@CryptoDoggyCN: Case solved! I found that the Chinese guy in Elon Musk's classic college roommate photo who looks like CZ is actually Ren Yuxiang. Musk and him were physics lab partners, and Musk once said Ren was the only one who beat him in physics. No wonder, Ren won a Physics Olympiad gold medal at East China Normal University Affiliated High School. When they were roommates at UPenn, they became close friends, discussing how to apply physics laws to...
Summary
Revealing that the Chinese student in Elon Musk's classic college roommate photo is Ren Yuxiang, a physics gold medalist who later became a Tesla executive and is now founding a startup that converts CO2 into aviation fuel.
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Cached at: 05/17/26, 11:32 AM
Case solved! I discovered the classic photo of Musk’s college roommate — the Chinese person who looks strikingly like CZ is actually Ren Yuxiang.
Ren was also Musk’s physics lab partner. Musk once said Ren was the only person who surpassed him in physics.
No wonder — Ren won a gold medal in the Physics Olympiad while at East China Normal University No.2 High School.
The two became close friends when they shared a dorm at UPenn. They’d discuss how the laws of physics could be used to build rockets, and Musk kept talking about making a rocket that could fly to Mars…
Later, Musk dropped out to start his company, while Ren earned his degree.
Ren eventually joined Tesla, rising to Vice President of Global Business Development. As a native of Shanghai, he was a key figure in building Tesla’s Gigafactory in Shanghai.
In 2024, Ren returned to Shanghai Lin-gang to start a new venture.
The company is called Carbon Becomes Everything, focusing on converting atmospheric CO₂ into aviation fuel.
I wonder if Mr. Musk invested in the angel round.
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