Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa and briefly attended at the University of Pretoria before moving to Canada at age 18, acquiring citizenship through his Canadian-born mother. Two years later, he matriculated at Queen's University and transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where he received bachelor's degrees in economics and physics. He moved to California in 1995 to attend Stanford University. After two days, he dropped out and with his brother Kimbal, co-founded the online city guide software company Zip2. In 1999, Zip2 was acquired by Compaq for $307 million and Musk co-founded X.com, a direct bank. X.com merged with Confinity in 2000 to form PayPal, which eBay acquired for $1.5 billion in 2002.

With $175.8 million, Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, a spaceflight services company. In 2004, he was an early investor in the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors, Inc. (now Tesla, Inc.). He became its chairman and product architect, assuming the position of CEO in 2008. In 2006, he helped create SolarCity, a solar energy company that was later acquired by Tesla and became Tesla Energy. In 2015, he co-founded OpenAI, a nonprofit artificial intelligence research company. The following year, he co-founded Neuralink—a neurotechnology company developing brain–computer interfaces—and The Boring Company, a tunnel construction company. Musk has also proposed a hyperloop high-speed vactrain transportation system. In 2022, his acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion was completed.

Musk has made controversial statements on politics and technology, particularly on Twitter, and is a polarizing figure. He has been criticized for making unscientific and misleading statements, including spreading COVID-19 misinformation. In 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Musk for falsely tweeting that he had secured funding for a private takeover of Tesla. Musk stepped down as chairman of Tesla and paid a $20 million fine as part of a settlement agreement with the

Elon Musk FRS
Musk in 2018
Born	Elon Reeve Musk June 28, 1971 (age 51) Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa
Education	University of Pennsylvania (BA, BS)
Title	Founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc. CEO of Twitter, Inc. President of the Musk Foundation Founder of The Boring Company and X.com (now part of PayPal) Co-founder of Neuralink, OpenAI and Zip2
Spouses	Justine Wilson ​ ​ (m. 2000; div. 2008)​ Talulah Riley ​ ​ (m. 2010; div. 2012)​ ​ ​ (m. 2013; div. 2016)​
Partner	Grimes (2018–2021)[1]
Children	10[a][3]
Parents Errol Musk Maye Musk Family Musk family Awards List of honors and awards Elon Reeve Musk FRS (/ˈiːlɒn/ EE-lon; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate, industrial designer, and engineer. He is the founder, CEO, CTO, and chief designer of SpaceX; early 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 nonprofit research company that promotes friendly artificial intelligence. A centibillionaire, Musk is one of the richest people in the  . 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. He transferred to the University of Pennsylvania two years later, where he received dual 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 web software company Zip2 with his brother Kimbal. The start-up 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 PayPal and was bought by eBay for $1.5 billion in October 2002. In 2002, Musk founded SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company, of which he is CEO, CTO, and lead designer. In 2004, he joined electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors, Inc. (now Tesla, Inc.) as chairman and product architect, becoming its CEO in 2008. In 2006, he helped create SolarCity, a solar energy services company (now a subsidiary of Tesla). In 2015, he co-founded OpenAI, a nonprofit research company that promotes friendly artificial intelligence. In 2016, he co-founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology company focused on developing brain–machine interfaces, and founded The Boring Company, a tunnel construction company. Musk has also proposed the Hyperloop, a high-speed vactrain transportation system. In 2018, he said he had received verbal government approval to build a demonstration track for the Hyperloop from New York City to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. Musk has faced criticism for his public statements and behavior, including his tweets, business practices, and personal conduct. In 2018, he was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for fraud and in 2019, reached a settlement with the SEC that required him to step down as chairman of Tesla and pay a $20 million fine. In 2021, he was banned from Twitter for violating the platform's rules.