What Do I Do Now? 59
than to get two degrees. “I studied physics and business,
because in order to do these things you need to know how
the universe works and how the economy works and you
also need to be able to bring people together to create
something,” he said. “It’s very difficult to create something
as individuals if it’s a significant technology.”^63
As an engineer before anything else, Elon thought
the undergraduate business degree was easy. All business
courses combined during the final year were not as difficult
as one course in quantum mechanics from the degree in
physics.^350 But he would never regret the decision to also
get a degree in finance. “I’m head engineer and chief
designer as well as CEO, so I don’t have to cave to some
money guy,” Elon said. “I encounter CEOs who don’t know
the details of their technology and that’s ridiculous to
me.”^50
While not studying, playing games, or hosting parties,
Elon worked. He wrote business plans for an electronic
book scanning service, and he worked two summers for
an ultracapacitor energy storage venture called Pinnacle
Research.^51
Elon also worked for the video game developer Rocket
Science Games.^71 He participated in the development of the
gamesLoadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine, released in
1994, andCadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cataclysm,
released in 1995.^118 In the game manual, Elon was credited
below the heading Rocket Scientists.^38 “He [Elon] has that
Bill Gates energy where his foot bounces and he’s wiggling
just because he’s so smart,” one of his co-workers said.^51