Elon Musk’s story is one of entrepreneurial ambition and technological disruption. Born in South Africa, he moved to Canada and then the U.S., where he pursued education in physics and economics before dropping out of a PhD program at Stanford to focus on the internet and entrepreneurship. He founded Zip2, an online city guide, and later X.com, which evolved into PayPal, a major online payment platform. He then became the CEO and product architect of Tesla, an electric car company, and founded SpaceX, a space technology company focused on reusable rockets and spaceflight. Musk also co-founded OpenAI, a non-profit AI research company, before leaving due to disagreements about its direction. In 2022, he purchased Twitter (now X) and implemented significant changes, including rebranding the platform.
Early Life and Education:
- Born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1971.
- Moved to Canada in 1988, then to the U.S. for higher education.
- Studied physics and economics at the University of Pennsylvania.
- Dropped out of a PhD program at Stanford University to pursue business ventures.
Business Ventures:
- Zip2: Co-founded with his brother Kimbal, it was an online city guide sold to newspapers.
- X.com: An online payment company that later merged with Confinity to form PayPal.
- PayPal: Sold to eBay in 2002.
- Tesla: Became CEO and product architect in 2008, leading the company to become a leader in electric vehicles.
- SpaceX: Founded in 2002, a space technology company focused on reusable rockets and spaceflight.
- OpenAI: Co-founded in 2015, a non-profit AI research company.
- Twitter/X: Acquired in 2022 and rebranded as X.
