This article will answer every question you have about Elon Musk. Below are some of the frequently asked questions about him.
- What does Elon Musk do for a living?
- Who are Elon Musk’s parents and siblings?
- What are Elon Musk’s interests and hobbies?
- Is Elon Musk married or does he have a girlfriend?
- Does Elon Musk have any children?
- Where is Elon Musk now?
- How tall is Elon Musk?
- How much money does Elon Musk earn?
- What is Elon Musk’s net worth?
N/B: Please read the entire post to have all your questions answered.
Who is Elon Musk?
is a business magnate, industrial designer, and engineer. He is the founder, CEO, CTO, and chief designer of SpaceX; early-stage investor, CEO, and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; founder of The Boring Company; co-founder of Neuralink; and co-founder and initial co-chairman of OpenAI. A centibillionaire, Musk is one of the richest people in the world.
Musk was born to a Canadian mother and South African father and raised in Pretoria, South Africa. He briefly attended the University of Pretoria before moving to Canada aged 17 to attend Queen’s University. Musk transferred to the University of Pennsylvania two years later, where he received bachelor’s degrees in economics and physics.
He moved to California in 1995 to attend Stanford University but decided instead to pursue a business career, co-founding the web software company Zip2 with brother Kimbal. The startup was acquired by Compaq for $307 million in 1999. Musk co-founded online bank X.com that same year, which merged with Confinity in 2000 to form the company PayPal and was bought by eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion.
Elon Musk’s Career
Business career
Zip2
X.com and PayPal in 1995, Musk, Kimbal, and Greg Kouri founded web software company Zip2 with funds from angel investors. They housed the venture at a small rented office in Palo Alto. The company developed and marketed an Internet city guide for the newspaper publishing industry, with maps, directions, and yellow pages. Musk says that before the company became successful, he could not afford an apartment and instead slept on the office couch and showered at the YMCA. They could only afford one computer, and, according to Musk, “The website was up to during the day and I was coding it at night, seven days a week, all the time.”
The following year, X.com merged with online bank Confinity to prevent unnecessary competition. Founded by Max Levchin and Peter Thiel, Confinity had its own money-transfer service, PayPal, which was more popular than X.com’s service. Within the merged company, Musk returned as CEO. Musk’s preference for Microsoft software over Linux created a rift in the company and caused Thiel to resign. Due to resulting technological issues and lack of a cohesive business model, the board ousted Musk and replaced him with Thiel in September 2000.
Under Thiel, the company focused on the PayPal service and was renamed PayPal in 2001. In 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion in stock, of which Musk—the largest shareholder with 11.7%—received over $100 million. In 2017, Musk purchased the domain X.com from PayPal for an undisclosed amount, explaining it has sentimental value.
SpaceX
In 2001, Musk became involved with the nonprofit Mars Society. He was inspired by plans to place a growth chamber for plants on Mars and discussed funding the project himself. In October 2001, Musk travelled with a group to Moscow to buy refurbished Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that could send the greenhouse payloads into space. He met with companies NPO Lavochkin and Kosmotras; however, Musk was seen as a novice and was even spat on by one of the Russian chief designers. The group returned to the United States empty-handed. In February 2002, the group returned to Russia to look for three ICBMs.
They had another meeting with Kosmotras and were offered one rocket for $8 million, which Musk rejected. Musk instead decided to start a company that could build affordable rockets. Following a series of escalating conflicts in 2007 and the 2008 financial crisis, Eberhard was ousted from the firm. Musk assumed the leadership of the company as CEO and product architect in 2008. A 2009 lawsuit settlement with Eberhard designated Musk as a Tesla co-founder, along with Tarpenning and two others. As of 2019, Musk is the longest-tenured CEO of any automotive manufacturer globally.
SEC lawsuit
In September 2018, Musk was sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a tweet claiming funding had been secured for potentially taking Tesla private. The lawsuit claimed verbal discussions Musk held with foreign investors in July 2018 did not confirm key deal terms and thus characterized the tweet as false, misleading, and damaging to investors, and sought to bar Musk from serving as CEO of publicly traded companies.
Musk called the allegations unjustified and claimed he had never compromised his integrity. Two days later, Musk settled with the SEC, without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations. As a result, Musk and Tesla were fined $20 million each, and Musk was forced to step down for three years as Tesla chairman but was able to remain as CEO.
SolarCity
Musk provided the initial concept and financial capital for SolarCity, which his cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive co-founded in 2006. By 2013, SolarCity was the second largest provider of solar power systems in the United States. In 2014, Musk committed to building a SolarCity advanced production facility in Buffalo, New York, triple the size of the largest solar plant in the United States. Construction on the factory started in 2014 and was completed in 2017. It operated as a joint venture with Panasonic until early 2020 when Panasonic departed.
Neuralink
In 2016, Musk co-founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology startup company to integrate the human brain with AI. Neuralink’s purpose is to create devices that are embedded in the human brain to facilitate the merging of the brain with machines. The devices will also reconcile with the latest improvements in artificial intelligence to stay updated. Such improvements could enhance memory or allow the devices to communicate with software more effectively.
The Boring Company
In 2016, Musk founded The Boring Company to construct tunnels. In early 2017, they began discussions with regulatory bodies and initiated construction of a 30-foot (9.1 m) wide, 50-foot (15 m) long, and 15-foot (4.6 m) deep “test trench” on the premises of SpaceX’s offices as it required no permits. A tunnel beneath the Las Vegas Convention Center was completed in early 2020. Local officials have approved further expansions of the tunnel system.
How Old is Elon Musk?
Musk was born on June 28, 1971,Pretoria, South Africa. He is currently 49 years old.
Elon Musk‘s Family
Who are Elon Musk’s parents?
Musk’s mother is Maye Musk, a model and dietitian born in Saskatchewan, Canada, but raised in South Africa. His father is Errol Musk, a South African electromechanical engineer, pilot, sailor, consultant, and property developer.
Does Elon Musk have siblings?
Musk has a younger brother, Kimbal (born 1972), and a younger sister, Tosca (born 1974).
Elon Musk‘s Education
Musk attended the University of Pretoria for five months; this allowed Musk to avoid mandatory service in the South African military. Arriving in Canada in June 1989, Musk failed to locate his great-uncle in Montreal and instead stayed at a youth hostel. He then travelled west to live with a second cousin in Saskatchewan. He stayed there for a year, working odd jobs at a farm and lumber mill. In 1990, Musk entered Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Two years later, he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania; he graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in economics from the Wharton School and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in physics.
Elon Musk‘s wife
Musk met his first wife, Canadian author Justine Wilson while attending Queen’s University. They married in 2000 and separated in 2008. In 2008, Musk began dating English actress Talulah Riley, and in 2010, the couple married. Later in 2012, Musk announced a divorce from Riley. In 2013, Musk and Riley remarried. In December 2014, Musk filed for a second divorce from Riley; however, the action was withdrawn.
A second divorce was finalized in 2016. Musk then dated Amber Heard for several months in 2017; he had reportedly been pursuing her since 2012. Musk was later accused of having an affair with Heard while she was still married to Johnny Depp. In May 2018, Musk and Canadian musician Grimes revealed that they were dating. Grimes gave birth to their son in May 2020.
Elon Musk’s Net Worth
Musk has an estimated net worth of $173.6 billion.
Height/Measurements
Musk stands at a height of 1.88 m.