Elon Musk is the founder, CEO and lead designer of SpaceX; co-founder, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; and chairman of SolarCity.

He is also the founder, CEO and product architect of Neuralink.

Elon was born in South Africa, in Pretoria. His mother taught him to read at 3 years old using an encyclopedia. By 9 years old he had taught himself computer programming. At 12 years old he sold his first program for $500.

At age 17 he moved to Canada due to his interest in computers and technology. He studied at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario where he earned bachelor’s degrees in economics and physics. He then went on to study business administration at Stanford University where he earned his MSc in applied physics & materials science as well as a PhD in energy physics.

In 1995 Elon began working for Zip2 Corporation which helped create maps for newspapers online by providing mapping services for companies like The New York Times & Hearst Corporation. Zip2 was purchased by Compaq Computer Corporation for over $300 million dollars in cash & stock options in 1999 but Elon remained as CEO until 2000 when he left to found X.

Last modified: October 11, 2022