Elon Musk

Haldeman, who died in a plane crash when Musk was a toddler, was an American-born Canadian chiropractor, aviator and political activist in the Technocracy movement who moved to South Africa in 1950.

Elon Reeve Musk (/ˈiːlɒn/ ⓘ EE-lon; born June 28, 1971) is a businessman and former public official who is the CEO and largest shareholder of Tesla and SpaceX.

After his parents divorced in 1979, Musk, aged around 9, chose to live with his father because he had an Encyclopædia Britannica set and a computer.

At age twelve, in 1983, Musk sold his BASIC-based game Blastar to PC and Office Technology magazine for approximately $500 (equivalent to $1,600 in 2025).

Born into the wealthy Musk family in Pretoria, South Africa, Musk emigrated in 1989 to Canada; he has Canadian citizenship since his mother was born there.

In 1995, Musk, his brother Kimbal, and Greg Kouri founded Zip2, a web software company, with funding from a group of angel investors.

Compaq acquired Zip2 for $307 million in cash in February 1999 (equivalent to $590,000,000 in 2025), and Musk received $22 million (equivalent to $43,000,000 in 2025) for his 7-percent share.

In 2001, Musk became involved with the nonprofit Mars Society and discussed funding plans to place a growth-chamber for plants on Mars.