Elon Musk: Six secrets to Billionaire Elon Musk business success
Elon Musk don become di richest for di world, as e overtake Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Di Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur net worth don pass $185bn (£136bn) afta increase in di share price of im electric car company. So, wetin be di secret of im success? To mark dis im new milestone we don put together some Elon Musk guide to success in business from interview we get wit am. 1. No be about di money Dis dey very central to Elon Musk attitude to business. For one interview for 2014, im say e no sabi how rich im be. "No be say cash plenty for anywhere," im tok. "Im say wetin dey, be say im get certain number of votes for Tesla, and SpaceX, and SolarCity, and di marketplace get value on those votes." E say im no get anything against pipo wey dey find wealth in as much as na through legal means but money no be wetin dey drive am. Im electric car company, Tesla, dey perform very well. Shares don rise over di past year wey don carry im value to more than $700bn. Wit that you fit buy Ford, General Motors, BMW, Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler, and still get enough left over to buy Ferrari. But Musk, wey turn 50 dis year, no expect to die rich. Im say e dey think say most of di money go go into di base im dey build on Mars, and no go dey if di project chop all im wealth. In fact, like Bill Gates, im go probably die wit billions in di bank wey be mark of failure because e no put di money to good use. 2. Pursue your passions That Mars base na clue to wetin Elon Musk believe say be key to success. "To make di future better and life easier na some of im passions. E say im start SpaceX as e dey vex because di US space programme no dey more ambitious. "I kept expecting us to advance beyond Earth, and to put pesin for Mars, and get base on di moon, and have, you know, very frequent flights to orbit," e tok. Wen dat one no happun, na im I come up wit di idea for di "Mars Oasis Mission", wey di aim na to send small greenhouse to di red planet. Di idea na to get pipo to dey excited about space again, and persuade di US government to increase Nasa budget. Na wen e dey try do dat one e realise say di problem no be "lack of will, but rather lack of way" - space technology dey far more expensive pass wetin e suppose be. Na from dat challenge, e create di world's cheapest rocket-launching business. No be about making money, but make pesin land on Mars. Musk say im dey always see himself as engineer rather than an investor, and say wetin dey ginger am na di desire to solve technical problems. 3. No dey afraid to think big One of di things about Elon Musk businesses na how big dem dey. Im wan revolutionise di car industry, colonise Mars, build super-fast trains in vacuum tunnels, integrate AI into human brains and upend di solar power and battery industries. All im projects dey kind of futuristic fantasies wey you dey see for kid's magazine in di early 1980s. Musk no hide di fact say na books and movies wey e consume as a kid for South Africa inspire am. Musk third business tip - no hold back. So, e advice na to make sure say you dey work on wetin go dey important, wetin go mata. 4. Dey ready to take risks Dis one dey obvious. You go need tough skin for di game to do well. By 2002 e don sell im shares for im first two ventures, one internet city guide wey di name na Zip2 and di online payment company PayPal. Im dey in e early 30s dat time and e get almost $200m for bank. Im say e plan na to put half of im fortune inside businesses and keep di other half. Im ew companies dey face plenty teething troubles. SpaceX's first three launche fail, and Tesla get different production problems, supply chain, and design issues. Then di financial crisis struck. Musk den say im dey faced wit two choices. "Either I keep di money, then di companies die, or invest wetin remain maybe small chance go dey." Im continue dey pour money for di business. At one point im enta debt and get to borrow money from friends just to pay e living expenses. 5. Ignore di critics Many pipo go dey tok about you in bad light. Musk say plenty blog sites dey write say im businesses don fail. Musk advice say no listen to critics, pipo wey no go see anything good inside wetin you dey do. Im say e no believe say SpaceX or Tesla go ever make money when e set dem up - and di truth be say nobody believe either. But e ignore bad belle pipo and continue. For October, di US investment bank Morgan Stanley value SpaceX at $100bn. Di company don change di economics of space flight, but wetin go make Musk most proud na how im company revive di US space programme. Last year im Crew Dragon rockets launch six astronauts to di International Space Station, di first of such missions from US soil since di space shuttles retire for 2011. 6. Enjoy yourself Follow dis guide and, with a bit of luck, you sef go dey very rich and famous too. Then you fit begin come out of your shell. Elon Musk na workaholic - im boast of working 120-hour weeks to keep production of di Tesla Model 3 on track. For September, Musk claim say di very soon all di company new cars would be completely self-driving. And di year end for am with a real bang in December, when SpaceX test im Starship launch vehicle, wey dey hope to take di first humans to Mars. Di giant rocket explode wen e crash land six minutes afta e take off. Elon Musk hail di test as an "awesome" success.