Elon Musk

From South Africa to Richest Person in the World

tech business
Elon Musk

Net Worth

$250B

Born

June 28, 1971 (age 54)

Country

South Africa

Occupation

CEO, Entrepreneur, Investor

Gender

male

Generation

Gen X

Marital Status

single

Children

11

Single Parent Household

No

Education

Bachelor's

University

University of Pennsylvania, Queen's University

Industries

tech, business

Wealth Category

billionaire

Wealth Origin

self-made

First-Gen Wealth

Yes

Immigrant

Yes

Overcame

  • • Grew up in apartheid-era South Africa
  • • Severely bullied in school; once hospitalized after being thrown down stairs
  • • Left South Africa with virtually no money to pursue opportunities abroad
  • • Faced multiple near-bankruptcies with Tesla and SpaceX

Elon Musk is a businessman and investor known for his key roles in space company SpaceX and automotive company Tesla. He is the wealthiest person in the world, with an estimated net worth exceeding $200 billion. He also owns X (formerly Twitter) and founded The Boring Company, Neuralink, and xAI.

Career Timeline

1971

Born in Pretoria, South Africa

1984 Age 12
Achievement

Sold his first video game 'Blastar' for $500

1989 Age 17
Turning Point

Moved to Canada to avoid South African military service

1992 Age 21
Turning Point

Transferred to University of Pennsylvania

1995 Age 24
Turning Point

Started PhD at Stanford; dropped out after 2 days

1999 Age 28
Milestone

Sold Zip2 to Compaq for $307 million

2002 Age 31
Milestone

Sold PayPal to eBay for $1.5 billion

2002 Age 31
Turning Point

Founded SpaceX with $100 million from PayPal sale

2004 Age 33
Turning Point

Joined Tesla as chairman; became CEO in 2008

2008 Age 37
Milestone

SpaceX Falcon 1 became first privately funded rocket to reach orbit

2012 Age 41
Achievement

Tesla Model S launched; SpaceX delivered cargo to ISS

2020 Age 49
Milestone

SpaceX became first private company to send astronauts to ISS

2021 Age 50
Milestone

Became richest person in the world

2022 Age 51
Milestone

Acquired Twitter for $44 billion; renamed to X

Notable Quotes

"When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor."

— 60 Minutes Interview, 2012

"The first step is to establish that something is possible; then probability will occur."

— Interview, 2013

"If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it's not."

— Interview, 2015

"Persistence is very important. You should not give up unless you are forced to give up."