Tag: Musk

science

SpaceX’s next Starship rocket may soar to 15 kilometers this weekend, but Elon Musk says there’s a 2-in-3 chance the flight may fail

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a man standing in front of a tall building: SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, is building and launching Starship prototypes in Boca Chica, Texas. SpaceX; Mark Brake/Getty Images; Business Insider

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SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, is building and launching Starship prototypes in Boca Chica, Texas. SpaceX; Mark Brake/Getty Images; Business Insider
  • SpaceX is planning to fly a Starship rocket prototype to its highest altitude yet this weekend, according to road closures and a Notice to Airmen issued for the aerospace company’s launch site in southern Texas. 
  • The spacecraft should fly 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) into the air. Previous prototypes have only made short hops of about 150 meters (492 feet).
  • SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said there was a lot that could go wrong, and gave the rocket a one-in-three chance of landing in one piece.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

This weekend, Elon Musk’s space-exploration company, SpaceX, is poised to take a big step forward in its quest to further revolutionize space travel.

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Musk tweeted on Sunday that a prototype of

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technology articles

Elon Musk becomes world’s second-richest person, but for how long?

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Move over, Bill Gates. Elon Musk is now the world’s second-richest person, with an estimated net worth of $142 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Musk’s rise on the list comes ahead of Tesla’s anticipated debut on the S&P 500 on December 21. After failing to enter the famous stock index during quarterly rebalancing in September, Bloomberg reported, Tesla is now set to become its largest new addition and its sixth-largest member by market capitalization as soon as it joins. The investment community is even debating whether Tesla should be added in one day or two due to its large size, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Since the November 16 announcement that Tesla would be included, the $550 billion company has seen its stock jump about 50% to around $580. It’s no wonder, then, that Musk, whose net worth is largely tied to Tesla stock, has come to unseat Gates as the

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technology articles

Elon Musk: Tesla Full Self-Driving beta to expand in two weeks

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A little over a month after releasing Tesla Autopilot’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) to a small group of select drivers, Tesla is gearing up for a wider release of the software, according to the company’s CEO, Elon Musk 

Tesla has so far only released the FSD update to “expert and careful” drivers, and so a wider release creates the scary prospect of more Tesla owners experimenting with the feature on city streets. 

Autopilot has enabled lane changes on clearly marked highways, but FSD allows drivers to automatically handle city streets, traffic lights, roundabouts and street turns. 

It also offers assisted parking, the summon feature for parking lots, highway driving assistance, but the feature does not make a Tesla an autonomous car. 

Responding to a question on Twitter about a wider FSD beta, Musk said it would probably roll out in about two weeks.  

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technology articles

SpaceX Prepares Starship SN8 For Launch, But Elon Musk Gives 1-in-3 Chance Of Landing Intact

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KEY POINTS

  • Starship prototypes SN5 and SN6 completed short hop tests in earlier this year
  • Elon Musk said a lot of things need to go right with this launch
  • Starship’s orbital launch will not be before 2021

Elon Musk revealed on Tuesday that SpaceX could launch its latest Starship prototype as early as “next week.” 

The Serial Number 8 Starship prototype, also called SN8, has already passed a test firing of its three engines. In its next launch, SpaceX is hoping the rocket will reach an altitude of around 50,000 feet, which would be quite a liftoff considering both the SN5 and SN6 flights only reached 500 feet.

For Musk, the Starship mission has become SpaceX’s main focus, following the successful launch of four astronauts into space in its Crew Dragon capsule earlier this month.

Musk has said that the Starship mission needs to be pushed forward “dramatically and immediately,” 

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technology

Tesla’s Musk Says Company Might Launch Hatchback in Europe

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Electric-car maker Tesla  (TSLA) – Get Report might explore a new hatchback model in Europe, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Tuesday, according to multiple media reports.

“Possibly in Europe it would make sense to do, I guess, a compact car, perhaps a hatchback or something like that,” Musk told a European online conference on batteries hosted by the German government, as reported by Reuters.

“In the U.S., the cars tend to be bigger for personal-taste reasons,” he said. “In Europe, (they) tend to be smaller.”

Shares of the Palo Alto, Calif., company at last check were down 1.8% to $545.50.

On Tuesday shares of Tesla reached a market valuation of $500 billion for the first time.

Tesla’s share price has surged in the recent past, driven by its approaching inclusion in the S&P 500 index. Tesla will join the index on Dec. 21. 

Musk has been one

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technology

Elon Musk is now tied with Bill Gates as world’s second richest man

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By Michelle Toh | CNN Business

Elon Musk’s rocket-like climb up the ranking of the world’s richest men continues.

The Tesla CEO’s net worth soared on Monday as shares of his electric automaker hit a record high, boosting his net worth to $127.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires index, which tracks the world’s 500 wealthiest people.

For a couple of hours that put him slightly above Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft and world’s second-richest person, who was estimated to be worth $127.7 billion. The latest readout from the Bloomberg index has the men tied on $128 billion each.

Musk’s fortunes are directly linked to those of Tesla. His biggest asset is the company’s stock, of which he last owned about 20%, according to Bloomberg.

This year has been very good for the entrepreneur. So far in 2020, Tesla’s stock has shot up almost 524%, helping Musk add more

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technology articles

Breakingviews – Musk passes Gates, but not yet in impact

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Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk speaks at an opening ceremony for Tesla China-made Model Y program in Shanghai, China January 7, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song

NEW YORK (Reuters Breakingviews) – Elon Musk is now the second-richest person in the world, at least on paper, but he has a long way to go in catching up to the newly-displaced Bill Gates in impact. The Tesla and SpaceX mogul’s wealth edged past the Microsoft founder’s at just under $128 billion on Monday, according to Bloomberg, thanks to the surge in Tesla’s market capitalization to $500 billion – still far below Microsoft’s $1.6 trillion but equivalent to a dizzying 133 times next year’s forecast earnings according to Refinitiv. Gates, in fairness, has given vast sums to charity and done much to improve humanity’s lot. That’s Musk’s future challenge.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation had given away $55 billion at the end of 2019.

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technology

Elon Musk overtakes Bill Gates to become world’s second richest person behind Jeff Bezos

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Elon Musk has passed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to become the world’s second richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The Tesla CEO’s net worth now sits at around $128 billion, after increasing by $100 billion this year. There is a sizable gap between Musk and the number one spot, which is currently held by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos who has a reported net worth of around $182 billion. In January, Musk ranked 35th on the list, Bloomberg reports.

For an idea of how the wealth of these men compares to the average American household, check out this amazing data visualization produced earlier this year in which every pixel represents $1,000.

Musk’s rapid ascent up the list has mainly been driven by Tesla’s share price. The car company currently has a market cap of almost $500 billion, after starting the year at under $100 billion. The Guardian reports that

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technology

Musk guns for Gates’ No. 2 wealth ranking with Tesla on a tear

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Elon Musk is just a Tesla stock rally away from unseating fellow mega-billionaire — and occasional verbal sparring partner — Bill Gates as the second-richest person on the planet.

As of Thursday, Musk’s net worth was $123 billion, $5 billion shy of Gates on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a ranking of the world’s 500 richest people.

Bloomberg News reported that Musk’s net worth soared $10.2 billion on Wednesday after Tesla shares climbed 10% on the strength of an overweight rating by Morgan Stanley. Analyst Adam Jonas predicted in a note that the company was on the brink of transitioning from being mainly a car-retailing business to one with multiple revenue streams from products like software and services.

It was the second day of banner gains for Musk. His fortune rose $7.6 billion on Tuesday after the electric-car maker was named for inclusion in the S&P 500 Index. Tesla’s meteoric rise

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technology

Elon Musk Passes Mark Zuckerberg To Become The World’s Fourth Richest Person

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Tesl
TSLA
a’s billionaire cofounder and CEO, Elon Musk, overtook Facebook
FB
 CEO Mark Zuckerberg to become the world’s fourth-richest person on Wednesday, as Tesla’s stock continued to skyrocket following news that it will be added to the S&P 500 Index late next month.

Shares of the electric-vehicle maker surged nearly 10% as of 2:25 p.m. EST on Wednesday, pushing Musk’s net worth up by $8.3 billion, to $105.4 billion. That makes him the fourth-richest person in the world, according to Forbes’ estimates, surpassing Zuckerberg, who has a net worth of $100.6 billion.

Musk’s fortune has grown at an astonishing rate this year, with Tesla’s stock up more than 460% in 2020. That has massively boosted Musk’s net worth, which has risen by nearly $76 billion since Forbes finalized

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