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Elon Musk

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1. Known for: Co-founder of Zip2 and X.com; founder of SpaceX, the Boring Company, and xAI; CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.
2. Tesla role: Major funder from 2004; CEO and product architect from 2008.
3. SpaceX role: Founder, CEO and chief engineer since 2002.
4. Twitter / X: Acquired Twitter in 2022; platform rebranded as X in 2023.
5. DOGE: Served as Senior Advisor to the President and was the de facto head of DOGE from January to May 2025.
6. SpaceX IPO: Completed June 2026 at $135 a share, valuing SpaceX at about $1.77 trillion.
7. Net worth: US$922.7 billion, the highest in the world (Forbes real-time estimate, 20 October 2026)
8. Education: Bachelor's degree, University of Pennsylvania; brief enrollment at Stanford in 1995.
9. Early life and education
10. Musk left South Africa in the late 1980s, citing his unwillingness to carry out compulsory military service under apartheid. Wikipedia states he obtained a Canadian passport in 1989 upon emigrating; Britannica states he received it in 1988 before leaving South Africa.
11. He transferred from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, to the University of Pennsylvania in 1992.
12. Musk enrolled in a graduate physics program at Stanford University in 1995 but left after two days.
13. Zip2 and X.com
14. Musk co-founded the web software company Zip2 in 1995.
15. Computer manufacturer Compaq acquired Zip2 in 1999 for $307 million.
16. Following the sale of Zip2, Musk co-founded the online financial services company X.com.
17. According to Wikipedia contributors, in March 2000, X.com and Confinity combined to create PayPal.
18. eBay acquired PayPal in 2002 for $1.5 billion.
19. SpaceX
20. Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) in 2002, with the stated aim of building more affordable rockets.
21. Reusable rockets TED, 2017: Musk on landing and reflying Falcon 9 boosters, and why reuse must be rapid and complete.
22. SpaceX's first rocket, Falcon 1, made its first launch in 2006.
23. The Falcon 9 rocket first launched in 2010.
24. The Falcon Heavy rocket first launched in 2018.
25. In May 2019, SpaceX sent up its initial group of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit.
26. In 2020, Crew Dragon carried the astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken to the International Space Station.
27. Starlink beta testing began in 2020, with commercial services rolling out in 2021.
28. SpaceX reported that Starlink had over five million subscribers by 2025.
29. By January 2026, orbit held 9,633 operational Starlink satellites, representing the majority of all functioning satellites.
30. Over fifty percent of global orbital launches during 2024 were carried out by SpaceX.
31. In June 2026, SpaceX went public at a share price of $135, giving the firm a valuation near $1.77 trillion.
32. Falcon Heavy Test Flight SpaceX's recording of the Falcon Heavy test flight, streamed live on its YouTube channel on 6 February 2018, from the last ten seconds of the countdown to liftoff.
33. Tesla
34. In 2004 Musk became a major funder of Tesla Motors, an electric-car company founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.
35. Tesla introduced the Roadster, its first car, in 2006.
36. Musk became CEO and product architect of Tesla in 2008.
37. Tesla's 2010 initial public offering raised about $226 million.
38. Tesla introduced the Model S sedan in 2012.
39. Tesla's board approved a 10-year pay package for Musk in November 2025 worth up to $1 trillion, tied to milestones that include a market capitalization of about $8.5 trillion.
40. Other companies
41. Musk co-founded the artificial-intelligence research organization OpenAI in 2015.
42. According to Britannica, in 2018 Musk proposed taking control of OpenAI to compete more directly with Google; Sam Altman declined and Musk left the organization.
43. Musk co-founded the neurotechnology company Neuralink in 2016.
44. He founded the Boring Company, a tunnel-construction firm, in 2017.
45. Musk acquired Twitter in 2022.
46. Twitter was rebranded as X in 2023.
47. Musk founded xAI, an artificial-intelligence company, in 2023.
48. xAI became a subsidiary of SpaceX in 2026.
49. Elon Musk: The future we're building -- and boring | TED TED's recording of Musk's 2017 talk, from Chris Anderson's first question, "Why are you boring?", and Musk's answer about tunnels under Los Angeles.
50. Citizenship and political activity
51. Musk became a United States citizen in 2002.
52. He was the largest donor in the 2024 United States presidential election and supported Donald Trump.
53. After Donald Trump's inauguration in January 2025, Musk served as Senior Advisor to the President and was the de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
54. In May 2025, Musk departed the Trump administration.
55. Wealth
56. Musk became the first person reported to hold a net worth of one trillion U.S. dollars when SpaceX completed its IPO in June 2026.
57. Forbes estimated his net worth at US$864 billion as of 14 August 2026. Forbes reported that Musk became the world's first trillionaire on 12 June 2026, when SpaceX went public. Wikipedia contributors record that a collapse in SpaceX's stock brought him back under the trillion-dollar threshold by the following month.
58. 1988: Obtained Canadian passport, according to Britannica.
59. 1989: Emigrated from South Africa to Canada; obtained Canadian passport, according to Wikipedia.
60. 1992: Transferred to the University of Pennsylvania.
61. 1995: Enrolled briefly at Stanford, then co-founded Zip2.
62. 1999: Compaq acquired Zip2 for $307 million.
63. 2000-03: X.com merged with Confinity to form PayPal.
64. 2002: eBay acquired PayPal; Musk founded SpaceX; became a U.S. citizen.
65. 2004: Became a major funder of Tesla Motors.
66. 2006: Tesla introduced the Roadster.
67. 2008: Became CEO and product architect of Tesla.
68. 2010: Tesla IPO; Falcon 9 first launch.
69. 2012: Tesla introduced the Model S.
70. 2015: Co-founded OpenAI.
71. 2016: Co-founded Neuralink.
72. 2019-05: First batch of Starlink satellites launched.
73. 2020: Crew Dragon delivered Hurley and Behnken to the ISS.
74. 2022: Acquired Twitter.
75. 2023: Twitter rebranded as X; founded xAI.
76. 2024: Largest donor in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
77. 2025-01: Began service as Senior Advisor to the President and de facto head of DOGE.
78. 2025-05: Left the Trump administration.
79. 2025-11: Tesla approved a pay package worth up to $1 trillion.
80. 2026-06: SpaceX IPO at $135 a share, valuing the company at about $1.77 trillion; Musk reported as the first dollar-trillionaire.
81. 2026-08-14: Forbes estimated Musk's net worth at US$864 billion.

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