Elon Musk on how sale of PayPal helped him fund Tesla and SpaceX

Tesla CEO and owner of X once shared that during his college days, he identified internet, sustainable energy and space exploration as three major areas that would most impact the future of humanity. In a 2012 interview with Jon Stewart, Elon Musk spoke about his early days at PayPal, how he funded SpaceX and Tesla in early stages, and other experiences from his career. The original video was shared by X user KanekoaTheGreat @KanekoaTheGreat earlier today and has garnered more than 692k views so far.

From college to real-world innovations
The video begins with Stewart highlighting Musk’s achievements. He stated that only four entities had successfully launched a rocket into orbit and brought it back: the United States, China, the Soviet Union, and Musk himself, a statement that generated laughter from the audience.
Musk explained that while he was in college, he identified three areas he believed would shape the future of humanity: the internet, sustainable energy, and space exploration, "particularly making life multiplanetary." Although he initially thought about these topics academically, he admitted he didn’t expect to pursue them directly.

Musk, during the conversation stated that the sale of PayPal gave Musk the financial resources needed to start two high-capital ventures — SpaceX and Tesla. "The advent of the Internet and particularly with the sale of PayPal gave me the capital to start a rocket company and a car company," Musk said.
He also pointed out that funding SpaceX was challenging, as rockets were considered outside the "comfort zone" of most venture capitalists at the time. Musk revealed that he had to personally provide all the initial funding for both SpaceX and Tesla.

Towards the end of the clip, Jon Stewart also humorously suggested that Musk’s ability to launch long-range rockets could attract government attention, joking about "men in black glasses" visiting him at night. Musk responded lightheartedly, saying, "Yeah, I sometimes think that I should have a white cat or something like that," referencing classic portrayals of fictional villains.