Elon Musk has become one of the most successful and recognizable entrepreneurs in the world. The CEO of Tesla Motors may be 44 years old and already wildly successful, but he shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. However, despite the fact that Musk has spent a considerable amount of time in the spotlight and under the scrutiny of the public eye, there are still some things that many people don’t know. With that in mind, here we present our list of 15 things you probably didn’t know about Elon Musk. Check out part one below, and stay tuned for part two, coming soon!
Number Fifteen: He Was the Inspiration for Iron Man‘s Tony Stark. Iron Man director Jon Favreau was having a tough time figuring out how to truly bring Tony Stark’s character to life, so he decided to have Robert Downey Jr. (who plays Tony Stark in the film) sit down with Elon Musk. The rest is history.
Number Fourteen: He Reads a Lot. And he always has! When he was a child, Musk would read for up to five hours every day, and he still reads whenever he can. His mother said in an interview that Musk enjoyed reading comic books and J.R.R. Tolkien books.
Number Thirteen: He Was Bullied a Lot. While in school in his hometown of Pretoria, South Africa, Musk was bullied for his small size growing up. We bet his bullies are thinking twice about their actions now.
Number Twelve: He Has Twins and Triplets. There must be something special in Musk’s DNA because he has both twins and triplets! His kids’ names are Griffin, Xavier, Damian, Saxon, and Kai. He had one son named Nevada before the twins and triplets, but the infant died of SIDS when he was just 10 weeks old.
Number Eleven: He Enjoys Burning Man. Musk has attended Burning Man several times, although, due to the secretive nature of the festival, it’s unclear just what exactly he does there.
Number Ten: His Family Is Filled With Firsts. Musk’s great-grandmother was Canada’s very first female chiropractor, and that’s not all! His grandparents were the first to fly a single-engine plane from South Africa to Australia.
Number Nine: He Tried to Bike to Johannesburg. When he was young, Musk and his brother attempted to bike the 50 miles from his hometown of Pretoria to Johannesburg, South Africa without a map. Though they got lost, they were able to get home without being hurt.