5 Things you didn't know About Elon Musk that helped him become the Richest Person in the World

Elon Musk is one of the world's most famous billionaires. However, it wasn't always so easy for him. You may not know that he got rejected from his first choice of schools, that he had to take out loans when Tesla was in its infancy, or that he wants to die on Mars. This blog post will give you insight into the life of the richest person in the world.

Elon Musk's Childhood

Elon Musk was born in South Africa in 1971. His mother, Maye, is Canadian, and his father, Errol, is South African. When Elon was ten years old, he developed an interest in computers. He developed an early fascination with software programming, which led to him writing code for video games by the time he was 12. He did not go to college straight out of high school as most people do. Instead, he enrolled at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, to study physics. However, after two days at Queen's University, Elon realized that it was not what he wanted to do and dropped out of university altogether. After a brief stint as a programmer for a company called Neurolink (which never got off the ground), two things happened that would change Elon Musk's life forever: the Internet started booming, and Elon read - "The Innovator's Dilemma" by Clayton Christensen.

Elon Musk and School

In 1995, he was accepted to a prestigious school in Pretoria, South Africa. But when his parents learned that the tuition was $14,000 a year, they opted to send him to a cheaper school. Even though Musk had been accepted to his first choice of schools, he still felt the sting of being rejected. "I always tell my kids not to take any rejection personally," Musk says. "It's just because somebody else doesn't think what you're doing is as good."

Elon Musk and Tesla

In 2008, Tesla was on the verge of bankruptcy. Musk had invested all of his possessions into the company and borrowed money from friends to keep it afloat. You know what happened next: Tesla became a household name and one of the most innovative car companies in the world. In 2003, Musk came up with a plan to save Tesla by selling shares at $17 a share. He needed to sell two-thirds of his shares in order to raise enough capital for Tesla's survival, but no one wanted them--not even close. The CEO received offers as low as $4 per share, which would have been an enormous loss. Eventually, Musk reached out to an old friend from college who offered him a much higher price for his shares: $6-$7 per share. This gave him the capital he needed to keep going--but at a great personal financial cost. Today, those shares are worth around $200 per piece on average.

Elon Musk and Space Exploration

Elon Musk is best known for founding SpaceX and Tesla Motors. He has a net worth of $14 billion, according to Forbes. He was born in South Africa and moved to Canada at age 17. After a brief stay at Queen's University, Musk left Toronto for the United States to study business and physics at the University of Pennsylvania. He then transferred to Stanford University before dropping out after only two days to pursue his entrepreneurial endeavors in Silicon Valley. Musk now has a knack for aerospace engineering and technology as well as renewable energy and environmentalism. He's also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of SpaceX, the CEO/CTO of Tesla Motors, Chairman of SolarCity, and founder of The Boring Company, which aims to reduce traffic congestion through innovative transportation solutions like the Hyperloop. He wants to eventually establish human life on Mars and believes that ideas like artificial intelligence (AI) will replace humans as Earth's dominant life form.

Elon Musk and Death

Elon Musk is super-rich. He's the world's richest person, according to Forbes, with a net worth of $19.6 billion. If you're feeling jealous, just remember that even billionaires have their struggles. Just ask Elon Musk, who recently said he has a plan for dying on Mars. Yikes! The Tesla and SpaceX CEO revealed in an interview with Axios that he wants to die on the Red Planet so his remains can be used as a "tourist attraction." 

"I'm going to live on Mars," he announced at the meeting. "I want to die on Mars."

"I will not be happy if I'm not on Mars," he added. As it turns out, this isn't the first time Musk has talked about his desire to die on Mars--it just seems more real now that he's announcing it publicly and at such high-profile events like SXSW and TED Talks. In fact, in 2013, Musk told The Wall Street Journal: "The probability of death decreases exponentially with each trip... I would like to die on Mars, just not on impact."