what drives you what what is it that
when you wake up in the morning do you
see a problem and you want to solve it I
think the thing that drives me is that I
want to be able to think about the
future and you know feel good about that
so that you know we're doing what we can
to have the future be be as good as
possible to be inspired by what is
likely to happen and to look forward to
the next day so that's that's what
really drives me it's is trying to
figure out how do we how to make sure
that things are great and I'm gonna be
so and that's the unlined principle
behind Tesla and SpaceX is that I think
it's it's pretty important that we
accelerate the transition to sustainable
generation and consumption of energy
it's inevitable but it's it matters if
we had if it happened sooner or later
and then SpaceX is about helping make
life multiplanetary and doing what we
can to continue the dream of Apollo you
know there are American heroes who don't
like this idea the Armstrong Gene Cernan
have both testified against commercial
spaceflight in the way that you're
developing it and I wonder what you
think of that I was very sad to see that
because those guys are yeah you know
those guys are heroes of mine so it's
really tough you know I wish they would
come and visit and and see the hardware
that were doing here and then I think
that would change them like they
inspired you to do this didn't they yes
and to see them casting stones in your
direction it's difficult did you expect
them to cheer you on
so they hoping they would what are you
trying to prove to them what I'm trying
to do is to make a significant
difference in in spaceflight and and and
help make spaceflight accessible to to
almost anyone every couple hundred years
humanity has given the gift of a
visionary someone who dedicates their
entire life to changing the world
seemingly pulling the future into the
present and expanding the realm of what
we believe to be possible
Elon Musk is one of those gifts America
is a nation of explorers people came
here from other parts of the world that
you know chose to give up the known in
favor of the unknown so I think
exploration like the United States is a
distillation of the human spirit of
exploration and so that's why it appeals
to Americans so much you know you can
see this when say there was a shuttle
craggy and seven people diet and that's
that's terrible but you know a lot of
people die all the time but why do we
care so much because it was the dream of
exploration that was dying along with
those people that's why
ilan isn't perfect just like every other
humans who walk the planet he has
character flaws and has made mistakes if
your life was broadcast under a
microscope you would have critics as
well
that being said regardless of your
personal bias there is no arguing his
list of contributions to the world the
products and services he's helped to
create at PayPal Tesla SpaceX and others
are impressive but more than his
achievements are the countless number of
people he has inspired lives he's
changed by taking risks dreaming big and
not being afraid to fail he's changed
the fabric of what society considers
possible and has inspired a generation
to never settle with the status quo to
challenge even the very basic of
assumptions and to always look for a
better way never resting on our laurels
he's spoken out for what he believes in
and never backs down from criticism he
has persevered through trying times when
his visions were on the brink of failure
only to see them through and to find a
way in the face of adversity
for a generation that is prone to giving
up when things don't succeed quickly
Elon has been an outstanding example of
hardwork laser-focus commitment and
perseverance not only this he is
personally invested in all that he does
how many CEOs truly interact with their
fans on Twitter how many CEOs invite
social media influencers to their home
for an interview how many aren't afraid
to celebrate their victories how many
are bold enough to step out of the box
that is being politically correct how
many in the auto industry have open
sourced their patents
how many choose to sleep on the floor in
a factory when times get difficult
how many tie their compensation plans
directly to company and shareholder
performance results
how many risk their personal wealth to
finance their endeavors how much did you
put into this company oh don't tell me
you don't know no I do it's about 55
million dollars 55 million dollars of
your own money yeah it's a little more
than I expected Elon is the sole funder
of the musk foundation with over
250 million dollars donated today
joining Bill Gates Warren Buffett and
others Elon is a member of The Giving
Pledge the promise only a handful of the
mega wealthy have made to donate the
majority of their fortunes to justice
goals that are urgent and worth
advancing Elon has contributed 15
million dollars in donations to an X
Prize program called Global Learning
this contest challenges teams from
around the world to develop open source
software that will enable children in
developing countries to teach themselves
basic reading writing and arithmetic
within 15 months the project recognizes
that an estimated 250 million children
around the world cannot read or write
four years ago lead and other toxins
were found to be contaminating the water
supply in Flint Michigan in October 2018
Jana and his foundation donated four
hundred and eighty thousand dollars to
install new water fountains with
filtration systems in all of its schools
Berto Rico's governor Ricardo Rossella
spoke to Ellen on Twitter in late 2017
about the possibility of Tesla's
intervention to restore energy to the
island after Hurricane Maria the island
became a place where water treatment
facilities couldn't provide drinking
water markets and restaurants couldn't
refrigerate food banks couldn't conduct
transactions and people couldn't
communicate with cell phones or use the
Internet
street lights and traffic lights stopped
working schools and hospitals closed
their doors
Tesla offered their services to help
restore power to Puerto Rico after his
initial personal donation of two hundred
and fifty thousand dollars he then sent
a shipment of hundreds of power walls by
the end of October Elon and tests will
successfully returned the islands
largest Children's Hospital to full
power through a combination of power
wall pax in solar power this barely
scratches the surface of Yvonne's
philanthropic contributions to the world
however what's really earned my respect
support and admiration over the years
isn't the products or services it's not
the interaction with the community it's
not the philanthropic work it's not the
work ethic nor is it the success it's
the fact that he doesn't give up and is
driven by an insatiable desire to change
the world
and to provide hope for a brighter and
more exciting future despite the odds
never being in his favor that if
inventing things would be would be
really cool and the reason I thought
that was because I read a quote from
Earthsea clock which said that a
sufficiently advanced technology is
indistinguishable from magic and and
that's really true if you think if you
go back say 300 years the things that we
take for granted today would be you'd be
burned at the stake for you know being
able to fly that's crazy
being able to see over long distances
being able to communicate having
effectively with with the internet a a
group mind of sorts and having access to
all the world's information instantly
from almost anywhere in the earth this
is this is stuff that that really would
be magic it would be considered magic in
times past in fact I think it actually
goes beyond that because there are many
things that we take for granted today
that weren't even imagined
in times past they weren't even in the
realm of magic so that it actually goes
goes beyond that so I thought well you
know if if I can do some of those things
basically if I can advanced technology
then that that's like magic and I would
be really cool and the the I always had
sort of a slight existential crisis
because I was trying to figure out what
does it all mean like what's the purpose
of things and I came to the conclusion
that if we can advance but the knowledge
of the world if we can do things that
expand the scope and and scale of
consciousness then we're better able to
ask the right questions and become more
enlightened and and that's really the
only way forward people who've been in
the rocketry business for decades yeah
who say about you that you don't know
what you don't know well I suppose
that's true of anyone how can anyone
know what they don't know but when the
Riddick's say you can't do this your
answer to them is we've done it
you
