Elon Musk Is Silicon Valley's Most Inspiring Figure

For every generation of tech entrepreneurs, there are a handful of standout characters that inspire hundreds of others, be it for their vision, their success or their sheer unwillingness to accept the opposite.

Felix Richter

Dec. 6, 2016

For the better part of the past two decades, Steve Jobs used to be such a figure for many aspiring businessmen. To this day, Apple’s (IW500/2) co-founder and long-time CEO, who passed away in 2011, is admired for his creativity, his achievements and his tenacity in doing what he believed in.

In recent years however, another Silicon Valley entrepreneur has built a reputation not unlike Jobs’. By taking on projects that others deem impossible such as revolutionizing the car industry or working towards a future colonization of Mars, South African-born Elon Musk established himself as one of the most creative thinkers of our time. According to a recent survey conducted by venture capital firm First Round Capital, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX is the most admired tech leader among fellow entrepreneurs for the second year running. As our chart shows, Musk came in well ahead of Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs, who are ranked second third and fourth, respectively.

This chart shows the results of a survey among startup founders regarding the tech leader they admire most.