Few figures in modern business and technology have generated as much attention or controversy as Elon Musk. As CEO of multiple major companies, including Tesla, Inc. (TSLA), SpaceX, and X (formerly Twitter), Musk is one of the world’s wealthiest business people.
He is also now likely the world’s most powerful. In what the Financial Times has called “a hostile takeover of the U.S. government,” Musk leveraged over $280 million in campaign donations and vocal support for Donald Trump during the 2024 election into a significant position as (unofficial) head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), where he now wields unprecedented sway over federal policy and spending.
Key Takeaways
- Musk leads multiple major companies including Tesla, SpaceX, and X.
- He has a net worth of about $400 billion in the first quarter of 2025.
- Tesla faces challenges including an annual sales decline in 2024 and the invalidation of Musk’s $56 billion compensation package.
- Recent controversies, including his political activities and management of X, have impacted his companies’ market positions.
Bailey Mariner / Investopedia
Early Life and Education
Born in 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa, Elon Reeve Musk’s early years were marked by privilege and personal challenges. His father, Errol Musk, worked as an electromechanical engineer and property developer, while his mother, Maye Musk, was a model and dietitian. The family’s considerable wealth came primarily from Errol’s engineering consulting work and his stake in an emerald mine. After his parents divorced in 1980, Musk lived with his father, a decision he would later describe as a mistake.
As a child, Musk enjoyed reading science fiction and experimenting with computers. His first notable achievement was creating and selling a video game called “Blastar” for $500, an early hint of his entrepreneurial spirit.
Musk attended Pretoria Boys High School, but feelings of isolation and bullying marred his school years. He moved to Canada at 17 and enrolled at Queen’s University, Ontario, before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned dual bachelor’s degrees in economics and physics.
Early Career
Musk co-founded his first significant venture, Zip2, with his brother Kimbal in the mid-1990s. Initially operating from a small rented office in Palo Alto, CA, Zip2 provided business directories and maps for newspapers during the early days of the Internet. In 1999, Compaq acquired Zip2 for about $307 million, making Musk a multimillionaire in his late 20s.
With this newfound capital, Musk was quick to launch X.com in 1999, an online financial portal. Within a year, X.com merged with its primary competitor, Confinity, which had developed the online payment system, PayPal. When eBay Inc. (EBAY) acquired PayPal in 2002 for $1.5 billion, Musk received about $160 million after taxes for his stake.
Major Ventures
SpaceX
SpaceX, founded by Musk in 2002, has built its $350 billion valuation largely through government contracts, receiving over $22 billion from NASA, the Department of Defense, and other federal agencies. While its early years were fraught with setbacks—its first three launches failed to reach space—the company has since achieved significant milestones in space exploration, becoming the first private company to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station.
Did SpaceX begin with a spitting incident? That’s the claim of several around Musk when he formed the company. After a Russian rocket designer spat on his shoes in 2001, “this act so completely offended Elon that he decided on the flight home [from Russia] that he would start his own rocket company to compete with them,” former NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver has written.
The company has also expanded into commercial satellite services through its Starlink constellation, which provides global broadband connectivity.
Tesla
No company is more closely associated with Elon Musk than Tesla. Although he was not one of the original founders, Musk was an early investor and quickly assumed a leadership role. Under his guidance, Tesla has shown that electric vehicles could be both high-performance and desirable.
Today, Tesla not only produces popular models like the Model S, 3, X, and Y, but is also a major producer of battery storage and solar systems since its 2016 acquisition of SolarCity. In 2024, the company launched its Cybertruck, starting at $82,000, though sales remain underwhelming at 9,000 to 12,000 units per quarter. While Tesla has revamped the Model Y for 2025, it notably scrapped plans for a more affordable $25,000 vehicle (Model 2).
Despite numerous challenges, including production delays, regulatory scrutiny, and periodic financial pressures Tesla has been remarkably successful. The company’s market capitalization frequently exceeds that of all other major automotive manufacturers combined, reflecting investor confidence about its long-term vision, particularly in autonomous driving technology.
X (formerly Twitter)
In 2022, Musk acquired Twitter (now X) for $44 billion after a contentious legal battle after which he immediately implemented sweeping changes to the platform’s operations, leadership, and content moderation policies—essentially eviscerating moderation that had kept the worst elements of the internet at bay. In 2023, he rebranded the platform as “X,” signaling his wish to transform the social media company into an “everything app” that would incorporate financial services, communication tools, AI, and other capabilities.
Other Ventures
- Neuralink: Focused on developing brain-computer interfaces, Neuralink aims to help treat neurological disorders and eventually enable a symbiosis between humans and artificial intelligence.
- The Boring Company: Builds tunnels for transportation, utilities, and freight.
- xAI: In 2023, Musk launched xAI, focused on developing what he describes as “maximum truth-seeking AI.” The company released its first model, Grok, in late 2023.
While it’s given him a significant public platform, X has been a financial calamity, losing about three-quarters of its value since he took over.
Political and Legal Entanglements
Musk’s growing business empire and government role have generated significant regulatory scrutiny and legal challenges. In 2018, his tweet about taking Tesla private with “funding secured” led to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement action, resulting in a $20 million fine and his removal as Tesla’s chair for three years. The Delaware Court of Chancery later invalidated his $56 billion Tesla compensation package in 2023 (and again in 2024 after appeals), calling it an “unfathomable sum” and finding the board’s approval process fundamentally flawed.
His $44 billion acquisition of Twitter (now X) in 2022 sparked multiple lawsuits, first when he attempted to withdraw from the purchase agreement and later from employees following mass layoffs. The platform’s value has since declined significantly.
Meanwhile, his companies face ongoing regulatory challenges beyond these high-profile cases. Tesla has settled cases and faces still more stemming from allegations of racial discrimination and hostile work conditions. SpaceX has been under significant regulatory scrutiny by multiple agencies (many of which DOGE now has power over) regarding launch approvals and environmental impacts. The SEC has also filed a 2025 lawsuit alleging Musk failed to properly disclose his initial Twitter stock purchases before the acquisition.
DOGE
Publicly, Musk draws headlines most now for his involvement with DOGE. While the White House officially describes him as a “senior adviser to the president” rather than a DOGE administrator—the White House added that he has “no actual authority to make government decisions himself”—Musk has been the public face of the initiative and Trump himself has credited his leadership of it. He’s also used X to champion aggressive cost-cutting, including reducing USAID’s workforce from 10,000 to about 600 staff, as well as the gutting of many other agencies.
The role has sparked multiple legal challenges, with federal courts restricting DOGE’s access to Treasury systems, experts worried about the security and maintenance of the country’s most important computer systems, and Democratic states suing over what they call his “virtually unchecked power.”
Personal Life
Musk has been outspoken about what he calls a looming “population collapse,” arguing that declining birth rates pose a greater risk to civilization than climate change. This stance has drawn even more attention to his own family life: he has 13 children with multiple partners, including three with musician Grimes and three with Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis.
Musk’s relationship with his children has also attracted media attention. In recent years, his penchant for giving his kids eccentric names and public statements about family, including remarks about his estranged child’s gender transition—he claimed she’s now “dead”—have added to the controversies that surround him.
During his May 8, 2021, appearance on the TV show Saturday Night Live, Musk said that he has Asperger’s syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder.
The Bottom Line
As Elon Musk’s influence continues to expand across business, technology, and government, his impact grows increasingly complex. While his companies push ahead technologically and his role in DOGE aims to help reshape federal policy, mounting legal challenges and controversies have begun to affect his enterprises’ market positions.
