As one who should know, South Africa’s first Black billionaire, Patrice Motsepe has said that entrepreneurs can learn a thing or two from Elon Musk which could most likely increase their net worth and the success of their business.
According to Motsepe, the Tesla CEO’s strong belief in himself is a good thing.
“I’m not saying [entrepreneurs] must be cocky and arrogant . . . but I think [Musk] believed so much in what he was doing . . . he succeeded,” said Motsepe.
“If you look at the most successful entrepreneurs in the world, the common feature amongst the majority of them is that when they started, everybody said to them . . . this thing won’t succeed,” he shared.
Musk made headlines this week when it was announced that he would be purchasing Twitter for about $44 billion.
According to Forbes, at 17-years-old, Musk immigrated to Canada but was born in South Africa, where he resided up until the move. Today, Musk is the founder of SpaceX, a private spaceflight company that sends satellites and people to space including NASA crews.
He is also the CEO of Tesla, a company founded in 2003 by a group of engineers who were on a mission to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. Today, the company is worth over a trillion dollars, CNN reports.
Motsepe made history when he became the first Black billionaire in Africa back in 2008. His fortune was made possible by his lucrative stance in the mining industry.
Much like other Black founders he faced adversity but managed to persevere and come out on top.
Although many investors did not believe in Motsepe’s vision, that didn’t stop him. He still managed to purchase “unsuccessful mines” which soon became the key to his booming business.