Elon Musk is a great entrepreneur. An excellent visionary. A dominant force in a technologically driven world. It was not long before his fans and disciples lovingly bestowed on him the sobriquet “Real-life Ironman.” He even made a cameo appearance along with the “reel-life Ironman” Robert Downey Jr. in Ironman 2.
And yes, Musk is highly eligible for the nickname he has earned over the years. But we have a better candidate.
Jeff Bezos.
First things first. Bezos (54) is almost as old as the on-screen avatar of Ironman (Downey Jr is almost 53), while Musk (46) is much younger. Point two — you already know who is wealthier among the two (or should we say THE wealthiest?)
Hoping that by now we have disturbed the hornet’s nest, we continue.
Childhood
Elon Musk had a strained relationship with his father, with whom he had opted to live with after his parents divorced. The Amazon CEO, meanwhile, belonged to an affluent and closely attached family, just like Tony Stark. Bezos’ grandfather was a regional director at Albuquerque’s Atomic Energy Commission, while his father was an engineer at Exxon.
Meanwhile, neither Musk nor Bezos was lucky enough to inherit a huge corporate from their respective fathers, like Stark.
Education
Ardent comic fans will be aware of the fact that Tony Stark is an electrical engineering graduate. Guess what? So is Bezos. On the other hand, the Tesla CEO boasts of a degree in Physics as well as economics. He had applied for a Ph.D. from Stanford, but dropped out in a few days.
Anyways, Tony Stark didn’t learn about ledgers and balance sheets in college!
Career
The genius of Musk had already founded a few startups — Zip2, X.com, and SpaceX — before he turned himself into a powerhouse through Tesla Motors in 2003. Bezos, on the other hand, is closely associated with only two companies — Amazon, and his spaceflight startup Blue Origin.
If you recall well, the case is same for Stark, who is also associated with two companies — Stark Industries/Stark Enterprises as well as a startup called Circuits Maximus, where he briefly worked after he lost control of his own company.
Furthermore, while Musk was busy making fire-throwers and “Boring” hats, Bezos actually managed to get inside a 14-feet-tall robot-suit. Remember this picture Bezos tweeted from the MARS conference last year? I would say that is “Interesting.”
Outlook
Tony Stark may be arrogant and flamboyant; but he had displayed a great sense of responsibility at the time of Civil War, when he even locked horns with ‘colleague’ Captain America to establish an ordered superhero activity in the world.
While a lot of people were all praises for Elon Musk after he sent the first car to outer space, this move tarnished his image as a responsible corporate entity according to many environmental and space activists. Not only was the Tesla Roadster an unwanted contribution to the mounting the space debris, but it also increased the likelihood of a collision in the outer space if it deviates even slightly from the designated course.
Bezos once again scores brownie points for his philanthropic activities, which include an educational charity — Bezos Family Foundation.
Peter Parker would have appreciated this gesture a lot!