[saturn8601]

He is the product of hard work + a lucky break that he compounded into his multiple subsequent successes. His recent ventures (Tesla, SpaceX, etc. would not have succeeded without the sacrifices in mental, physical and emotional toll his thousands upon thousands of workers have given to his companies. What he is good at is hiring the right people to find and grind down as many necessary people as possible until burnout tosses them into the laps of their competitors.