sr. ever be called an Engineer? The work he does can be and is done by engineers. At what point would you call an Architect an Engineer? They do high level design, product requirements, and feature specification? Marketing departments commonly have product requirements, but it is marketing, not engineering.
More so, the work Tesla Motors and Space X does would require Licensed Engineers, which Elon Musk is not so he would not partake in that work. Having a good product idea and vision of what you want in your product does not make you an Engineer. Elon is not an Engineer; he is a businessperson and Entrepreneur. 216.116.162.226 (talk) 18:18, 12 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]


Actually, he is nothing less than Delos D. Harriman which, I might add, puts him in the category of "Great Man." It does not matter where he came from or what his religion is. What matters is what he has done and today, he pulled off something that no other person ever has. Brothernight (talk) 21:53, 8 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Birthplace

I heard Mr. Musk on a recent interview with Charlie Rose on PBS stating that he was born in Israel, not in South Africa.. Elon is seemingly an Israeli Name. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.162.153.177 (talk) 22:47, 14 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Net Worth

Elon Owns $613.57 million worth of tesla motors shares ($23.86 each share).

Note: Tesla shares are now worth $32.31 per share.


Source: SEC Filing:

http://ir.teslamotors.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1494730-11-4&CIK=1318605

"Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s)"

Following the 23rd Feb 2011 transaction after he aquired $381k worth of Telsa shares for $0.


Use this section to make a list of sourced assets to derive net worth. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.15.187.208 (talk) 18:02, 2 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

File:Elon Musk at Space X.jpg Nominated for speedy Deletion

An image used in this article, File:Elon Musk at Space X.jpg, has been nominated for speedy deletion at Wikimedia Commons for the following reason: Copyright violations
What should I do?

Don't panic; deletions can take a little longer at Commons than they do on Wikipedia. This gives you an opportunity to contest the deletion (although please review Commons guidelines before doing so). The best way to contest this form of deletion is by posting on the image talk page.

  • If the image is non-free then you may need to upload it to Wikipedia (Commons does not allow fair use)
  • If the image isn't freely licensed and there is no fair use rationale then it cannot be uploaded or used.
  • If the image has already been deleted you may want to try Commons Undeletion Request

This notification is provided by a Bot --CommonsNotificationBot (talk) 17:02, 27 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Musk is audaciously stating rather novel ideas on the technical capabilities and costs of missions to Mars

This BBC interview, with BBC Science Correspondent Jonathan Amos, contains substantial additional details from Elon Musk about the technical possibilities (physics) and current projections of costs (economics) of SpaceX missions to Mars; it also provides a timeframe: no sooner than ten years but likely before 20 years. Significant and audacious statements! Whether someone thinks any of this is possible or not, this source will certainly be a valid Wikipedia source for supporting the history of such claims by Musk as this article evolves in the future.

Mars for the 'average person', Jonathan Amos, BBC News, 20 Mar 2012.

I believe, but am not certain, that this is the first news source with this rather high degree of detail and specificity on the Musk's Mars transport thinking. And I should perhaps point out that Musk is fairly careful to clarify that just because something is technically possible (physics) does not mean that the task WILL be carried out. So I did not read this, or hear the interview, as Musk stating emphatically that SpaceX would be carrying humans to Mars in nn years for $dd; but his views are likely notable in the context of a Wikipedia biographical article about Musk. Cheers. N2e (talk) 04:22, 22 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

This is making the rounds in mainline media sources. The magazine Nature has picked this up, and has other secondary source backup of the future plans of Mr. Musk. Backing up the biosphere, Nature, 7 Apr 2012. N2e (talk) 04:15, 10 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

There are always those who vigorously defend the impossibility of achieving something as fact. Funny thing ,they are usually wrong and history never remembers their names either. 184.183.173.20 (talk) 16:01, 30 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

paypal

he did not co-found it. he co-founded a company that acquired it.

that should be made clear. 70.54.37.2 (talk) 16:31, 19 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Talk:Elon_Musk&oldid=520605356"