The richest man in the world seeks a role in the White House. Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur behind Tesla and SpaceX, and the owner of the social platform X (formerly Twitter), has publicly backed former President Donald Trump during his bid to return to power, a stance that could open a cabinet position for him — Reuters.
Born on June 28, 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa, to a South African father and a Canadian mother, Musk displayed an early talent for computers and a budding entrepreneurial spirit. At age 12 he created a video game and sold it to a computer magazine. On reaching adulthood, Musk left South Africa to dodge mandatory military service under the apartheid regime and, armed with his Canadian passport, moved to North America — Reuters.
He studied at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and in 1992 transferred to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where he earned degrees in Physics and Economics. Though he enrolled in a physics graduate program at Stanford University, California, he left after two days to pursue entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley — Reuters.
Serial Entrepreneur
Musk co-founded seven companies starting in 1995. The first to gain broad attention came with the launch of the online payments system PayPal, which eBay acquired for $1.5 billion in 2002. SpaceX, founded the same year, followed as his next venture with the aim of making humanity multiplanetary and driving down the cost of access to space. The company is valued at about $210 billion, according to Forbes — Forbes.
In 2004, Musk was one of the early investors in the electric vehicle company Tesla, providing the majority of the initial funding and stepping into subsequent leadership roles as the company grew. His early objective was to create a high‑performance car that could accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in under four seconds, a departure from the electric vehicles available at the time — Reuters.
His association with Twitter began almost as soon as he opened an account in 2009, quickly becoming one of the platform’s most followed voices. After months of controversy over his ability to acquire the company and the negotiations that followed, he completed a $44 billion deal in 2022. Among his early moves as owner was a major staff reduction, turning the blue verification check into a paid subscription, and dissolving the content moderation board. He also restored several widely banned accounts, including that of Donald Trump — Reuters.