Title: CEO and CTO, SpaceX; CEO, Tesla Motors; chairman, Solar City
Born: June 28, 1971, Pretoria, South Africa
Education: Queens University, Kingston, Ontario; BS in physics and BS in economics, University of Pennsylvania; Stanford University (dropped out)
Early Marker: Founded zip2, a Web-development company that provided online maps and directories to newspaper companies; sold to Compaq in 1999 for $341 million.
Big Idea: Commercializing space-launch vehicles, developing fossil-free cars, developing solar-power generation.
Wave of the Future: Sustainable economy, space