# Elon Musk: The Art of Successfully Failing Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2018-05-14 Category: BUSINESS Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/business Meta Title: Elon Musk's Timeline of Failures: From Zip2 to SpaceX Meta Description: Explore the timeline of Elon Musk's 16 failures since 1995, revealing his journey to tech fame despite facing challenges. From being ousted as CEO to URL: https://financedigest.com/elon-musk-the-art-of-successfully-failinghtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/fd140518-8-1736842734896-compressed.png) A true 21st century creative visionary and founder of two of the most talked about companies in the world, Tesla Motors and SpaceX, Elon Musk has changed the way we perceive the world and beyond, as he leads us in revolutionising transportation both on Earth and in space. Ranked by Forbes as the [25th](https://www.forbes.com/powerful-people/list/2/#tab:overall) most powerful man in the world this year, it’s important to look back on Musk’s journey to success, and it’s safe to say it has been far from plain sailing for this innovator. In fact, some of Musk’s failures have been so catastrophic than just one of them could have been the end of his career or even himself entirely, and it’s likely to have been the end of many of us if we were in his shoes. From being ousted as CEO of his own company, failed rocket launches, getting fired whilst on honeymoon, contracting malaria and surviving a major car crash, Musk has been so close to losing everything on many occasions we have to commend him for the art of successfully failing, as each and every time he has come back stronger to become one of the wealthiest people on this planet. Impressed? This [timeline](https://uk.rs-online.com/web/generalDisplay.html?id=musk-failures) reveals a whopping 16 failures Musk has experienced since 1995 on his journey to tech fame. That’s [nearly an obstacle every year](https://www.financedigest.com/dollar-slides-from-near-two-year-high-amid-hawkish-signals-from-fed.html "Dollar slides from near two-year high amid hawkish signals from Fed"), and at least one every other year. With Tesla Motors revenue reaching [$11.8](https://www.statista.com/statistics/272120/revenue-of-tesla/) billion in 2017 and SpaceX valued at more than [$20 billion](https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/), this businessman has done remarkably well considering the challenges he has faced along the way. **Starting out. Musk’s failures in the 90s** We’ve all faced a job rejection at some point in our careers and Musk was no different back in 1995 when he was starting out. [Musk applied for a job](https://www.financedigest.com/elon-musk-plans-to-cut-half-of-twitter-jobs-bloomberg-news.html "Elon Musk plans to cut half of Twitter jobs – Bloomberg News") at Netscape, despite not having a background in computer science and unfortunately didn’t land it. Interestingly, Musk even went to the head office to follow up on his application, however was too shy to speak to anyone. Constantly spoken about in the news and known for his ambitious predictions in space, this forward thinker has [come a long way over the past two decades](https://www.financedigest.com/global-hid-ballast-market-expected-to-decline-with-a-cagr-of-9-8-in-the-coming-decade.html "Global HID Ballast Market Expected to Decline with a CAGR of -9.8% in the Coming Decade"). A year later and [Musk faced](https://www.financedigest.com/elon-musk-faces-skeptics-as-tesla-gets-ready-to-unveil-optimus-robot.html "Elon Musk faces skeptics as Tesla gets ready to unveil ‘Optimus’ robot") another blow in 1996, and this one was personal. [Setting up your own company is an amazing achievement and that is what Musk](https://www.financedigest.com/elon-musk-set-to-showcase-teslas-humanoid-robot-after-delay.html "Elon Musk set to showcase Tesla’s humanoid robot after delay") and his brother had done in the mid-nineties with Zip2, a business which provided city guide software. After founding your own company you wouldn’t [expect to lose your job](https://www.financedigest.com/dollar-jumps-as-u-s-job-gains-wage-growth-beat-expectations.html "Dollar jumps as U.S. job gains, wage growth beat expectations"), right? Wrong, for Musk at least as he was ousted as CEO by the board of directors due to a belief he did not have the [operational skill](https://www.financedigest.com/banks-and-insurers-right-to-prioritise-technical-skills-in-operational-risk-but-must-not-overlook-training-in-nurturing-talent.html "Banks and insurers right to prioritise technical skills in operational risk but must not overlook training in nurturing talent  ") set of a CEO. Moving to the position of Chairman, it wasn’t all bad [news for this entrepreneur as he held onto his shares](https://www.financedigest.com/global-compressor-controllers-market-outlook-2021-pricing-strategy-industry-latest-news-research-report-analysis-and-share-by-forecast-2028.html "Global Compressor Controllers Market Outlook 2021, Pricing Strategy, Industry Latest News, Research Report Analysis And Share By Forecast 2028") which later made him $22 million. In 2018, PayPal is known for being one of the largest companies in the world. But it wasn’t always this way. In 1999 when the company was founded by Musk and called X.com, the first product launch was voted one of the [top 10 worst business ideas](https://www.financedigest.com/top-4-blockchain-business-ideas-for-2022.html "Top 4 Blockchain Business Ideas for 2022"). Nearly 20 years on and Musk turned this failure and the business around entirely, successfully mastering that embarrassing moment in the early stages of the [company’s existence](https://www.financedigest.com/computerized-physician-order-entry-cpoe-systems-market-to-generate-profitable-avenues-for-existing-companies-as-well-as-new-players.html "Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) Systems Market to Generate Profitable Avenues for Existing Companies as Well as New Players"). **A new millenium and a lot of failed rockets** The new millenium didn’t give Musk much more luck. PayPal ousted him as CEO in 2000, the same [year he contracted](https://www.financedigest.com/the-next-upcoming-years-to-see-the-oral-solid-dosage-contract-manufacturing-market-integrating-constructive-innovation.html "The Next Upcoming Years To See The Oral Solid Dosage Contract Manufacturing Market Integrating Constructive Innovation") malaria, which took him over 6 months to recover. But after selling PayPal in 2002 to eBay, Musk had a lot of money to spend on his new project; space exploration and rocket technology. But with this new avenue came a lot of explosive failures, quite literally. Between 2006 and 2008 [Musk faced](https://www.financedigest.com/elon-musk-faces-skeptics-as-tesla-gets-ready-to-unveil-optimus-robot-2.html "Elon Musk faces skeptics as Tesla gets ready to unveil ‘Optimus’ robot") three rocket explosions, with some failing just two minutes after launching. Not only did these failures [see years of development](https://www.financedigest.com/the-next-upcoming-years-to-see-the-dental-lasers-market-develop-on-an-organic-note.html "The Next Upcoming Years To See The Dental Lasers Market Develop On An Organic Note") and money go down the drain, but also made for uncomfortable situations as the third rocket explosion had NASA satellites on board. Musk’s rockets didn’t improve as the [next decade](https://www.financedigest.com/the-next-decade-to-see-the-humanized-liver-mice-model-market-detonate-innovation.html "The Next Decade To See The Humanized Liver Mice Model Market Detonate Innovation") continued, facing two more rocket explosions in 2015 and 2016. **Tesla’s wobbly** [journey to success](https://www.financedigest.com/the-journey-to-cloud-native-overcoming-hurdles-to-drive-modernisation-and-achieve-long-term-success.html "The journey to cloud-native: overcoming hurdles to drive modernisation and achieve long-term success") Founded in 2003, Tesla Motors has been on a bumpy ride to the success and respect it receives as a [global business](https://www.financedigest.com/how-i-turned-my-passion-for-art-into-a-global-business-through-online-sales.html "How I turned my passion for art into a global business through online sales") today. In 2008 Tesla and SpaceX were both on the verge of bankruptcy. It really wasn’t a great [year for Musk](https://www.financedigest.com/elon-musk-named-times-2021-person-of-the-year.html "Elon Musk named Time’s 2021 ‘Person of the Year’"), for his career and personal life, as he was also going through divorce. A few [years on and another disaster struck for this automotive](https://www.financedigest.com/global-automotive-brake-system-market-is-expected-to-witness-a-rise-of-3-cagr-between-the-forecast-years-of-2020-2030.html "Global Automotive Brake System Market is expected to witness a rise of 3% CAGR between the forecast years of 2020-2030") company. Back in 2014, three of Tesla’s Model S [cars self combusted](https://www.financedigest.com/how-a-cheap-component-could-help-kill-off-combustion-cars.html "How a cheap component could help kill off combustion cars") in six weeks due to a fault with the battery. Tesla’s failures didn’t stop there, with the most recent taking place just a few months ago. In March 2018, [Tesla recalled 123,000 Model S vehicles](https://www.financedigest.com/tesla-tops-battery-electric-vehicle-registrations-in-germany-beating-volkswagen.html "Tesla tops battery-electric vehicle registrations in Germany, beating Volkswagen") due to an issue with the power steering components. [Shares of Tesla dropped nearly](https://www.financedigest.com/uks-micro-focus-shares-nearly-double-after-canadas-opentext-agrees-6-billion-takeover.html "UK’s Micro Focus shares nearly double after Canada’s OpenText agrees billion takeover") 4% in after-hours trade. Despite these colossal mistakes that could have brought the company under for good, Musk has managed to bring it back every time and maintain a good image for the company as it continues to be known as the world’s most famous automotive and energy brand, that has a value of an impressive [$650 billion](http://fortune.com/2018/01/23/tesla-elon-musk-worth-world-richest/). Looking back on the past two decades, you could [say Musk](https://www.financedigest.com/musk-says-tesla-will-launch-prototype-of-humanoid-robot-next-year.html "Musk says Tesla will launch prototype of humanoid robot next year") has experienced bigger failures than he has successes in some ways, and it’s likely he will experience more in the future. But despite these setbacks, it is worth commending this visionary for [bouncing back](https://www.financedigest.com/bounce-back-loans-what-to-do-if-you-cant-repay-2.html "Bounce Back Loans: what to do if you can’t repay?") and making a success out of each and every one of them. Well done, Musk. ![elon-musk-infographic](http://www.financedigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/elon-musk-infographic.png) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---