When you work on an epic scale, tossing out huge ideas as if they were pennies aimed at a wishing well1), you get used to hearing the word crazy. For Elon Musk, the term springs up so frequently he might as well print it on his business card. Crazy Elon Musk. Who else would have the audacity2) to plan a privately funded mission to Mars?

A lifetime before he aimed at distant planets, Musk was a driving force behind two of the most successful startups the digital world had ever known. Zip2, the Internet services provider he co-founded with his younger brother, Kimbal, at age 24, was purchased by Compaq for $307 million. PayPal, the online payment system he developed with Peter Thiel and Max Levchin, was scooped up3) by eBay for $1.5 billion. After all his shares were added up, Musk was worth $180 million.

It takes a certain measure of savvy4) to pull off5) deals like those, and youve got to respect a man who assembles such a private fortune in only seven years time. So when Musk decided that he should aspire to put life on Mars by rocketing a miniature greenhouse there, people humored6) him. And when he flew off to Moscow to talk with the Russians about purchasing two intercontinental ballistic missiles, they smiled. But when he announced that he was going to start yet another company—one that would build its very own rockets—they concluded he was nuts.

“The public tends to respond to precedents and superlatives7),” Musk said in a commencement speech at Caltech8) in June, 2012. Thats why the notion of sending that greenhouse into space held so much appeal for him. Not only would it bring life to Mars, but it would also be the greatest distance life from Earth had ever traveled. Musk believes a permanent human base on Mars is attainable sooner than even the foremost stargazers9) can fathom10).

Blasting Off

Born in South Africa in 1971, Musk was not like the other neighborhood boys in Pretoria. Not only did he love to lose himself in books, but he remembered virtually everything he read. The son of an engineer (electrical and mechanical) and a dietitian/model, he learned early on how to harness his brainpower to make money. At 12, he sold his first piece of software—a video game called Blastar—for $500. At 17, Musk left home to make his fortune in America. He knew that the United States is where the action is.

Of course you cant just show up in America without a green card. So Musk set out first for Canada and took on a series of odd jobs11), eventually enrolling in one of the nations top schools, Queens University in Kingston, Ontario. After a year, he transferred to Penn, where he collected his dual degrees (physics and business). He graduated in 1995 and moved west to Stanford, with plans to develop expertise in high-energy supercapacitors12) while working toward a graduate degree. That lasted all of two days. In no time he saw the feverish entrepreneurial spirit in Silicon Valley, observed the staggering success of the Netscape IPO13), and threw himself headlong14) into the game.

He summoned his brother from Queens University, recruited a friend, and the three worked night and day beneath the leaky roof of a tiny Palo Alto, Calif. office that also served as their home, creating the code for Zip2. The company was a success. When Zip2 was sold, Musk pocketed $22 million. He immediately invested it in his next big idea, a digital payment service called X.com. In the spring of 2000, at age 29, he merged the company with a competitor called Confinity, which offered a similar service known as PayPal15).

Confinity CEO Peter Thiel stepped aside and let Musk steer the company, and by some accounts he did an admirable job of blending the two operations. But he clearly ruffled some feathers16). After nearly 10 months in charge, Musk left the PayPal office for a long-awaited vacation in Australia. While he was gone the board of directors voted to replace him with Thiel. The dismissal stung, Musk says, but it did not soften him. He was still the companys largest stockholder. In the end, Paypal was sold to eBay for $1.5 billion.

Experiencing Turbulence

Is it courage that sets Elon Musk apart from most business leaders? Of course not. What makes Musk extraordinary is this: In an era when young hotshots17) with laptops are scrambling to launch the next Google from their dorm rooms, he chose to risk his entire net worth on three enterprises with sweeping infrastructures and steep18) research and development costs.

First he poured $100 million into SpaceX. Then in 2003, he sank $50 million into Tesla, an automaker determined to manufacture electric cars for the masses. And three years later, it was a $10 million initial investment in SolarCity, a company that installs and leases solar panels across the country.

Its tempting to say he makes everything look easy, but thats definitely not the case. Musk handed off the reins19) at SolarCity to two cousins, reserved the CEO role at SpaceX for himself, and initially tried to guide Tesla from afar, only to eventually find himself with a second CEO job. These days he shuttles back and forth a couple of times a week between SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., and the Tesla nerve center20) in Palo Alto. The workload—85 to 90 hours per week—helped destroy his first marriage to sci-fi novelist Justine Musk, and no doubt contributed to the downfall of his second, to British actress Talulah Riley. In order to spend quality time21) with his sons—twins born in 2004 and triplets born in 2006—he often piles them onboard his jet for the 400-mile commute.

Musks failures have been epic. Teslas $98,000 Roadster arrived months behind schedule. And the first three rockets built by SpaceX produced crash-and-burn videos akin to those Musk was forced to watch with his friends.

“That was definitely a difficult blow,” Musk says. “The important thing is that none of our customers left SpaceX. They all sort of held the faith.”

Musk never lost his. When the fourth rocket climbed into the blue sky above the Marshall Islands—2,400 miles southwest of Hawaii—on Sept. 28, 2008, he did not have the funds to build a fifth. No matter. About 9.5 minutes into the flight, 250 miles above the mission control center, the second stage engine shut down as planned and the Falcon 122) became the first privately developed liquid-fuel rocket to orbit the Earth. “This is one of the greatest days of my life,” the CEO gushed23) in the post-mission celebration he shared with SpaceXs 150 employees. “We are going to be taking over for the Space Shuttle when it retires.”

If its hard to fathom how one man could risk $100 million on such a far-flung dream, just imagine how hard it would be to turn right around and take the last $3 million in your bank account and sink it into a struggling car company. Thats precisely what Musk did three months after SpaceXs triumph, back in the days when the nations banks were pleading for federal bailouts24), and General Motors and Chrysler were teetering25) on the edge of bankruptcy. He had to borrow money to pay the rent, he says.

It was the most gut-wrenching26) stretch of his life, a span he likes to call the “period of maximum suckage27).” But he did not blink28). “Either I went all-in or Tesla dies,” Musk told a reporter for Mens Journal. “I didnt want to look back and say there was something more I could have done.”

Never a Final Frontier

On May 25, 2012, the latest SpaceX rocket, Falcon 9, ferried a laptop computer, 162 meal packets and a fresh set of clothes to the astronauts at the International Space Station, kicking off a $1.6 billion contract (at minimum) with NASA for at least 12 more resupply missions. The same week, Tesla announced that in June—ahead of schedule—it would begin fulfilling orders of the Model S, a four-door electric sedan priced about $50,000 after tax credits29). SolarCity entered 2013 with hopes to raise $200 million in its own IPO.

Musk reminds us of a time when the United States was a nation of big ideas, when we endeavored to bridge the coasts with railroad tracks, dig the Panama Canal, and, yes, put a man on the moon. “He has this incredible sense of mission,” says Thiel. “The things that he is working on—if he were not doing them, they would not be done.”

Though much is made of Musks struggles in personal relationships, the truth is he has a profound understanding of what it is that makes human beings tick30). He knows its not enough to build a functional electric car. To fire up the worlds imagination, the thing has to rocket from zero to 60 in 3.9 seconds—just like a Ferrari31). To create a whole new worldview, you cant simply reach the International Space Station. You have to make space travel affordable and put the journey to Mars in the grasp of the well-heeled32) voyager.

So the real question is not whether Elon Musk is insane. Its whether we are crazy to doubt him. If history is any judge at all, Musk will prove us wrong.

當(dāng)你從事一項史詩般規(guī)模宏大的工作，拋出一個又一個驚世駭俗的想法，猶如一個又一個投向許愿井的硬幣，你會習(xí)慣于聽到“瘋狂”這個詞。對于伊隆·馬斯克來說，“瘋狂”一詞如此頻繁地出現(xiàn)在他生活中，他真應(yīng)該將它印在自己的名片上：瘋狂的伊隆·馬斯克。除了他，還有誰有膽量籌劃一項完全由私人出資的火星探索任務(wù)呢？

早在他將目標(biāo)投向遙遠(yuǎn)的星球之前，馬斯克就已是數(shù)字世界里所知的最為成功的兩大創(chuàng)業(yè)公司的主要推動者。一是互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)提供商Zip2，這是他24歲時與弟弟金博爾共同創(chuàng)立的一個公司，后來以3.07億美元的價格被康柏公司收購。另一個是他和皮特·泰爾以及馬克斯·列夫琴共同研發(fā)的在線支付系統(tǒng)PayPal，后被eBay以15億美元的價格搶先收購。如果將他所有的股份加在一起，馬斯克當(dāng)時的身價已達(dá)1.8億美元。

能達(dá)成這樣的交易還是需要有一定的頭腦的，況且，一個在短短七年之內(nèi)就聚集了如此一筆私人財富的人確實值得敬佩。因此，當(dāng)馬斯克立志要將一個微型溫室通過火箭傳送到火星上、從而給火星帶來生命時，人們假裝相信了他；當(dāng)他飛到莫斯科和俄羅斯人談判，要購買兩枚洲際彈道導(dǎo)彈時，人們笑了；但當(dāng)他宣布他要創(chuàng)辦另一家公司—— 一家打算自己制造火箭的公司時，人們認(rèn)定他瘋了。

“公眾通常會對做得最早和做得最好的人和事做出反應(yīng)?！瘪R斯克于2012年6月在加州理工學(xué)院畢業(yè)典禮上的演講中如是說。這也是為什么將溫室送往太空的想法對他會有那么大的吸引力。它不僅能將生命帶到火星上，而且也將是地球生命迄今所能到達(dá)的最遠(yuǎn)的距離。馬斯克堅信，在火星上建立永久的人類基地的那一天，要比哪怕是最杰出的天文學(xué)家所能推算的時間都要早。

展露崢嶸

馬斯克于1971年生于南非，但他和比勒陀利亞(編注：南非行政首都)附近其他男孩都不大一樣。他不僅沉迷于書的世界，而且對讀過的東西幾乎過目不忘。他父親是位(電氣和機(jī)械)工程師，母親是營養(yǎng)師和模特，他很早就學(xué)會如何利用自己的聰明才智來賺錢。12歲時，他賣掉了自己設(shè)計的第一款軟件——一款名為Blastar的電子游戲，賺了500美元。17歲時，馬斯克離開家鄉(xiāng)，前往美國追求財富之夢。他知道美國就是他可以一展宏圖之地。

當(dāng)然，沒有綠卡是無法在美國立足的。所以馬斯克先去了加拿大，在那里打了一些零工，終于被位于安大略省金斯頓市的女王大學(xué)所錄取——那是加拿大最為頂尖的大學(xué)之一。一年后，他轉(zhuǎn)學(xué)到賓夕法尼亞大學(xué)，在那里拿到了雙學(xué)位(物理學(xué)和商務(wù)學(xué))。1995年畢業(yè)后，他開始向西挺進(jìn)，進(jìn)入斯坦福大學(xué)，打算一邊攻讀研究生學(xué)位一邊學(xué)習(xí)高能超級電容器的專業(yè)知識。但這一切總共只維持了兩天。因為他很快就發(fā)現(xiàn)了硅谷那熾熱的企業(yè)家精神，目睹了網(wǎng)景公司首次公開募股那令人瞠目的成功，便義無反顧地投入到這一行當(dāng)中。

他把他弟弟從女王大學(xué)召集過來，又招來一位朋友，三人就開始沒日沒夜地在一間屋頂漏雨的小辦公室里忙活起來，為Zip2編寫代碼。這間位于加利福尼亞州帕洛阿爾托市的辦公室同時也是他們的家。公司獲得了成功。賣掉Zip2時，馬斯克分得了2200萬美元。他立即將這筆錢投入到他下一個宏偉計劃中—— 一個叫做X.com的數(shù)字支付服務(wù)系統(tǒng)。2000年春，29歲的他將公司和另一家名叫康菲尼迪的競爭對手合并，這家公司提供一種名為PayPal的類似服務(wù)。

康菲尼迪首席執(zhí)行官皮特·泰爾退居幕后，讓馬斯克執(zhí)掌公司。據(jù)說他在融合兩家公司經(jīng)營方面做得很出色，但他顯然也激怒了一些人。在管理了將近十個月之后，馬斯克離開了PayPal的辦公室，前往澳大利亞度假——那是一個期盼已久的假期。在他離開的那段時間里，董事會投票解除了他的職務(wù)，讓泰爾取而代之。馬斯克說，董事會解雇他的做法深深刺痛了他，但并未削弱他的力量。他仍然還是公司最大的股東。最終，PayPal以15億美元的價格賣給了eBay。

激流勇進(jìn)

伊隆·馬斯克和多數(shù)商業(yè)領(lǐng)袖之間的區(qū)別在于勇氣嗎？當(dāng)然不是。使馬斯克與眾不同的是，當(dāng)青年才俊們在宿舍里利用筆記本電腦爭先恐后地想要發(fā)布下一代Google時，他卻將全部資產(chǎn)凈值全都押到三家企業(yè)上，要面對規(guī)模龐大的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施建設(shè)和高昂離譜的研發(fā)費用。

首先，他向太空探索技術(shù)公司(SpaceX)砸了1億美元。接著在2003年，他又向特斯拉公司注入5000萬美元，這是家致力于生產(chǎn)大眾型電動汽車的汽車制造公司。三年后，他又向太陽城公司投入了1000萬美元作為初期投資，該公司在美國各地安裝與出租太陽能電池板。

有人會禁不住說，他做什么事看上去都很容易，但事實絕非如此。馬斯克將太陽城公司的管理交給了兩個表兄弟打理，把太空探索技術(shù)公司首席執(zhí)行官的位子留給了自己。最初，他還只想遠(yuǎn)程指導(dǎo)一下特斯拉公司的管理工作，結(jié)果卻發(fā)現(xiàn)自己又擔(dān)任了一份首席執(zhí)行官的工作。這些日子里，他每周都要在兩地之間往返數(shù)次，穿梭于太空探索技術(shù)公司位于加利福尼亞州霍桑市的總部和特斯拉公司位于帕洛阿爾托的控制中心之間。每周85~90小時的超負(fù)荷工作助推了他和科幻小說家賈斯汀·馬斯克第一次婚姻的破滅，無疑也部分導(dǎo)致了他和英國女演員妲露拉·萊莉第二次婚姻的失敗。為了和兒子們——生于2004年的雙胞胎和2006年的三胞胎—— 一起度過寶貴的親子時光，他常常將他們帶到自己的噴氣式飛機(jī)上，與他共享400英里的上班之路。

馬斯克的挫敗也具有史詩般的氣勢。特斯拉公司價值98000美元的敞篷跑車比預(yù)定時間遲了幾個月才推出。還有太空探索技術(shù)公司制造的前三枚火箭也全都墜地?zé)龤В拖耨R斯克被迫和朋友們一起觀看的那些錄像里的情景一樣。

“這絕對是一次沉重的打擊，”馬斯克說，“但重要的是，我們的客戶沒有一個背棄我們太空探索技術(shù)公司?？梢哉f，他們?nèi)汲钟幸环N信念。”

馬斯克也從未喪失過自己的信念。2008年9月28日，第四枚火箭在馬紹爾群島升入蔚藍(lán)的天空——那是位于夏威夷西南約2400英里的地方。此時，他已沒有資金再建造第五枚火箭了。不過沒關(guān)系。就在飛行了約9.5分鐘、離發(fā)射控制中心250英里遠(yuǎn)時，二級發(fā)動機(jī)如期關(guān)閉，獵鷹1號運載火箭成為第一支由私人公司研發(fā)的進(jìn)入地球軌道的液體燃料火箭。發(fā)射成功后，他和太空探索技術(shù)公司150名員工一起舉行了慶?；顒印！斑@是我一生中意義最重大的一天，”這位首席執(zhí)行官極其激動地說，“當(dāng)航天飛機(jī)退休后，我們將用它來代替?！?/p>

如果說我們很難理解一個人怎么能將1億美元砸向一個如此縹緲的夢想，那么試想一下，一個人能夠毅然決然地將銀行賬戶中最后300萬美元投入到一個艱難生存的汽車公司中，該是多么困難。而這正是馬斯克的做法。那是在太空探索技術(shù)公司成功后的第三個月，當(dāng)時美國各大銀行都在申請聯(lián)邦援助，通用汽車和克萊斯勒汽車公司正瀕臨破產(chǎn)。他說自己不得不靠借錢來支付房租。

這是他一生中最為痛苦煎熬的時期，他稱之為“糟到不能再糟的人生階段”。但他卻沒有退縮?！拔乙慈σ愿埃淳妥屘厮估就嫱?，”馬斯克告訴《男士月刊》記者，“我不想在回首往事的時候，說我本來可以做更多的事情?！?/p>

永無止境

2012年5月25日，太空探索技術(shù)公司的最新火箭“獵鷹9號”將一臺筆記本電腦、162袋方便餐、一套新衣服運送給國際空間站上的宇航員們，由此開啟了一項與美國國家航空航天局簽訂的價值(至少)16億美元的協(xié)議。根據(jù)該協(xié)議，公司還要再執(zhí)行至少十二次補(bǔ)給任務(wù)。同一周，特斯拉公司宣布將于6月開始為S型號電動車訂單提前供貨，這是一種四門電動轎車，扣除免稅額度后的價格約為五萬美元。進(jìn)入2013年后，太陽城公司的首次公開募股有望籌集到兩億美元的資金。

馬斯克讓我們想起了曾經(jīng)的美國，那時的美國是一個擁有偉大夢想的國家，那時的我們發(fā)奮圖強(qiáng)，鋪設(shè)鐵道連接海岸，挖掘巴拿馬運河，還有，沒錯，把人類送上月球?！八幸环N不可思議的使命感，”泰爾說，“他正在做的那些事情——如果他不做，將永遠(yuǎn)不會有人去做。”

關(guān)于馬斯克在人際關(guān)系上的挫折已有很多討論，但事實是，他對人類本性有著深刻的了解。他知道僅僅制造一輛實用的電動汽車是不夠的。要激發(fā)世人的想象力，它必須能在3.9秒的時間內(nèi)從0加速到時速60英里，就像法拉利一樣。要創(chuàng)造一種全新的世界觀，僅僅到達(dá)國際空間站是不夠的。你還必須要降低太空旅行的價格，使個人也能承擔(dān)得起，還要讓高端太空旅行者能夠踏上火星之旅。

因此，真正的問題不是伊隆·馬斯克是否是個瘋子。問題是我們竟然懷疑他，我們是不是瘋了？如果說歷史是最好的裁判，那么馬斯克終將證明我們錯了。