Elon Musk
Elon Musk runs Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), Neuralink, and more — and somehow still finds time to launch new startups like xAI. He’s unpredictable, polarizing, and often controversial, but no one in tech has a bigger impact or a higher net worth. Love him or hate him, he’s still the guy everyone watches.
Profile Overview
Current Position
Chief Executive Officer
Company
Tesla / SpaceX / X / Neuralink / The Boring Company
Tenure As CEO
2008–present (Tesla CEO)
Date of Birth
1971-06-28
Place of Birth
Pretoria, South Africa
Financials
Salary (Annual Compensation)
$56 billion+ (2020 package, performance-based)
Shares in Company
Approx. 13% of Tesla
Net Worth (Approximate)
$210 billion
Career Background
Previous Positions
CEO & Founder at SpaceX (2002–present); CEO at Tesla (2008–present); Co-founder of PayPal (1999); Founder of Zip2 (1996)
Academic History
Briefly studied physics & economics at University of Pretoria before moving to Canada; BSc in Economics & Physics (University of Pennsylvania)
College / University
University of Pretoria; University of Pennsylvania; Stanford (PhD dropout)
Degrees
Economics; Physics
Board Memberships
Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, OpenAI (co-founder, no longer on board)
Major Career Milestones
Founded SpaceX; Took Tesla mainstream; Founded Neuralink & The Boring Company; Pushed reusable rockets; Oversaw growth of Tesla into most valuable car company
Leadership Style & Achievements
Notable Achievements
Time Person of the Year (2021); Pioneered commercial spaceflight with SpaceX; World’s richest man multiple times
Leadership Style
Aggressive, engineering-first, highly hands-on
Challenges & Criticism
Controversies / Criticisms
Frequent controversies on X (Twitter); SEC lawsuits over Tesla tweets; Labor practice criticisms; AI ethics debates
Public Persona
Notable Quotes
“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.”
Books / Published Works
No authored books; Subject of multiple biographies (e.g. Walter Isaacson’s ‘Elon Musk’)
Personal Life & Legacy
Philanthropy
Donated to science and education, pledged billions for climate change via Musk Foundation
Hobbies / Interests
Gaming, sci-fi, space exploration, memes
Fun Facts
Once briefly appeared in Iron Man 2; Inspiration for Tony Stark’s movie persona
Let’s Break It Down…
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