As of late 2025, Elon Musk remains the world's richest person and a central figure in global technology, space exploration, and US politics. He currently leads Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, Neuralink, and The Boring Company, and owns the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
Born: June 28, 1971 (Pretoria, South Africa)
Citizenship: South African, Canadian, American
Key Titles: CEO of Tesla and SpaceX; CTO and Chairman of X (formerly Twitter); Founder of xAI, Neuralink, and The Boring Company.
Net Worth: The world's richest person, estimated over $450 billion (fluctuates with stock valuation).
1. Early Life & Education
Elon Reeve Musk was born to Errol Musk, a South African electromechanical engineer, and Maye Musk, a Canadian model and dietitian. An introverted child, he was often bullied but found solace in books and computers. At age 12, he taught himself to code and sold a video game called Blastar for $500.
Move to North America: To avoid mandatory military service in apartheid-era South Africa and to pursue greater economic opportunities, Musk moved to Canada at age 17.
Education: He studied at Queen’s University in Ontario for two years before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania in the U.S. There, he earned dual bachelor’s degrees in physics and economics.
**Stanford Dropout: In 1995, he enrolled in a Ph.D. program in energy physics at Stanford University but dropped out after just two days to join the internet boom.
2. The Internet Entrepreneur (1995–2002)
Musk’s early career defined his ability to build and sell high-growth tech companies.
Zip2: With his brother Kimbal, Musk founded Zip2, an online city guide software for newspapers. In 1999, Compaq acquired Zip2 for nearly $300 million.
PayPal (formerly X.com): Musk co-founded X.com, an online financial services company. It merged with Confinity to become PayPal. In 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion. Musk, the largest shareholder, walked away with over $165 million, which became the seed capital for his future empires.
3. Building The Empires (2002–Present)
After PayPal, Musk shifted his focus from the internet to engineering challenges that he believed were critical for humanity's future: clean energy and multi-planetary survival.
SpaceX (Founded 2002)
Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies Corp. with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and colonizing Mars.
Milestones: SpaceX became the first private company to send a spacecraft (Dragon) to the International Space Station (2012) and the first to reuse an orbital rocket booster.
Starlink: A satellite internet constellation providing global coverage, which has become a critical geopolitical and communication tool.
Starship: The company is currently developing Starship, the largest rocket ever built, intended for missions to the Moon and Mars.
Tesla (Joined 2004)
Musk invested in Tesla Motors early on, becoming Chairman and later CEO in 2008. He is credited with steering the company from a niche startup to the world's most valuable automaker.
Key Products: The Roadster, Model S, 3, X, and Y pushed electric vehicles (EVs) into the mainstream.
Energy: Tesla acquired SolarCity (founded by his cousins) to integrate solar energy and battery storage (Powerwall) into the business.
Other Ventures
**Neuralink (2016): Developing implantable brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) to treat neurological conditions and eventually merge human consciousness with AI.
The Boring Company (2016): An infrastructure company focused on building underground tunnels to alleviate traffic congestion (e.g., the Las Vegas Loop).
**xAI (2023): Founded to compete with OpenAI and Google in artificial intelligence. Its flagship product is the "Grok" AI model, integrated into the X platform.
4. The Takeover of Twitter / X (2022)
In one of the most controversial tech acquisitions in history, Musk purchased the social media platform Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022.
Rebranding: He rebranded the company to X, envisioning it as an "everything app" similar to WeChat in China (combining social media, payments, and video).
Changes: His tenure has been marked by massive staff reductions, the removal of legacy verification systems, and a shift toward a "free speech absolutist" content moderation policy, which has drawn both praise and intense criticism.
5. Personal Life & Public Persona
Musk is known for his relentless work ethic, demanding management style, and active—often polarizing—presence on social media.
Politics: Once a self-described moderate, Musk has shifted significantly to the right in recent years. He was a vocal supporter and donor to Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and has since played an influential role in U.S. political discourse.
Family: Musk has fathered at least 11 known children with three different partners (Justine Wilson, Grimes, and Shivon Zilis). He has frequently expressed concern over declining global birth rates.
Philosophy: He often cites "longtermism" and the preservation of human consciousness as his primary motivators, driving his obsession with making life multi-planetary (Mars) and solving AI safety.
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