Elon Musk

Elon Reeve Musk, born June 28, 1971, is a businessman and public official known for his leadership of Tesla and SpaceX. He has been the wealthiest person in the world since 2025; as of May 2026, Forbes estimates his net worth to be US$788 billion.

Born into the wealthy Musk family in Pretoria, South Africa, Musk moved to Canada in 1989 and later to California to start business ventures. He co-founded companies like Zip2, PayPal, and SpaceX, and became CEO of Tesla, helping make it a leader in electric vehicles.

Musk also co-founded OpenAI to advance artificial intelligence research and later established xAI under SpaceX. In 2022, he acquired the social network Twitter, implementing significant changes and rebranding it as X in 2023. His other ventures include Neuralink and the Boring Company.

Musk has been involved in politics, supporting global far-right groups and serving as Senior Advisor to the President after Donald Trump became president in 2025. His public statements and actions have caused debate and criticism from many people.

Early life

Elon Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa. His mother, Maye, was born in Saskatchewan, Canada, and his father, Errol, worked in many jobs including as an engineer and property developer. Because his mother was Canadian, Musk also became a Canadian citizen.

Musk grew up in a wealthy family. After his parents divorced when he was about nine, he chose to live with his father. He loved reading books and was interested in computers from a young age. At twelve, he created and sold a video game called Blastar for about $500.

Education

Musk went to several schools in South Africa. He wanted to avoid South Africa's military service, so he applied for a Canadian passport through his mother. He studied at Queen's University in Canada and later at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States, where he earned degrees in physics and economics in 1997. He planned to study at Stanford University but decided to pursue business opportunities instead.

Business career

Main article: Business career of Elon Musk

Zip2

Main article: Zip2

In 1995, Elon Musk, his brother Kimbal, and Greg Kouri started a company called Zip2. They created a website that helped people find information about cities, like maps and phone books, for newspapers.

Zip2 became successful, and in 1999, a big company named Compaq bought it for a lot of money. Musk made a good profit from this sale.

X.com and PayPal

Main articles: X.com (bank), PayPal, and PayPal Mafia

In 1999, Musk started another company called X.com. This was one of the first online banks where people could send money over the internet.

Later, X.com joined with another company called Confinity, which had a popular service named PayPal. Eventually, the company became just PayPal.

In 2002, PayPal was sold to a big company called eBay for a lot of money. Musk made a good profit from this sale too.

SpaceX

Main article: SpaceX

In 2002, Musk started SpaceX, a company that builds rockets to send things into space.

SpaceX has done many important things, like sending people into space for the first time for a private company and working on making rockets that can be used again.

Starlink

Main article: Starlink

See also: Starlink in the Russo-Ukrainian War

In 2015, SpaceX started working on Starlink, a network of satellites that provides internet to places all over the world.

Tesla

Main article: Tesla, Inc.

Musk joined Tesla, a company that makes electric cars, in 2004. He helped make many popular electric cars, like the Model S and Model 3.

Tesla has grown to become one of the biggest car companies in the world.

SolarCity and Tesla Energy

Main articles: SolarCity and Tesla Energy

Musk helped start SolarCity, a company that makes solar power systems, in 2006. In 2016, Tesla bought SolarCity to make solar power part of its business.

Neuralink

Main article: Neuralink

In 2016, Musk started Neuralink, a company that wants to connect human brains with computers. This could help people with medical problems or even improve how our brains work.

The Boring Company

Main article: The Boring Company

In 2017, Musk started The Boring Company, which builds tunnels under cities to help with traffic.

X Corp.

Main articles: Acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk and Twitter under Elon Musk

In 2022, Musk bought a big social media company called Twitter and renamed it X. He made many changes to how the company works.

Other activities

Hyperloop

Main articles: Hyperloop and Hyperloop pod competition

In August 2013, Elon Musk shared ideas for a new way to travel very fast, called the Hyperloop. He wanted to connect Greater Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area with this system.

OpenAI and xAI

Main articles: OpenAI and xAI (company)

In December 2015, Musk helped start OpenAI, a group focused on studying smart computers. Later, in July 2023, he began another company called xAI to create new types of smart computer programs.

Private jet

Main articles: ElonJet and 2022 Twitter suspensions

Musk uses private airplanes for travel. In December 2022, he stopped a social media account that tracked his airplane movements and also blocked some journalists who wrote about this.

Grokipedia

Main article: Grokipedia

In October 2025, Musk's company introduced Grokipedia, an online encyclopedia created by a computer program. Some people said it sometimes repeats mistakes or shows things in a way that matches Musk’s own opinions.

Politics

Main article: Political activities of Elon Musk

See also: Protests against Elon Musk

Elon Musk is different from many business leaders because he often talks about politics. He used to be a voter who did not belong to any political party when he lived in California. Over time, he has given money to both the Democrats and the Republicans.

Musk has supported several political leaders over the years. He backed Democrat Barack Obama and later Democrats like Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden in their elections. In 2020, he supported a candidate named Andrew Yang and shared ideas about helping everyone earn enough money to live comfortably.

In 2021, a leader named Joe Biden made a rule that more cars should be electric by 2030. Musk felt that he was not included in this decision. Later, Musk began giving more support to Republican leaders. He helped a Republican candidate named Mayra Flores win an election in Texas in 2022 and gave money to support another Republican, Ron DeSantis, in the 2024 election.

By 2024, Musk started supporting leaders and groups with strong right-wing views. He shared ideas that were not true and talked about many different political topics. In July 2024, after a leader named Donald Trump survived a dangerous situation, Musk said he hoped Trump would become president again.

Musk also talked about not liking a group called the World Economic Forum and decided to speak there in 2026 for the first time.

Department of Government Efficiency

Main article: Department of Government Efficiency

In 2024, Elon Musk talked with Donald Trump about creating a new group to help manage the government's money. In January 2025, this group was started, and Musk was given an important role to help guide it. However, some people said Musk did not really have official power to make decisions.

Musk's work with this group led to many people being let go from government jobs. Some leaders criticized him for keeping things secret and for making big changes that affected many people.

Feud with Donald Trump

Main article: Trump–Musk feud

After leaving office, Musk and Donald Trump had disagreements. Musk made strong comments online about Trump, and Trump responded by saying Musk had gone “CRAZY.” Musk later apologized for his comments and removed them.

Views

Main article: Views of Elon Musk

Elon Musk has shared many different ideas about politics and society. He describes himself as a political moderate but his views have shifted over time. He supports ideas like freedom of speech, gun rights, and a tax on carbon emissions. He has also talked about concerns like artificial intelligence and climate change.

Musk has talked about many international topics too. He has given opinions on issues in Israel, China, Taiwan, and Europe. He has supported some political groups and leaders, and at other times, criticized them. His comments have sometimes led to discussions and disagreements around the world.

Legal affairs

Main article: Legal affairs of Elon Musk

Further information: List of lawsuits involving Tesla, Inc. and Criticism of Tesla, Inc.

In 2018, Elon Musk faced a legal issue because of a tweet saying he had secured funding to take Tesla private. This led to a lawsuit, but Musk settled soon after, paying fines and stepping down from a leadership role at Tesla for a short time. Later, a court decided he and Tesla were not to blame for the tweet.

Musk has had several other legal matters, including disagreements over tweets about Tesla and questions about his actions during the purchase of Twitter. In one case in 2026, a jury said he had misled investors with some of his tweets, but cleared him of other serious claims. Another lawsuit against a technology company was decided in favor of the company’s leaders.

Personal life

Musk became a U.S. citizen in 2002. From the early 2000s until late 2020, he lived in California, where both Tesla and SpaceX were founded. He later moved to Cameron County, Texas, saying California had become "complacent" about its economic success.

Musk shared that he has Asperger syndrome, a term that describes a mild form of autism spectrum disorder. He was not diagnosed as a child. Musk has faced health challenges, including back pain and several spine surgeries, such as a disc replacement. In 2000, he fell ill with a serious case of malaria during a vacation in South Africa.

Musk enjoys playing video games, saying they help him relax. Some games he plays include Quake, Diablo IV, Elden Ring, and Polytopia_. He once claimed to be among the world's top players but later admitted to using outside services to boost his rankings.

Relationships and children

Musk has fathered at least 14 children. He had six children with his first wife, Canadian author Justine Wilson. After the death of their first child, they used in vitro fertilization to have more children. The couple divorced in 2008 and share custody of their children. One of the twins later changed her name and gender identity.

Musk dated English actress Talulah Riley, marrying her in 2010 and divorcing twice, with the final divorce in 2016. He also dated American actress Amber Heard for several months in 2017.

In 2018, Musk began dating Canadian musician Grimes, and they have three children together. They faced public attention over their unusual first child's name and later semi-separated. Musk also has children with other partners, including Shivon Zilis, and there have been reports about other potential children, though some details remain unclear.

Wealth

Musk Foundation

Main article: Musk Foundation

The Musk Foundation is a charitable group in the United States led by Elon Musk. It focuses on supporting clean energy, space travel with humans, children's health, and teaching science and engineering. By the end of 2024, the foundation had more than $14 billion. Since 2020, much of its support has gone to groups connected to Musk and his companies.

Public image

Main article: Public image of Elon Musk

Elon Musk became well known in the early 2010s. People see him as someone who makes big, sudden decisions and sometimes says things that cause debate. Unlike many wealthy business leaders, Musk often shares his thoughts openly, which makes him a topic of discussion among many people.

Some have called him very powerful because of his impact on conversations, social media, businesses, politics, and government decisions.

Accolades

Main article: List of awards and honors received by Elon Musk

Musk has received many awards for his work, especially with rockets. These include several important prizes in science and engineering. In 2021, he was chosen as Time magazine's "Person of the Year" because of how much he has influenced life on Earth and beyond.