Elon Musk is a businessman and entrepreneur known predominantly for his leading roles in the automotive company Tesla, Inc. and the space company SpaceX. Musk is also known for his ownership of technology company X Corp. and his role in the founding of The Boring Company, xAI, Neuralink, and OpenAI.
In 1995, Musk co-founded what would later be known as Zip2, later selling the company to Compaq for $307 million in 1999. Receiving $22 million in the process, Musk used $12 million of the proceeds to co-found the e-payment company X.com that same year. In 2000, X.com merged with the online bank Confinity and was rebranded as PayPal. In 2002, Musk received $176 million after PayPal acquired eBay as the company's largest shareholder, and would much later purchase the X.com domain from PayPal, with the intention of creating an "everything app". In 2004, with an investment of $6.3 million, Musk then became the chairman and majority shareholder of Tesla. In 2016, Musk co-founded the neurotechnology startup company Neuralink, with an investment of $100 million, followed by founding the Boring Company to construct tunnels. In 2022, Musk completed his acquisition of Twitter, becoming the CEO of Twitter, prior to its rebranding to X.
Beginning with his involvement with space exploration companies in early 2001, he founded SpaceX in 2002, with the company attempting the first rocket launch in 2006. Since 2019, SpaceX been developing Starship, a reusable, super heavy-lift launch vehicle, and in 2015, they began development of the Starlink for satellite Internet access. Having sent Starlink terminals to Ukraine in 2022, Musk refused to block Russian state media on Starlink and later faced criticism over denying access over Crimea.
With Tesla, he assumed leadership as CEO and product architect in 2008. In 2018, Musk was sued by the SEC for a tweet stating that funding had been secured for potentially taking Tesla private, later settling with the SEC, with Musk stepping down as Tesla chairman while remaining its CEO. In 2023, shareholders filed a lawsuit, and a jury subsequently found Musk and Tesla not liable. As of 2019, Musk was the longest-tenured CEO of any automotive manufacturer globally, and under the CEO, Tesla has also constructed multiple lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle factories, named Gigafactories.
Zip2
In 1995, Elon, his brother Kimbal, and Greg Kouri founded Global Link Information Network, later renamed Zip2. The company developed an Internet city guide with maps, directions, and yellow pages, and marketed it to newspapers. They worked at a small rented office in Palo Alto, with Musk coding the website every night. Musk and Kimbal's immigration statuses during this period were described by Musk as a "gray area", although Kimbal maintained they were working as illegal immigrants. A Washington Post exposé from October 2024 reported Musk worked illegally while building the company, citing an email from Musk submitted as evidence during a 2005 defamation trial and the funding agreement from venture capital firm Mohr Davidow Ventures.
Eventually, Zip2 obtained contracts with The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. The brothers persuaded the board of directors to abandon a merger with Citysearch;Kidder (2013), pp. 224–228. however, Musk's attempts to become CEO were thwarted.Vance (2017), p. 67. Compaq acquired Zip2 for $307 million in cash in February 1999,Vance (2017), p. 14. and Musk received $22 million for his 7 percent share.Vance (2017), p. 109.
X.com and PayPal
In March 1999, Musk co-founded X.com, an online financial services and e-mail payment company with $12 million of the money he made from the Compaq acquisition.Vance (2017), p. 78. X.com was one of the first online banks that was federally insured, and over 200,000 customers joined in its initial months of operation.Vance (2017), p. 84.
Musk's friends expressed skepticism about the naming of the online bank, fearing it might have been mistaken for a pornographic site. Musk brushed off their concerns, emphasizing that the name was meant to be straightforward, memorable, and easy to type. Additionally, he was fond of the email addresses derived from it, such as "[email protected]". Although Musk founded the company, investors regarded him as inexperienced and replaced him with Intuit CEO Bill Harris by the end of the year.Vance (2017), p. 86.
In 2000, X.com merged with the online bank Confinity to avoid competition,Jackson (2004), pp. 40, 69, 130, 163. as the latter's money-transfer service PayPal was more popular than X.com's service.Vance (2017), pp. 85–86. Musk then returned as CEO of the merged company. His preference for Microsoft over Unix-based software caused a rift among the company's employees, and eventually led Confinity co-founder Peter Thiel to resign.Vance (2017), pp. 85–87. With the company suffering from compounding technological issues and the lack of a cohesive business model, the board ousted Musk and replaced him with Thiel in September 2000.Vance (2017), pp. 87–88. Under Thiel, the company focused on the money-transfer service and was renamed PayPal in 2001.
In 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion in stock, of which Musk—PayPal's largest shareholder with 11.7% of shares—received $176 million.Vance (2017), pp. 116. In 2017, more than 15 years later, Musk purchased the X.com domain from PayPal for its "sentimental value". In 2022, Musk discussed a goal of creating "X, the everything app".
SpaceX
In early 2001, Musk became involved with the nonprofit Mars Society and discussed funding plans to place a growth-chamber for plants on Mars.Vance (2017), pp. 99, 102–103. In October that year, he traveled to Moscow, Russia with Jim Cantrell, Adeo Ressi, and future Administrator of NASA, Michael D. Griffin to buy refurbished intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that could send the greenhouse payloads into space. He met with the companies Lavochkin and ISC Kosmotras; however, Musk was seen as a novice and the group returned to the United States without an agreement to purchase Russian launch services. In February 2002, the group returned to Russia to look for three ICBMs. They had another meeting with ISC Kosmotras and were offered one rocket for $8 million, which Musk rejected. He instead decided to start a company that could build affordable rockets. With $100 million of his own money, Musk founded SpaceX in May 2002 and became the company's CEO and chief engineer.
SpaceX attempted its first launch of the Falcon 1 rocket in 2006. Although the rocket failed to reach Earth orbit, it was awarded a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program contract from NASA, now led by Griffin as Administrator. After two more failed attempts that nearly caused Musk and his companies to go bankrupt, SpaceX succeeded in launching the Falcon 1 into orbit in 2008. Later that year, SpaceX received a $1.6 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract from NASA for 12 flights of its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS), replacing the Space Shuttle after its 2011 retirement. In 2012, the Dragon vehicle docked with the ISS, a first for a commercial spacecraft.
Working towards its goal of reusable rockets, in 2015 SpaceX successfully landed the first stage of a Falcon 9 on a land platform. Later landings were achieved on autonomous spaceport drone ships, an ocean-based recovery platform. In 2018, SpaceX launched the Falcon Heavy; the inaugural mission carried Musk's personal Tesla Roadster as a dummy payload.
Since 2019, SpaceX has been developing Starship, a reusable, super heavy-lift launch vehicle intended to replace the Falcon 9 and the Falcon Heavy. In 2020, SpaceX launched its first crewed flight, the Demo-2, becoming the first private company to place astronauts into orbit and dock a crewed spacecraft with the ISS. In 2024, NASA awarded SpaceX an $843 million contract to deorbit the ISS at the end of its lifespan.
Starlink
In 2015, SpaceX began development of the Starlink constellation of low Earth orbit satellites to provide satellite Internet access, with the first two prototype satellites launched in February 2018. A second set of test satellites, and the first large deployment of a piece of the constellation, occurred in May 2019, when the first 60 operational satellites were launched. The total cost of the decade-long project to design, build, and deploy the constellation was estimated by SpaceX in 2020 to be $10 billion. Some critics, including the International Astronomical Union, have alleged that Starlink blocks the view of the sky and poses a collision threat to spacecraft.
During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Musk sent Starlink terminals to Ukraine to provide Internet access and communication. In October 2022, Musk stated that about 20,000 satellite terminals had been donated to Ukraine, together with free data transfer subscriptions, which cost SpaceX $80 million. After asking the United States Department of Defense to pay for further units and future subscriptions on behalf of Ukraine, Musk publicly stated that SpaceX would continue to provide Starlink to Ukraine for free, at a yearly cost to itself of $400 million. At the same time, Musk refused to block Russian state media on Starlink, declaring himself "a free speech absolutist".
In September 2023, Ukraine asked for the activation of Starlink satellites over Crimea to attack Russian naval vessels located at the port Sevastopol; Musk denied the request, citing concerns that Russia would respond with a nuclear attack.
Tesla
Tesla, Inc., originally Tesla Motors, was incorporated in July 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Both men played active roles in the company's early development prior to Musk's involvement. Musk led the Series A round of investment in February 2004; he invested $6.35 million, became the majority shareholder, and joined Tesla's board of directors as chairman.Vance (2017), pp. 153–154. Musk took an active role within the company and oversaw Roadster product design, but was not deeply involved in day-to-day business operations.Vance (2017), p. 159.
Following a series of escalating conflicts in 2007, and the 2008 financial crisis, Eberhard was ousted from the firm. Musk assumed leadership of the company as CEO and product architect in 2008. A 2009 lawsuit settlement with Eberhard designated Musk as a Tesla co-founder, along with Tarpenning and two others. As of 2019, Musk was the longest-tenured CEO of any automotive manufacturer globally. In 2021, Musk nominally changed his title to "Technoking" while retaining his position as CEO.
Tesla began delivery of the Roadster, an electric sports car, in 2008. With sales of about 2,500 vehicles, it was the first mass production all-electric car to use lithium-ion battery cells. Tesla began delivery of its four-door Model S sedan in 2012. A crossover, the Model X was launched in 2015. A mass-market sedan, the Model 3, was released in 2017. From 2015 to 2018, Jon McNeill served as Tesla’s president of global sales and service, and in 2017, he also assumed responsibility for government relations. McNeill later wrote a book about his time at Tesla called The Algorithm. In 2020, the Model 3 became the all-time bestselling plug-in electric car worldwide, and in June 2021 it became the first electric car to sell 1 million units globally. A fifth vehicle, the Model Y crossover, was launched in 2020, and in December 2023, became the best-selling vehicle of any type, as well as the all-time best-selling electric car. The Cybertruck, an all-electric pickup truck, was unveiled in 2019, and delivered in November 2023. Under Musk, Tesla has also constructed multiple lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle factories, named Gigafactories.