Tech

Elon Musk now owns Twitter. Here are the busy billionaire's 4 other companies and what they all do.

Hannah Towey
Updated
2022-10-28T15:03:39Z
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Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during a press conference at SpaceX's Starbase facility near Boca Chica Village in South Texas on February 10, 2022.
Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during a press conference at SpaceX's Starbase facility near Boca Chica Village in South Texas on February 10, 2022. JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
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Twitter and Elon Musk formally closed on the billionaire's deal to take the company private Thursday evening.

Elon Musk in front of Twitter birds.
Patrick Pleul/Getty Images; Vicky Leta/Insider

Source: Insider

The $44 billion deal follows a months-long legal battle between the social media company and Musk, who attempted backing out of the deal over claims regarding the number of inauthentic accounts on the app.

Elon Musk Axel Springer Awards
Elon Musk HANNIBAL HANSCHKE /Getty Images

Source: Insider

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"The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square," Musk wrote in a letter addressed to Twitter advertisers, which he tweeted Thursday.

elon musk
Elon Musk. Muhammed Selim Korkutata / Anadolu Agency

Source: Insider

The tech mogul now must divide his attention between five companies spanning transportation, neuroscience, and social media. Here's what the rest of his companies do:

Twitter headquarters in San Francisco off of 10th Street, with trees in the front of the photo
Twitter headquarters in San Francisco Emily Quiles

Source: Insider

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Elon Musk is best known as the co-founder and CEO of Tesla, which he helped start in 2003. The automaker has since designed seven electric vehicle models, four of which are currently in production.

CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing "Cyber Rodeo" grand opening party on April 7, 2022 in Austin, Texas.
CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing "Cyber Rodeo" grand opening party on April 7, 2022 in Austin, Texas. SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images

Tesla's headquarters recently relocated from Palo Alto, California to Austin, Texas. Nearly 100,000 people are employed by Tesla around the world, with over 28,000 new hires in 2021 alone.

Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing facility during the "Cyber Rodeo" grand opening party on April 7, 2022 in Austin, Texas.
Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing facility during the "Cyber Rodeo" grand opening party on April 7, 2022 in Austin, Texas. SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images

Source: Insider, Statista, SEC

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Tesla is one of six US companies that have reached a $1 trillion market cap — more than its nine largest competitors combined.

Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, stands on a stage at the Tesla Gigafactory for the open day in Grünheide, east of Berlin.
Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, stands on a stage at the Tesla Gigafactory for the open day in Grünheide, east of Berlin. Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images

Source: Insider

In 2016, Tesla acquired SolarCity, the US' leading provider of solar panels. Today, Tesla sells four solar energy storage and generation products: Powerwall, Powerpack, Megapack, and Solar Roof.

Tela solar panels on top of a hospital roof in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Tesla solar panels on top of a hospital roof in San Juan, Puerto Rico. REUTERS/Alvin Baez

Source: Tesla

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Next up: SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by Musk in 2002. According to his company bio, Musk is the "lead designer" at SpaceX, where he oversees the spacecraft and rocket development "for missions to Earth orbit and ultimately to other planets."

Elon Musk
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Hannibal Hanschke-Pool/Getty Images

Source: Tesla

SpaceX is headquartered in Hawthorne, California. However the company's launch site, known as "Starbase," is located in Boca Chica, Texas.

A prototype of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft is seen at the company's Texas launch facility on September 28, 2019 in Boca Chica, Texas.
A prototype of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft at the company's Texas launch facility on September 28, 2019 in Boca Chica, Texas. Loren Elliott/Getty Images
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SpaceX was privately valued at $100 billion in October — making it the second most valuable private company in the world behind TikTok owner Bytedance, according to CNBC. As of 2021, it has nearly 10,000 employees.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at the Kennedy Space Center on April 26, 2022 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at the Kennedy Space Center on April 26, 2022 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Paul Hennessy/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Source: Insider, CNBC

SpaceX also owns the business Starlink, which provides low-orbit satellite internet services designed for rural areas with unreliable internet. The first batch of Starlink satellites were launched in 2019.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk on a video stage speaking about Starlink
SpaceX founder Elon Musk speaking about Starlink. Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Source: Starlink

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You've probably never heard of it, but Musk is also the co-founder of a San Francisco startup called Neuralink. The company's mission sounds straight out of a sci-fi movie: to connect the human brain to computers.

Neuralink logo on phone screen
Photo Illustration by Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Source: Insider

Musk is listed as Neuralink's CEO on Tesla's website, but his exact involvement isn't clear. The company previously stated in legal documents that the billionaire "has no executive or management role at Neuralink."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The company has recently recalled tens of thousands of cars.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The company has recently recalled tens of thousands of cars. Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images.

Source: Fortune

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Musk's right-hand man Jared Birchall was listed as Neuralink's chief executive, CFO, and president in 2018.

Elon Musk and Jared Birchall back to back on yellow and blue background 4x3
Bloomberg/Patrick Pleul/Getty Images; Rachel Mendelson/Insider

Source: Insider

Through the development of a brain chip Musk has described as a "FitBit in your skull," Neuralink aims to treat neurological conditions ranging from paralysis to depression.

Neuralink brain chip
Neuralink brain chip Neuralink/YouTube

Source: Neuralink YouTube

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The billionaire helped found Neuralink to "help those with brain injuries in the near term and reduce AI risk to humanity in the long term," according to its website. Last summer, Neuralink raised $205 million in Series C funding.

Elon Musk presenting "Neuralink Progress Update, Summer 2020."
Elon Musk presenting "Neuralink Progress Update, Summer 2020." Neuralink/YouTube

Source: Neuralink

The neurotechnology company has 245 employees listed on LinkedIn and is ranked #33 out of 50 on the site's 2021 "top startup" list.

Neuralink employees speak at the "Neuralink Progress Update, Summer 2020" event.
Neuralink employees speak at the "Neuralink Progress Update, Summer 2020" event. Neuralink/YouTube

Source: LinkedIn

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Musk is also the founder of The Boring Company, a tunnel construction startup based in Texas that launched in 2016.

Elon Musk, co-founder and chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., speaks during an unveiling event for the Boring Company Hawthorne test tunnel in Hawthorne, south of Los Angeles, California on December 18, 2018
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

Musk's tunnel-digging venture aims to solve traffic within and between major US cities. One of its future projects is a "Hyperloop," which would theoretically allow passengers to travel at 700 miles per hour.

the interior of a Hyperloop tube after the first test of a propulsion system at the Hyperloop One Test and Safety site on May 11, 2016 in North Las Vegas, Nevada.
The interior of a Hyperloop tube after the first test of a propulsion system at the Hyperloop One Test and Safety site on May 11, 2016 in North Las Vegas, Nevada. David Becker/Getty Images

Source: Insider

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Beyond Musk's core business ventures, the billionaire has been tied to at least seven additional companies, per The New York Times. This includes Wyoming Steel, an LLC he has reportedly used to purchase real estate.

Elon Musk home
Elon Musk's former home in Bel Air. Sotheby's International Realty

Source: The New York Times

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