Elon Musk is a South African-born entrepreneur and the world’s richest person, best known as the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, with a net worth estimated at roughly $712.5 billion.
Quick Statistics
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Elon Reeve Musk |
| Known As | Elon Musk |
| Date of Birth | June 28, 1971 |
| Age | 55 |
| Birthplace | Pretoria, South Africa |
| Nationality | South African-born; Canadian and U.S. citizen |
| Profession | Entrepreneur, Founder/CEO/Chief Engineer |
| Company | Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, X Corp, Neuralink, The Boring Company |
| Industry | Automotive, Aerospace, Artificial Intelligence, Social Media |
| Net Worth (Est.) | ~$712.5 billion (as of July 25, 2026) |
| Education | University of Pennsylvania (B.A. Physics, B.S. Economics) |
| Spouse/Partner | Divorced (Justine Wilson, 2000–2008; Talulah Riley, 2010–2012 and 2013–2016) |
Who Is Elon Musk?
Elon Musk leads Tesla and SpaceX and briefly became the world’s first trillionaire in June 2026 after SpaceX’s record-breaking IPO. He’s held the title of world’s richest person since 2025, though a sharp summer selloff has since pulled his fortune back below that trillion-dollar mark, and both companies have had a rough few weeks heading into late July.
Early Life and Education
Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa, to Canadian model Maye Musk and South African engineer Errol Musk. His parents divorced when he was ten. He taught himself computer programming as a child and, at age twelve, sold a video game he’d written, called Blastar, for $500.
At seventeen, he moved to Canada, partly to avoid mandatory military service in apartheid-era South Africa, and gained Canadian citizenship through his mother. He studied for two years at Queen’s University in Ontario before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania, earning bachelor’s degrees in physics and economics. He briefly enrolled in a physics PhD program at Stanford but left after two days to pursue business during the early internet boom.
Career Journey
Early Startups: Zip2 and X.com (1995–2002)
Musk co-founded Zip2, an online city-guide company, with his brother Kimbal in 1995; Compaq acquired it in 1999 for $307 million. He then co-founded X.com, an online financial services company that became PayPal after merging with a rival. eBay bought PayPal in 2002 for $1.5 billion, giving Musk the capital to fund his next two ventures.
Building SpaceX and Tesla (2002–2016)
Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 to make spaceflight cheaper through reusable rockets. After early failures, Falcon 1 reached orbit in 2008, and SpaceX won a $1.6 billion NASA cargo contract that same year — a turning point that established it against legacy aerospace firms. Falcon 9 followed in 2010, and in 2012 SpaceX’s Dragon capsule became the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the ISS.
Musk became an early Tesla investor and chairman in 2004, taking over as CEO in 2008. The Model S, launched in 2012, proved an EV could outperform gas cars on speed and luxury. Tesla opened its first Gigafactory in 2014 and later folded SolarCity into its energy division.
Expansion: Neuralink, The Boring Company, and X (2016–2023)
Around 2016–2017, Musk founded Neuralink (brain-computer interfaces) and The Boring Company (tunneling), while SpaceX reflew a used Falcon 9 booster for the first time. He acquired Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion, rebranded it X in 2023, and founded the AI company xAI the same year.
Recent Developments (2025–2026)
Musk served as a senior adviser to President Trump, leading the Department of Government Efficiency, from January to May 2025. SpaceX completed its IPO in June 2026 at a valuation near $1.77 trillion — the largest stock debut in history — briefly pushing Musk’s net worth past $1.4 trillion. A sharp selloff in Tesla and SpaceX shares since has erased most of those gains.
Latest Updates
- July 24, 2026 — Tesla shares posted their worst weekly slump since 2022 and SpaceX shares also fell ahead of a Starship test flight, cutting roughly $130 billion from Musk’s fortune in a single week — CNBC
- July 23, 2026 — Musk sat for a wide-ranging interview with The Economist’s editor-in-chief, discussing AI surpassing human intelligence, his time at DOGE, and his political views — Business Insider via DNYUZ
- July 23, 2026 — SpaceX’s Starship test flight and a second-quarter earnings miss combined to cut Tesla’s stock sharply, trimming about $18 billion from Musk’s net worth in a single day — Forbes
- Week of July 25, 2026 — Musk’s net worth fell roughly $80 billion over the week to $712.5 billion, as both Tesla and SpaceX shares continued sliding after the IPO high — Benzinga
- June 12, 2026 — SpaceX completed its IPO at a valuation near $1.77 trillion, briefly making Musk the world’s first trillionaire — Forbes
Net Worth and Business Holdings
Musk’s net worth is estimated at roughly $712.5 billion as of July 25, 2026, per Forbes-based tracking — down from a peak above $1.4 trillion in mid-June following the SpaceX IPO. Most of his wealth is tied to his stakes in SpaceX (Nasdaq: SPCX) and Tesla, with smaller holdings in xAI, X, and The Boring Company.
Note: Net worth figures are estimates that fluctuate significantly with SpaceX and Tesla stock prices and may vary by tracker — different sources have differed by tens of billions of dollars on the same day.
Personal Life
Musk has been married and divorced twice, both times connected to two women — author Justine Wilson (2000–2008) and actress Talulah Riley (2010–2012, then again 2013–2016) — and has children from several relationships, including with musician Grimes and Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis. He became a U.S. citizen in 2002 and holds dual Canadian-American citizenship.
Musk has described himself as a “cultural Christian” and has spoken publicly about concerns over declining global birth rates. In a July 2026 interview with The Economist, he pushed back on characterizations of his politics as far-right, describing his views as “very centrist.”
Legal matters: Musk agreed to pay a $20 million fine and step down as Tesla board chairman for three years following a 2018 SEC investigation into a tweet about taking Tesla private. In January 2025, the SEC separately sued him over an alleged delay in disclosing his stake in Twitter before his 2022 acquisition; that case remains ongoing.
Quick answers to the most-searched questions about Elon Musk:
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Elon Musk?
Elon Musk is 55 years old, born June 28, 1971.
What is Elon Musk’s net worth?
Roughly $712.5 billion as of July 25, 2026 — though the figure is highly volatile and has ranged above $1.4 trillion this year.
What companies did Elon Musk found?
Zip2, X.com/PayPal, SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company, plus early investment and later CEO leadership at Tesla, founding xAI, and acquiring X (formerly Twitter).
Is Elon Musk married?
No — he has been divorced twice, both times connected to Justine Wilson and Talulah Riley.
Popular Quotes from Elon Musk
“An age of amazing abundance where anyone can have anything they can think of.” — Elon Musk, on AI, The Economist interview, July 23, 2026
“I think it’s possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.” — Elon Musk
Sources
- Wikipedia — Elon Musk — biography, education, net worth history
- Wikipedia — Business career of Elon Musk — company timeline and milestones
- Britannica Money — Elon Musk — SpaceX IPO, trillionaire milestone
- CNBC — recent stock decline and net worth impact