South African-born Elon Musk is among the most prosperous businesspeople of all time. As the CEO of SpaceX, a private space firm, and Tesla (TSLA), an electric vehicle manufacturer, Musk has attained international prominence. Musk concluded an agreement to take X (previously Twitter) private in October 2022. Musk was an early investor in a number of internet startups.

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Due of his success and distinctive attitude, he has been compared to other colorful American tycoons such as Henry Ford, Howard Hughes, and Steve Jobs. In 2021 he was crowned the world’s richest person, overtaking Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon (AMZN). As of February 15, 2024, Elon Musk is the richest person in the planet.

Infancy and Schooling

Elon Reeve Musk, the eldest of three children, was born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1971. His mother was a Canadian model and nutritionist, while his father was an engineer from South Africa. Following the split of his parents in 1980, Musk spent most of his time with his father. “A terrible human being…he has done almost every evil thing you could possibly think of,” the guy would later describe his father.

“I came from a really bad background. I had a lot of hardship as a child. Musk would subsequently state, “One thing I worry about with my kids is they don’t face enough adversity.”

Made fun of as a child

Musk began a year ahead of schedule at the elite, English-speaking Waterkloof House Preparatory School before earning a diploma from Pretoria Boys High School. He identified himself as a bookworm and didn’t have many friends there.

“In order to beat me up, they recruited my best (crap) friend to entice me out of hiding. And Musk responded, “That (expletive) hurt.” They concluded that I was it for whatever reason, and they would pursue me relentlessly. That’s what made maturing challenging. There was no break for several years. Gangs at school would follow you about and try to beat the (expletive) out of me, and when I would get home, everything would be terrible.

Initial Achievements

For Musk, technology turned became a way out. He learned how to program at the age of ten using a Commodore VIC-20, an early and reasonably priced home computer. Soon after, Musk had mastered the necessary skills to produce Blastar, a Space Invaders-style video game. For $500.6, he sold the game’s BASIC code to a PC magazine.

One memorable childhood memory is of Musk and his brother deciding to build a video game arcade close to their school. Parents rejected the idea.

Musk’s Years in College

Musk came to Canada when he was 17. Later on, he would become a citizen of Canada thanks to his mother.

Musk attended in Kingston, Ontario’s Queen’s University upon his immigration to Canada. He got to know wannabe writer Justine Wilson there. Before being divorced in 2008, they would get married and have six boys together: a first son, twins, and then triplets.

coming into the United States.

Musk transferred to the University of Pennsylvania after spending two years at Queen’s University. He enrolled in two majors, but he didn’t spend his time studying and working. He purchased a ten-bedroom fraternity home with a fellow student, and they utilized it as an impromptu nightclub.

Along with a bachelor of arts in economics from the Wharton School, Musk also received a bachelor of science in physics. Although Musk’s career was hinted at by the two majors, physics made the biggest impact.

Inc. “Elon Musk Is Dead Correct When He Says MBAs Are Overrated.”

Later on, he would add, “(Physics is) a good framework for thinking.” “Reduce everything to its most basic principles and work your way up from there.”

X

In March 2006, Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams launched the business as Twitter. In November 2013, the company—which had previously been private—went public. Through its first public offering (IPO), it raised $1.8 billion.

In June 2009, Musk registered on the website. Regular poster on the messaging app, Musk revealed in April 2022 that he owned 9.2% of X. In response, the business extended an invitation to Musk to join the board, which he accepted before turning it down a few days later. After that, Musk sent the board a heartfelt letter suggesting that they purchase the business for $54.20 per share.

Musk revealed $46.5 billion in committed funding for the transaction in a securities filing, which led the board of the firm to approve Musk’s bid despite the poison pill clause discouraging Musk from acquiring an even bigger interest.

Musk made an attempt to back out of the agreement in July 2022, claiming that X had omitted important details about phony accounts. To force Musk to close the acquisition, the business filed a lawsuit.

The billionaire’s plan to purchase the social media network finally materialized after months of legal fighting, and on October 28, 2022, Musk assumed leadership of the business. The next year, the business changed its name to X.