Elon Musk biography, politics, children, net worth and quotes
Elon Musk is a Canadian-American entrepreneur and the richest man in the world. He is the founder of SpaceX and co-inventor and founder of Zip2 and Tesla. In addition, Elon Musk was responsible for the success of PayPal. Currently, he is chief executive officer (CEO) and chief designer (CDO) of SpaceX, chief executive officer and product architect of Tesla, founder of AI developer xAI and owner of social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Since the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump, on Jan. 20, 2025, Musk has had a role in the United States government in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Who is Elon Musk? His biography
Elon Reeve Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa. He is the son of a Canadian model (Maye Musk) and a South African electromechanical engineer (Errol Musk). His parents divorced in 1980, after which Musk lived with his father.
When he was 10 years old, he discovered the Commodore VIC-20. He taught himself programming and sold a BASIC video game 2 years later. BASIC is an imperative programming language originally designed to teach people how to program quickly). The game had the name Blastar, which he had soon after sold to PC and Office Technology magazine for $500.
Musk attended the private school Waterkloof House Preparatory School during his childhood. However, he graduated from Pretoria Boys High School and moved to Canada in June 1989. He then received Canadian citizenship through his Canadian mother.
In 1989, Musk was admitted to Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. In 1992, after studying at Queen’s University for two years, Musk left for the University of Pennsylvania where, at age 24, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Musk stayed another year to earn a second bachelor’s degree. While studying at University of Pennsylvania, Musk and fellow student Adeo Ressi bought a dorm to use as a nightclub.
In 1995, aged 24, Musk moved to California to pursue a doctorate in physics at Stanford University, but left the university after two days to start his own companies in the fields of the Internet, renewable energy and space. In 2002, he was granted U.S. citizenship.
By age 12, he has mastered all his teachers in computer programming. At 24, he quits his studies at Stanford University to start his first business. Four years later, that company is already worth $300 million, after which Compaq buys it. In 2002, eBay acquires another company of his – Paypal – for the sum of $1.5 billion. He invests his enormous wealth in SpaceX (2002), Tesla Motors (2004), SolarCity (2006) and social media platform Twitter (2022), which continues under the name X.
Zip2
In 1995, Musk and his brother Kimbal Musk founded Zip2, an Internet company. They did so with investments from a group of business angels. The company developed an online city guide for newspapers, among other things.
Musk contracted The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. During his time at Zip2, Elon wanted to become general manager of the company, but no member of Zip2’s supervisory board agreed to this. Compaq acquired Zip2 for US$307 million of which Musk received 7%, which amounted to US$22 million.
X.com and PayPal
In March 1999, Musk founded X.com, an online payment platform. He invested $10 million in this. A year later, this company merged with Confinity, which also had a payment platform called PayPal.
The merged company focused on the services PayPal already had and continued under the same name in 2001. PayPals early growth was driven by a promotion in which new customers received cash on registration.
PayPal was acquired by Ebay in October 2002, for a billion and a half dollars, of which Musk received 165 million. Musk, with 11.7% of the shares, was PayPal’s largest shareholder before the acquisition.
SpaceX
In 2001, Musk created the concept of “Mars Oasis”; a project to land a small experimental greenhouse with food crops on Mars to generate public interest in space exploration. His fascination with Mars goes so far as to want to colonize the planet and make life possible there.
Musk traveled to Moscow in October 2001 with Jim Cantrell and Adeo Ressi to buy used ICBMs that could shoot stuff into space.
In Russia, Musk was hosted by companies NPO Lavochkin and Kosmotras. However, he was seen as an amateur and was even allegedly spit on by one of the rocket’s Russian designers. In a video circulating on the Internet, Musk indicated that he was looking for a rocket, but that they could keep the nuke (atomic bomb).
Later, Musk and his team met with the people behind Kosmotras again, after which they were offered the rocket for $8 million. Musk turned down the offer and decided to start his own company through which he would build affordable rockets. With 100 million of his own earnings, he then started SpaceX in 2002 (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) As of 2021, he has remained the company’s CEO and also holds the position of Chief Engineer.
Tesla
Elon Musk joined Tesla Motors, Inc. now Tesla Inc. in 2004 as president and product architect. In 2008, he became CEO of the company. Tesla first built an electric sports car in 2008, the Tesla Roadster.
One of the earlier models he would later launch into space. The electric car was the start of a whole series of new models.
One day Musk figured out that he wanted SEXY is his Tesla portfolio. Therefore, he named the following models: Model S, Model 3, Model X and Model Y (S3XY). He could not name the second in the series the Model E because Ford trademarked it.
Self-landing rockets
With SpaceX, Musk launched the first Falcon 1 rocket in 2006. The rocket did not make it to orbit, but despite this, the company still received a contract from NASA (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services).
SpaceX failed 2 more times, causing Musk so much stress that he reported being in physical pain and waking up screaming from nightmares. Then, in 2008, Musk managed to launch the Falcon 1 rocket and get it into orbit. In doing so, SpaceX became the first commercial company to pull this off. In the same year, SpaceX received a new contract from NASA, called the Commercial Resupply Services contract, for a total of 12 flights with the Falcon 9 rocket combined with the Dragon capsule to the International Space Station (ISS).
In 2012, the time had come. SpaceX’s Dragon capsule docked at the ISS, a true first for commercial spaceflight. Its goal was still to develop reusable rockets and capsules. The first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket was successfully landed. Bi subsequent launches, the rocket was even landed on an autonomous sailing ship just off the coast.
The Boring Company
The good ideas keep coming to Elon Musk. In 2006, he started The Boring Company, aimed at building a tunnel network under cities to relieve the heavy traffic pressure in cities.
In early 2017, the company began construction of a test trench on SpaceX’s premises. A tunnel under the Las Vegas Convention Center was completed in 2021. Local government agencies have since approved the tunnel system. In 2018, Musk produced and sold flamethrowers for the company inspired by the film Spaceballs, directed by Mel Brooks.
Tesla Roadster in space
In 2018, Elon Musk launched the Falcon Heavy containing his personal Tesla Roadster. The screen in the cockpit has a message ready for aliens who may enter the vehicle in the future: don’t panic!
In 2017, SpaceX unveiled the Starship. A year later, SpaceX announced it planned a trip to the moon in 2023. In 2020, the company conducted its first manned flight, making them the first commercial company to put a person into orbit.
Elon Musk Starlink satellites
In 2015, SpaceX began developing the Starlink satellites to be placed in low-Earth orbit. The constellation of satellites would be launched into space in phases and the entire project would take about 10 years and cost $10 billion.
SpaceX has faced much criticism from astronomers who indicate that this satellite constellation would cause danger in space. Musk firmly rejects the criticism, stating that the impact of the satellites is nil.
Elon Musk crypto
Elon Musk is very optimistic when it comes to crypto currencies, especially Dogecoin. The founder of Tesla and SpaceX tweeted several times about this digital currency, which he himself calls the people’s coin. In a statement, he explained that many people around him have bought Dogecoin and that is why he also supports this token.
He feels this is the crypto currency of the general public. Musk acknowledges that he has invested in Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin.
When Musk enters Donald Trump’s administration (January 2025), his ministerial post will even be named after this Dogecoin. Musk is stepping in with billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy is the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE for short. This is an outside organization focused on making the United States government operate more efficiently.
Elon Musk marriage partner and children
Clearly, Elon Musk is a busy man. In addition to his businesses, he also has 12 children to take care of.
In 2020, Musk had a baby son with his then-girlfriend Grimes. Before that, he had five other children with his ex-wife Justine Wilson. His first child with Justine died of crib death. Nevada Alexander Musk was only 10 weeks old.
Little is known of most of his children. Much has been made about the name of his last child. He and partner Grimes named the child X Æ A-Xii. In a podcast with Joe Rogan, Musk revealed the way the name is pronounced: X-Ash-A-Twelve. Between 2010 and 2015, Musk was married to marriage partner Talulah Riley.
Elon Musk wealth and networth
Much of Elon Musk’s wealth comes from the shares he owns in Tesla and SpaceX. As of Dec. 8, 2021, he was officially the richest man in the world, with an estimated wealth and networth of $278 billion. His wealth has since grown to $330 billion.
Musk is ahead of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and billionaires Bill Gates and Larry Page on the list of richest people in the world.
Elon Musk and his political influence
After Musk buys social media platform Twitter in late 2022 and renames it X, he increasingly uses it as a political mouthpiece. For example, he openly supports US President Donald Trump ahead of the November 2024 election. Ironically, Musk was previously outspoken Democrat, but is making a proverbial pull to the right toward the Republicans during President Joe Biden’s tenure.
He put a total of some $277 million (270 million euros) into his campaign, following Trump’s failed assassination attempt, and appeared regularly on stage at rallies.
Financial and political interests
Musk’s political involvement earns him financially. For example, Tesla’s stock price rose significantly after Trump’s re-election: by over 70%. Thus, his political involvement cannot be separated from his financial interests.
Concerns and criticism of Musk
But there are also criticisms and concerns. The European Union is looking critically at Musk’s statements toward European countries. For example, the world’s richest man is emphatically interfering ahead of Germany’s national elections in late February 2025. In an opinion piece for a German newspaper, he wrote, among other things, that “only Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) can save Germany.” The AfD is described as a radical-right political party because of its views.
But it also maintains warm ties with right-wing populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Meloni even had to answer to the Italian opposition for why she signed a government contract, worth 1.5 billion euros, with her “friend” Musk.
Elon Musk quotes
- “When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.”
- “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.”
- “There have to be reasons that you get up in the morning and you want to live. Why do you want to live? What’s the point? What inspires you? What do you love about the future? If the future does not include being out there among the stars and being a multi-planet species, I find that incredibly depressing.”
- “When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars, people said, ‘Nah, what’s wrong with a horse?’ That was a huge bet he made, and it worked.”
- “Persistence is very important. You should not give up unless you are forced to give up.”
- “It’s OK to have your eggs in one basket as long as you control what happens to that basket.”
- “Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.”
- “Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time. Sometimes it will be ahead, other times it will be behind. But brand is simply a collective impression some have about a product.”
- “Starting and growing a business is as much about the innovation, drive and determination of the people who do it as it is about the product they sell.”
- “We’re going to make it happen. As God is my bloody witness, I’m hell-bent on making it work.”
- “The first step is to establish that something is possible; then probability will occur.”
- “People work better when they know what the goal is and why. It is important that people look forward to coming to work in the morning and enjoy working.”
- “I could either watch it happen or be a part of it.”
Publications and Books of Elon Musk
- 2018. Making life multi-planetary. New Space, 6(1), 2-11.
- 2017. Making humans a multi-planetary species. New Space, 5(2), 46-61.
- 2006. The secret Tesla Motors master plan (just between you and me). blog), August, 2.
- 2001. U.S. Patent No. 6,185,194. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
- 1999. U.S. Patent No. 5,944,769. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
How to cite this article:
Weijers, L. (2019). Elon Musk. Retrieved [insert date] from Toolshero: https://www.toolshero.com/toolsheroes/elon-musk/
Original publication date: 02/07/2019 | Last update: 02/08/2025
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One response to “Elon Musk biography, politics, children, net worth and quotes”
Great article