Elon Musk spends most of his time split between SpaceX and Tesla, with a small portion dedicated to OpenAI. At both SpaceX and Tesla, Musk primarily focuses on engineering and design, with a smaller portion dedicated to business-related activities. Musk is heavily involved in the development and improvement of products such as the Falcon 9, Dragon spacecraft, Model 3, and the Mars Colonial Architecture.

Sam Altman asked Elon Musk how he spends his time.

This is a clip from a longer interview, which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnBQmEqBCY0

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00:00:00 How do Elon spend his days now?
00:00:28 What do Elon do at SpaceX or Tesla?
00:00:59 Elon knew everything about the rocket

Like what do you allocate most of your time to?

My time is mostly split between SpaceX and Tesla.

So I spend most, I spend basically half a

And then I have some OpenAI stuff that happens during the week.

Like what does your time look like there?

I think a lot of people think I must spend a lot of

all my time, like 80% of it is spent on Engineering and design.

So it's developing next generation product.

A very long time ago, many, many years, you took me on a tour of SpaceX.

And the most impressive thing was that you knew every detail of the rocket and every piece of engineering that went into it.

I don't think many people get that about you.

Yeah, I think a lot of people think I'm kind of a business person or something.

But really it's, you know, it's like at SpaceX, Gwynne Shotwell is chief operating officer.

She kind of manages legal, finance, sales, and kind of general business activity.

And then my time is almost entirely with the engineering team working on improving the Falcon 9 and the Dragon spacecraft and developing the Mars Colonial Architecture.

And then at Tesla it's working on the Model 3 and some in the design studio,

dealing with aesthetics and look and feel things.

And then most of the rest of the week is just going through engineering of the car itself, as well as engineering of the factory.


Speaker 0: How do you spend your days now? Like what do you allocate most of your time to?

Speaker 1: My time is mostly split between SpaceX and Tesla. And of course, I try to spend

Speaker 0: a part of every week at OpenAI. So I spend most, I spend basically half a

Speaker 1: day at OpenAI most weeks. And then I have some OpenAI stuff that happens during the week. But other than that it's

Speaker 0: really SpaceX

Speaker 1: and Tesla. And what do you do

Speaker 0: when you're at SpaceX or Tesla? Like what does your time look like there?

Speaker 1: Yeah, so that's a good question. I think a lot of people think I must spend a lot of

Speaker 0: time with media or on businessy things. But actually, almost

Speaker 1: all my time, like 80% of it is spent on Engineering and design. So it's developing next generation product. That's 80% of it.

Speaker 0: You probably don't remember this. A very long time ago, many, many years, you took me on a tour of SpaceX. And the most impressive thing was that you knew every detail of the rocket and every piece of engineering that went into it. I don't think many people get that about you.

Speaker 1: Yeah, I think a lot of people think I'm kind of a business person or something. Which is fine, like business is fine. But really it's, you know, it's like at SpaceX, Gwynne Shotwell is chief operating officer. She kind of manages legal, finance, sales, and kind of general business activity. And then my time is almost entirely with the engineering team working on improving the Falcon 9 and the Dragon spacecraft and developing the Mars Colonial Architecture.

And then at Tesla it's working on the Model 3 and some in the design studio,

Speaker 0: which I have a great day a week,

Speaker 1: dealing with aesthetics and look and feel things. And then most of the rest of the week is just going through engineering of the car itself, as well as engineering of the factory.

Speaker 0: You

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How Elon Musk Spends His Time