Elon Musk
- Date of birth: June 28, 1971
- Place of birth: Pretoria, South Africa
- Nationality: South African, Canadian, American (became a U.S. citizen in 2002)
- Main activity: CEO of Tesla, CEO of SpaceX, Owner and CTO of X (formerly Twitter), founder of The Boring Company, xAI, and Neuralink, co-founder of Zip2 and PayPal.
Elon Reeve Musk is a South African-born American entrepreneur, business magnate, and investor. He is widely known for his pioneering work in electric vehicles through Tesla, Inc., and aerospace technology with SpaceX.
Career
Elon Musk's entrepreneurial journey began in 1995 when he co-founded Zip2, a web software company later sold to Compaq. In 1999, he co-founded X.com, an online financial services company that eventually merged to form PayPal, acquired by eBay in 2002. Using the proceeds from these ventures, Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, aiming to revolutionise space technology with reusable rockets and commercial spaceflight. In 2004, he became an early investor and later CEO and product architect of Tesla, leading the company to become a global leader in electric vehicles.
Beyond these two major companies, Musk also co-founded Neuralink (neurotechnology) in 2016 and founded The Boring Company (tunnelling and infrastructure) in 2017. In 2022, he acquired the social media platform Twitter, which he subsequently rebranded as X. He also co-founded OpenAI (which he later left) and founded xAI (artificial intelligence). His career is marked by ambitious, often disruptive, ventures in technology and innovation.
Children
Elon Musk has at least 14 children. These include:
- Nevada Alexander Musk (deceased)
- Twins: Griffin and Vivian Jenna Wilson (with Justine Wilson)
- Triplets: Kai, Saxon, and Damian (with Justine Wilson)
- X Æ A-12 (nicknamed "X") (with Grimes)
- Exa Dark Sideræl Musk (nicknamed "Y") (with Grimes, via surrogacy)
- Techno Mechanicus (nicknamed "Tau") (with Grimes)
- Twins: Strider and Azure (with Shivon Zilis)
- Arcadia (with Shivon Zilis)
- Seldon Lycurgus (with Shivon Zilis)
Family
Elon Musk's parents are Errol Musk, a South African engineer and property developer, and Maye Musk, a Canadian model and dietitian. He has two younger siblings, Kimbal Musk (brother) and Tosca Musk (sister). He has been married three times:
Justine Wilson (married 2000, divorced 2008)
Talulah Riley (married 2010, divorced 2012; remarried 2013, divorced 2016)
Grimes (Claire Boucher) has had an on-again, off-again relationship.
He has also had children with Shivon Zilis, an executive at Neuralink.
Dating history:
- Jennifer Gwynne (college girlfriend, 1994-1995)
- Justine Wilson (married 2000, divorced 2008)
- Talulah Riley (married 2010, divorced 2012; remarried 2013, divorced 2016)
- Amber Heard (dated late 2016-2018)
- Grimes (Claire Boucher) (dated 2018-2021, and on-and-off thereafter, with whom he has three children)
- Shivon Zilis (Neuralink executive, with whom he has four children)
- Natasha Bassett (rumoured in 2022)
- Ashley St. Clair (reported by her to have had a son with him in 2024)
Awards (2020 to date):
- Time magazine's Person of the Year (2021)
- Axel Springer Award (2020)
- National Academy of Engineering Membership (February 2022)
- Order of Defence Merit from the Brazilian Armed Forces (May 2022)
- National Space Society Robert A. Heinlein Award (2025)
- Wash100 Award (2025)
- Global Recognition Award (2024)
- Nobel Peace Prize Nomination (2025)
