Elon Musk (born 1971) is a South African-born entrepreneur, engineer, and investor who holds South African, Canadian, and American citizenship. [1] He is best known as the chief executive of the electric-vehicle manufacturer Tesla and as the founder and chief executive of the aerospace company SpaceX. [2] Musk also founded or led ventures including PayPal, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and the artificial-intelligence firm xAI, and he acquired the social-media platform Twitter in 2022. [1]
Early life and education
Elon Reeve Musk was born on 28 June 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa. [1] He developed an early interest in computing and taught himself to program as a child. In his late teens he moved to Canada, taking Canadian citizenship through his mother, and studied at Queen's University before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania. [2] There he earned degrees in physics and economics, the latter through the Wharton School. He briefly enrolled in a graduate program at Stanford University but left almost immediately to pursue business ventures. [1]
Early ventures
In 1995 Musk co-founded Zip2, a company that provided online city-guide software to newspapers; it was acquired by Compaq in 1999. [1] He then founded X.com, an online financial-services and payments company that merged with a competitor and became PayPal. When PayPal was acquired by eBay in 2002, Musk received a substantial payout that funded his subsequent enterprises. [2]
SpaceX and Tesla
Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, known as SpaceX, in 2002 with the goal of reducing the cost of spaceflight and advancing the exploration of Mars. [3] The company developed the Falcon family of rockets and the Dragon spacecraft, and it pioneered the reuse of orbital rocket boosters. In 2004 Musk became a major investor in Tesla, an electric-car startup, and later took the role of chief executive. [4] Under his leadership Tesla brought vehicles such as the Model S, Model 3, and Model Y to market and expanded into battery storage and solar energy. [4]
Later ventures and public profile
Musk went on to establish additional companies, including Neuralink, which develops brain-computer interfaces, and The Boring Company, which focuses on tunneling and infrastructure. [1] In 2022 he acquired the social-media service Twitter, later rebranding it as X, and in 2023 he launched the artificial-intelligence company xAI. [1] His public statements and business decisions have attracted both wide attention and controversy.
Recognition
Musk has received a range of honors reflecting his influence in technology and industry, including being named Time magazine's Person of the Year in 2021 and election as a Fellow of the Royal Society. [1] He has also been recognized by aerospace and engineering bodies for his work in commercial spaceflight. [3]
