Born in Pretoria, South Africa, on June 28, 1971, Elon Musk has become among the most powerful people in technology and business.

Musk showed a great enthusiasm in computing and entrepreneurship from a young age, which drove him to study economics and physics at the University of Pennsylvania.

His entrepreneurial path started with Zip2, a 1996 co-founded company offering newspaper online business listings and maps.

Zip2’s popularity resulted in its $307 million acquisition by Compaq in 1999, which gave Musk $22 million from the deal.

After Zip2 sold, Musk co-founded X.com in 1999, an online payment system that would subsequently develop as PayPal.

PayPal transformed internet money transfers and was bought by eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion in stock, therefore generating Musk $180 million.

Musk started SpaceX in 2002 with the goal of lowering space flight expenses so that Mars may be colonized.

Notwithstanding early difficulties, SpaceX accomplished notable achievements including the first privately built liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit in 2008 and rising to be the first private corporation to transport a spacecraft to the International Space Station in 2012.

Musk first joined Tesla Motors (now Tesla, Inc.) as chairman in 2004; later he became its CEO and product architect.

With models like the Roadster, Model S, and Model 3, Tesla popularized electric automobiles under his direction, therefore changing the automotive sector.

Reinforcing Musk’s dedication to sustainable energy, Tesla’s advancements included solar devices and energy storage options.

Apart from Tesla and SpaceX, Musk started or co-founded Neuralink, a brain-computer interface company; The Boring Company, aiming at tunnel building and infrastructure; and xAI, an artificial intelligence business.

Musk’s ventures have greatly added to his considerable riches.  With a net worth believed to be $342 billion, he recaptured the title of richest person in the world as of April 2025, overtaking other tech billionaires such Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos.

The rising prices of his companies—especially SpaceX and xAI—as well as the rise of Tesla’s stock help to explain this financial success mostly.

Beyond business, Musk’s impact is seen in January 2025 when he was named a senior counselor to U.S. President Donald Trump, therefore acting as the de facto director of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), showing his rising political engagement.