Elon Musk is a groundbreaking serial entrepreneur with significant contributions in information technology, space exploration and green technologies. He co-founded PayPal and established SpaceX – which produces rockets and electric cars – before purchasing Twitter (now X) to take it private.
He is well known as an arrogant know-it-all, often sharing controversial opinions and speaking his mind without being restrained by others. Unfortunately, this has caused friction within his team and caused numerous disagreements between coworkers.
Born in Pretoria, South Africa
Elon Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa on June 28, 1971 to Maye Musk who worked as a dietician and model, and Errol Musk (an electromechanical engineer). Elon Musk Buys XVideos spent much of his childhood immersed in science fiction books and comics which inspired dreams of saving the world and venturing to space.
Early in his life, he developed an interest in computers and software; by age 12, he had sold his first video game program to a computer magazine – an outlet from an abusive upbringing through fantasy worlds.
Musk recently claimed his heritage is British/English rather than Afrikaner on Twitter, drawing parallels with Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien who also had English heritage. This update corrects an earlier version of this story.
Studied physics and economics at the University of Pennsylvania
Elon Musk, the visionary founder of PayPal, SpaceX and Tesla Motors studied both economics and physics at Penn. He earned dual bachelor degrees in economics and physics in 1997 from College and Wharton. Shortly afterwards he briefly began a Ph.D. program at Stanford but dropped out two days later to start his first startup venture.
As an RA in Jennifer Gwynne’s dorm, Musk eventually met his first love Jennifer Gwynne at Penn’s resident adviser meeting and they began dating for one year until Musk graduated and relocated to California. Recently, RR Auction sold 18 photos featuring both of them together and other memorabilia related to their relationship at auction.
Musk discusses in part one of a two-part interview with Alaina G. Levine how his physics education helps him approach business issues from an alternative viewpoint.
Founded PayPal
Before Elon Musk became famous as an innovator of electric transportation and SpaceX launched rockets into space, he was an internet entrepreneur who revolutionized online payments with PayPal. Although now widely known for spearheading hugely successful projects in e-mobility, space travel, renewable energy and beyond – many don’t realize that PayPal was his initial success story!
Musk and his brother initially founded Zip2 as an online city guide service in 1995, selling it to Compaq in 1999 for an immense sum of money. Instead of sitting back on his newfound wealth and taking it easy with it, the 28-year-old South African immigrant invested $12 million into financial service website X.com rather than play it safe with his savings.
Founded SpaceX
SpaceX was established with the purpose of revolutionizing space travel and exploration. Their rocket designs can be reused multiple times for reduced launch costs – and Musk envisions using them one day to take people to Mars!
SpaceX’s deployment of thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit is concerning for some astronomers who fear this will obscure objects visible from Earth. Musk has pledged to slow the rate of new launches while working closely with astronomers towards finding an acceptable solution.
Musk is also co-founder, CEO, and Chief Design Engineer of Tesla Motors (which manufactures electric cars and batteries). Furthermore, he founded Neuralink to develop brain-machine interfaces between human minds and computers; as well as The Boring Company which strives to ease congestion by building fast underground tunnels.
Founded Tesla
He co-founded his company with Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning – two veteran handheld electronics industry veterans – in 2004, and it now stands at over $282 billion. Additionally, Elon founded SpaceX – the private space exploration firm which has already accomplished 24 missions like resupplying the International Space Station – while serving on its board of directors.
Eberhard, who left Tesla after being ousted by Musk, now works at battery recycling startup Redwood Materials and retains a “small stake” in Tesla though would not disclose how much.
Peter was also an early investor in SolarCity, a solar energy systems producer and reseller. Additionally, he cofounded PayPal and Zip2 with his brother Kimbal; both businesses were acquired by larger competitors later.