Who Is Elon Musk? Inside the Empire, Tech Ventures and $1.1 Trillion Wealth

Tech billionaire Elon Musk remains one of the most polarizing and influential figures in modern industry, steering a sprawling commercial network that spans electric vehicles, orbital rocketry, artificial intelligence and social infrastructure.

Musk serves as chief executive officer of electric vehicle maker Tesla, chief engineer of aerospace manufacturer SpaceX, and owner of social media platform X, alongside leadership roles at xAI, Neuralink and The Boring Company.

Here is a look at how the South African-born entrepreneur built his multi-company empire, where his vast fortune stands today, and what his ventures are pursuing next.

Born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1971, Musk demonstrated an early aptitude for computing, selling the code for a BASIC-based video game at age 12. He emigrated to Canada at 17 before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned dual bachelor’s degrees in economics and physics.

Musk’s entrepreneurial career launched during the early internet boom. In 1995, he co-founded city guide software firm Zip2, which Compaq acquired four years later for over $300 million. He used those proceeds to start financial services startup X.com, which subsequently merged with Confinity to become PayPal. eBay bought PayPal in 2002 for $1.5 billion, supplying Musk with the capital needed to enter heavy industry.

Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with the explicit goal of reducing space transportation costs and eventually enabling human colonization of Mars. The company now operates the Falcon 9 launch program, the Starlink orbital satellite internet network, and the massive Starship rocket system.

He joined Tesla Motors in 2004 as lead investor and chairman before taking over as CEO in 2008. Tesla expanded from a niche sportscar startup into the world’s most valuable automaker, driving mass commercial adoption of electric cars, battery storage systems and autonomous driving tech.

In October 2022, Musk acquired social network Twitter for $44 billion, later rebranding the platform as X Corp. His portfolio also includes brain-computer interface developer Neuralink, tunneling outfit The Boring Company, and artificial intelligence firm xAI, created in 2023 to compete directly with ChatGPT creator OpenAI.