The man behind the rockets
Elon Musk
Born 28 June 1971, Pretoria, South Africa
CEO and largest shareholder of Tesla and SpaceX
Elon Reeve Musk builds the things other people call impossible. Born in Pretoria in 1971, he left South Africa for Canada in 1989, studied at the University of Pennsylvania and moved to California to start companies. Since then he has sold a city-guide start-up, co-founded the company that became PayPal, landed orbital rockets back on Earth, made electric cars mainstream, wired the planet with satellite internet and bought Twitter to turn it into X.
His method is simple to describe and brutal to execute: start from physics, not from habit. If a rocket is made of aluminium, titanium and fuel, why should it cost more than its materials? If a car is a battery on wheels, why should the battery cost more than its cells? That question — asked again and again — is how SpaceX made reusable boosters routine and how Tesla turned a niche sports car into the world's most valuable automaker from July 2020 on.
SpaceX was founded in 2002 with one goal: make life multiplanetary. Three Falcon 1 launches failed and the company nearly went bankrupt; the fourth reached orbit on 28 September 2008. Today Falcon 9 flies around three times a week, Crew Dragon carries astronauts for NASA, Starlink connects more than 12 million subscribers, and Starship — the largest launch vehicle ever built — is flying test missions from Starbase in Texas. The SpaceX IPO on 12 June 2026 raised US$86 billion, the largest in history.
At Tesla, Musk led the first funding round in February 2004 and became CEO in 2008. The Roadster (2008), Model S (2012), Model X (2015), Model 3 (2017), Model Y (2020), Semi (2022) and Cybertruck (2023) followed. In November 2025 shareholders approved a pay package worth up to US$1 trillion over ten years — paid only if Tesla hits targets such as an US$8.5 trillion market value.
In artificial intelligence, Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015, left in 2018 and founded xAI in March 2023. xAI built the Grok models and the Colossus data centres in Memphis, merged with X in 2025, became part of SpaceX in February 2026 and was renamed SpaceXAI in July 2026. Neuralink (2016) put its first implant into a human patient in January 2024; The Boring Company (2017) runs the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop.
In 2024 Musk was the largest donor of the US presidential election, backing Donald Trump. In 2025 he served as Senior Advisor to the President and led the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) before leaving Washington on 30 May 2025 to return to his companies. Love him or hate him — and many people do both — no one else has moved so many industries at once.
Timeline
1971
Born on 28 June in Pretoria, South Africa.
1989
Emigrates to Canada (his mother was born there).
1995
Co-founds Zip2 with his brother Kimbal and Greg Kouri — online city guides for newspapers.
1997
Bachelor's degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.
1999
Zip2 is sold to Compaq. Musk co-founds X.com, an online payments company.
2000
X.com merges with Confinity to form PayPal.
2002
eBay buys PayPal for US$1.5 billion. Musk founds SpaceX and becomes a US citizen.
2004
Leads Tesla's first funding round and becomes chairman.
2008
Falcon 1 reaches orbit on 28 September — the first privately developed liquid-fuelled rocket to do so. Musk becomes Tesla CEO; the Roadster enters production.
2010
First Falcon 9 launch on 4 June.
2012
Dragon becomes the first private spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station. Tesla starts Model S production.
2015
Co-founds OpenAI. In December a Falcon 9 first stage lands — the first orbital-class booster ever to do so.
2016
Co-founds Neuralink. Tesla acquires SolarCity.
2017
Founds The Boring Company. First reflight of an orbital-class booster (SES-10). Model 3 production starts.
2018
Falcon Heavy's first flight on 6 February sends Musk's own Tesla Roadster, with "Starman" at the wheel, into space. Musk leaves the OpenAI board.
2019
First Starlink satellites launched.
2020
Crew Dragon carries NASA astronauts — the first commercial rocket to launch humans to orbit. Tesla becomes the world's most valuable automaker.
2021
Las Vegas Convention Center Loop opens. Optimus robot announced at Tesla AI Day.
2022
Buys Twitter for US$44 billion (deal closed in October). Tesla Semi deliveries begin.
2023
Twitter becomes X. Founds xAI; Grok launches in November. Cybertruck deliveries begin. First integrated Starship flight.
2024
Neuralink's first human implant. Largest donor of the US presidential election.
2025
Senior Advisor to the President and de facto head of DOGE; leaves on 30 May. xAI and X combine. Tesla shareholders approve the US$1 trillion pay package.
2026
SpaceX acquires xAI (February) and goes public on 12 June with the largest IPO in history. xAI is renamed SpaceXAI.
The companies today
2002–present
SpaceX
Founded in 2002 to cut the cost of spaceflight and make life multiplanetary. The world's busiest launch provider, operator of Starlink and, since 2026, owner of SpaceXAI.
2004–present
Tesla
Electric cars, batteries, solar and robots. Headquartered at Gigafactory Texas in Austin; the world's most valuable automaker since July 2020.
2019–present
Starlink
Satellite internet from low Earth orbit in about 160 countries — more than 12 million subscribers as of June 2026.
2023–present
SpaceXAI (xAI)
Founded as xAI in March 2023. Builds the Grok models and the Colossus data centres; part of SpaceX since February 2026.
2022–present
X (formerly Twitter)
Bought for US$44 billion in October 2022 and renamed X in July 2023 — Musk's bet on free speech and an "everything app".
2016–present
Neuralink
Brain–computer interfaces. First human implant in January 2024; the Blindsight project aims to restore some vision to blind people.
2017–present
The Boring Company
Tunnels to beat traffic. The Las Vegas Convention Center Loop opened in 2021; the Vegas Loop is planned to grow to 68 miles.
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