Elon Musk

Biography

Musk's pattern repeats: pick an industry considered impossible (payments, electric cars, private rockets), endure near-bankruptcy, and emerge dominant. Tesla made EVs desirable; SpaceX made rockets reusable and routine. His 2022 purchase of Twitter (now X) added media power — and controversy — to the portfolio.

South African-born American entrepreneur who built companies in electric vehicles, reusable rockets and online payments.

Known for

Tesla, SpaceX, and previously co-founding PayPal.

Notable works & defining projects

• Tesla
• SpaceX
• PayPal (co-founded)

Notable achievements

• Co-founded PayPal and founded SpaceX (2002), whose Falcon rockets pioneered commercial reusability
• As Tesla CEO, led the company to become the world's most valuable carmaker by market value
• Founded The Boring Company and Neuralink

Timeline

1. 1995Left a Stanford PhD after two days to co-found Zip2
2. 2002Founded SpaceX after selling PayPal to eBay
3. 2008Tesla and SpaceX both nearly failed; a NASA contract and last-round funding saved both

Did you know?

• He taught himself to program and, at 12, sold a space game he coded, Blastar, to a magazine for about $500, by his account
• He was born in Pretoria, South Africa, and moved to Canada at 17