Elon Musk is a Canadian-American entrepreneur and the richest man in the world. As of October 2025, his estimated net worth is US$470 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and $500 billion according to Forbes, primarily from his ownership stakes in Tesla and SpaceX.
He is the founder of SpaceX and co-inventor and founder of Zip2 and Tesla. In addition, Elon Musk was responsible for the success of PayPal.
Let's delve into the life and career of this influential figure.
Early Life and Education
Elon Reeve Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa. He is the son of a Canadian model (Maye Musk) and a South African electromechanical engineer (Errol Musk).
Musk attended the private school Waterkloof House Preparatory School during his childhood. However, he graduated from Pretoria Boys High School and moved to Canada in June 1989. After his parents divorced in 1979, Elon, aged around 9, chose to live with his father because Errol Musk had an Encyclopædia Britannica and a computer. Elon has recounted trips to a wilderness school that he described as a "paramilitary Lord of the Flies" where "bullying was a virtue" and children were encouraged to fight over rations. In one incident, after an altercation with a fellow pupil, Elon was thrown down concrete steps and beaten severely, leading to him being hospitalized for his injuries.
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In 1989, Musk was admitted to Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. In 1992, after studying at Queen’s University for two years, Musk left for the University of Pennsylvania where, at age 24, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Musk stayed another year to earn a second bachelor’s degree.
In 1995, aged 24, Musk moved to California to pursue a doctorate in physics at Stanford University, but left the university after two days to start his own companies in the fields of the Internet, renewable energy and space.
When he was 10 years old, he discovered the Commodore VIC-20. By age 12, he has mastered all his teachers in computer programming. He taught himself programming and sold a BASIC video game 2 years later.
Early Career
In 1995, Musk and his brother Kimbal Musk founded Zip2, an Internet company. They did so with investments from a group of business angels. Musk contracted The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. During his time at Zip2, Elon wanted to become general manager of the company, but no member of Zip2’s supervisory board agreed to this.
In March 1999, Musk founded X.com, an online payment platform. He invested $10 million in this. The merged company focused on the services PayPal already had and continued under the same name in 2001.
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PayPal was acquired by Ebay in October 2002, for a billion and a half dollars, of which Musk received 165 million.
Key Career Milestones
- 1995: Founded Zip2, an internet company providing online content publishing software.
- 1999: Founded X.com, which later became PayPal.
- 2002: Founded SpaceX, a space technology company.
- 2004: Invested in Tesla Motors, becoming CEO in 2008.
- 2015: Co-founded OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research company.
- 2016: Co-founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology startup.
- 2016: Proposed The Boring Company to build a low-cost, underground public transport system.
SpaceX
In 2001, Musk created the concept of “Mars Oasis”; a project to land a small experimental greenhouse with food crops on Mars to generate public interest in space exploration.
In 2002, Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) to make more affordable rockets. Its first two rockets were the Falcon 1 (first launched in 2006) and the larger Falcon 9 (first launched in 2010), which were designed to cost much less than competing rockets.
In Russia, Musk was hosted by companies NPO Lavochkin and Kosmotras. However, he was seen as an amateur and was even allegedly spit on by one of the rocket’s Russian designers. Later, Musk and his team met with the people behind Kosmotras again, after which they were offered the rocket for $8 million. Musk turned down the offer and decided to start his own company through which he would build affordable rockets.
With SpaceX, Musk launched the first Falcon 1 rocket in 2006. SpaceX failed 2 more times, causing Musk so much stress that he reported being in physical pain and waking up screaming from nightmares. Then, in 2008, Musk managed to launch the Falcon 1 rocket and get it into orbit. In doing so, SpaceX became the first commercial company to pull this off.
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Evolution of SpaceX Rockets: Size Comparison & Launch History from Falcon 1 to Starship | Animation
In 2012, the time had come. SpaceX’s Dragon capsule docked at the ISS, a true first for commercial spaceflight. Its goal was still to develop reusable rockets and capsules. The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket was successfully landed.
In 2017, SpaceX unveiled the Starship. A year later, SpaceX announced it planned a trip to the moon in 2023.
In 2015, SpaceX began developing the Starlink satellites to be placed in low-Earth orbit. SpaceX has faced much criticism from astronomers who indicate that this satellite constellation would cause danger in space.
Tesla
In 2004, Musk joined Tesla Motors as president and product architect. In 2008, he became CEO of the company.
One day Musk figured out that he wanted SEXY is his Tesla portfolio. Therefore, he named the following models: Model S, Model 3, Model X and Model Y (S3XY).
In 2018, Elon Musk launched the Falcon Heavy containing his personal Tesla Roadster.
One of the earlier models he would later launch into space.
The good ideas keep coming to Elon Musk.
The Boring Company
In early 2017, the company began construction of a test trench on SpaceX’s premises. A tunnel under the Las Vegas Convention Center was completed in 2021. Local government agencies have since approved the tunnel system.
Political Views and Involvement
Musk has often expressed fears that unrestricted advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) could pose the “biggest existential threat” to humanity.
Elon Musk is very optimistic when it comes to crypto currencies, especially Dogecoin. The founder of Tesla and SpaceX tweeted several times about this digital currency, which he himself calls the people’s coin. He feels this is the crypto currency of the general public.
For example, he openly supports US President Donald Trump ahead of the November 2024 election. Ironically, Musk was previously outspoken Democrat, but is making a proverbial pull to the right toward the Republicans during President Joe Biden’s tenure.
When Musk enters Donald Trump’s administration (January 2025), his ministerial post will even be named after this Dogecoin. Musk is stepping in with billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy is the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE for short.
Personal Life
Clearly, Elon Musk is a busy man.
In 2020, Musk had a baby son with his then-girlfriend Grimes. Before that, he had five other children with his ex-wife Justine Wilson. His first child with Justine died of crib death. Little is known of most of his children. Much has been made about the name of his last child. He and partner Grimes named the child X Æ A-Xii. In a podcast with Joe Rogan, Musk revealed the way the name is pronounced: X-Ash-A-Twelve.
Wealth
Much of Elon Musk’s wealth comes from the shares he owns in Tesla and SpaceX.
His political involvement earns him financially. For example, Tesla’s stock price rose significantly after Trump’s re-election: by over 70%.
As of Dec. 8, 2021, he was officially the richest man in the world, with an estimated wealth and networth of $278 billion.
Criticisms and Concerns
But there are also criticisms and concerns. The European Union is looking critically at Musk’s statements toward European countries. For example, the world’s richest man is emphatically interfering ahead of Germany’s national elections in late February 2025.
But it also maintains warm ties with right-wing populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Quotes from Elon Musk
- “If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day."
- “There have to be reasons that you get up in the morning and you want to live. Why do you want to live? What’s the point? What inspires you? What do you love about the future?"
- “Persistence is very important."
- “Failure is an option here."
- “Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time. Sometimes it will be ahead, other times it will be behind."
- “We’re going to make it happen."
- “People work better when they know what the goal is and why."
Key Dates and Events
- 1999: Patent No. 5,944,769.
- 2001: Patent No. 6,185,194.
- 2006: The secret Tesla Motors master plan (just between you and me).
- 2017: Making humans a multi-planetary species.
- 2018: Making life multi-planetary.
