Elon Musk is a prominent businessman and investor.
He is best known as the CEO of Tesla, Inc., where he drives innovation in electric vehicles and sustainable energy solutions, and as the founder of SpaceX, which focuses on space exploration and satellite internet through Starlink.
Musk is also involved with Neuralink, The Boring Company, and xAI.
His net worth is estimated at $247 billion at the time of publishing this article, making him one of the wealthiest individuals globally.
Siblings
Elon has two siblings, namely Kimbal Musk and Tosca Musk.
Kimbal, born on September 20, 1972, is an entrepreneur and philanthropist.
He studied at Queen’s University in Canada before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a degree in business.
Kimbal is best known for founding The Kitchen Restaurant Group, which promotes healthy eating through farm-to-table dining.
Additionally, he co-founded Big Green, a nonprofit organization that builds learning gardens in schools across the United States to educate children about healthy eating and gardening.
Tosca, born on July 22, 1974, is a filmmaker and entrepreneur.
She studied at the University of Cape Town before moving to the United States to pursue her career in film.
Tosca has produced several films and television shows, often focusing on themes of love and relationships.
In 2017, she co-founded Passionflix, a streaming service dedicated to romantic films that caters specifically to fans of the genre.
Early ventures
Musk’s entrepreneurial journey began in the mid-1990s when he co-founded Zip2 in 1995, a city guide software company that provided online business directories and maps for newspapers.
The venture gained traction, and in 1999, Compaq acquired Zip2 for approximately $307 million.
Following the sale of Zip2, Musk founded X.com in March 1999, an online payment company aimed at revolutionizing financial transactions.
In 2000, X.com merged with Confinity, which had developed a money-transfer service called PayPal.
The combined company focused on the PayPal brand, and under Musk’s leadership, it grew rapidly.
In 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion in stock, not only solidified Musk’s reputation as an entrepreneur but also significantly increased his wealth.
In 2002, driven by a vision of reducing space travel costs and enabling human colonization of Mars, Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX).
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SpaceX achieved several notable milestones, including the successful launch of Falcon 1 in 2008, becoming the first privately developed liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit.
In 2020, SpaceX became the first private company to send astronauts to the ISS with its Crew Dragon spacecraft.
More ventures
In 2004, Musk joined Tesla Motors (now Tesla, Inc.) as chairman of the board after leading an initial round of investment.
He became CEO in 2008 during a challenging time for the company.
Under his leadership, Tesla has transformed the automotive industry with its focus on electric vehicles (EVs) and sustainable energy solutions.
Tesla’s first production vehicle, the Roadster, launched in 2008 and demonstrated the potential of electric sports cars.
In addition to his work with Tesla, Musk co-founded SolarCity in 2006, a solar energy services company aimed at promoting renewable energy adoption.
SolarCity became one of the largest solar providers in the U.S., offering solar panel installation and financing options for homeowners.
In 2016, Tesla acquired SolarCity for $2.6 billion as part of its strategy to create an integrated sustainable energy ecosystem combining solar power generation with energy storage solutions through products like the Powerwall.
Musk’s entrepreneurial pursuits extend beyond automotive and aerospace industries.
He founded Neuralink in 2016 with the aim of developing brain-computer interface technology that could help treat neurological conditions and eventually enable direct communication between humans and machines.
Additionally, he established The Boring Company in 2016 to focus on tunnel construction aimed at alleviating urban traffic congestion.
Personal life
Musk has a complex family life, being the father of twelve children from three different women.
His first child, Nevada Alexander Musk, tragically passed away at just ten weeks old due to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in 2002.
Following this loss, Musk and his first wife, Justine Wilson, used in vitro fertilization (IVF) to conceive their remaining children.
They had twins, Griffin and Vivian, in 2004, followed by triplets—Kai, Saxon, and Damian—in 2006.
Musk’s relationship with Justine ended in divorce in 2008.
He later entered a relationship with musician Grimes (Claire Elise Boucher), with whom he shares three children, X Æ A-Xii, born in May 2020; Exa Dark Sideræl Musk, born via surrogate in December 2021 and Techno Mechanicus, whose existence was revealed in 2023.
In addition to his children with Grimes, Musk has three children with Shivon Zilis, a director at Neuralink.
They welcomed twins named Strider and Azure in November 2021 and a third child in early 2024.
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