Bloomberg Risk Takers takes on Tesla CEO Elon Musk

Elon Musk, born June 28, 1971 in South Africa, is an American entrepreneur. Musk created PayPal, the world's largest Internet payment system, assisted in establishing America's first viable electric automaker (Tesla), is chairman of SolarCity and chief executive officer of SpaceX. Musk is best known for contributing to the creation of the Tesla Roadster, for assisting with the design of the Dragon spacecraft and, of course, for his blunt statements.

What you might not know about Musk is that his colleagues say his passion could change the world and that he taught himself computer programming at the age of ten. Recently, Bloomberg Risk Takers profiled Musk and called him one of the greatest innovators of our day. And he's only 40. Hit the jump to find out why Risk Takers says Musk is a man that could alter the course of the 21st century.