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Person

Elon Musk

Entrepreneur; founder and CEO of SpaceX, CEO of Tesla.

20 links, 16 backed by primary records

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Dates
28 Jun 1971 –
Place
Pretoria
Also known as
Elon Reeve Musk
Background
  • Citizen of United States 2002 – 12
  • Citizen of Canada 345
  • Born in Pretoria 6
  • Left South Africa on his own at 17.7
  • Worked on a relative's farm in Saskatchewan and at a lumber mill in Vancouver.7
  • Has called himself half Canadian.7
Family ties
Over time
  1. Life 28 Jun 1971 –
  2. citizen of United States 2002 –
  3. CEO of SpaceX May 2002 –
  4. CEO of Tesla Oct 2008 –
  5. board member of OpenAI (co-chair) Dec 2015 – Feb 2018
  6. funded OpenAI (donor, $44M) 2016 – Sep 2020
Elon Musk holds
Legal records

SEC v. Elon Musk

  1. 27 Sep 2018 Charged by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: securities fraud 9
  2. 29 Sep 2018 Settled with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: $20M, without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations 10He also agreed to step down as Tesla's chairman.

A charge is an accusation, not a finding of guilt.

Elon Musk is a South African-born entrepreneur based in the United States. He has led SpaceX since founding it in 2002 and has been chief executive of Tesla since October 2008, after joining the company as an early investor and board chair in 2004.

In 2012 he joined the The Giving Pledge. Through NASA’s commercial programs, SpaceX connects him to the space agency that grew out of the Space Race.

Before SpaceX he co-founded PayPal, whose other co-founders include Peter Thiel.

Connections 20

founded

CEO of

  • SpaceX May 2002 – Primary record 8
  • Tesla Oct 2008 – Primary record 8

relative of

citizen of

  • United States 2002 – Primary record 12
  • Canada Scholarship & press 345

    Through his Canadian-born mother. Walter Isaacson dates the passport approvals to late May 1989; Musk has said he was in Canada within three weeks of getting his passport.

signed

board member of

  • OpenAI Dec 2015 – Feb 2018 co-chair Primary record 132021

charged by

settled with

invested in

  • Tesla 2004 early investor; board chair from April 2004 Primary record 14

    Widely reported as the lead investor in Tesla's 2004 Series A round; the 2010 S-1 confirms his board role from April 2004 and calls him Tesla's largest stockholder.

owns a stake in

  • Tesla 19.8%, 717,323,438 shares, as of 15 Sep 2025 Primary record 8

    Beneficial ownership as reported in Tesla's proxy table, which counts some restricted stock and awards.

funded

  • OpenAI Dec 2015 donor Primary record 13

    One of the launch donors; together they committed $1 billion. A pledge, not money received; amounts per donor were not given.

  • OpenAI 2016 – Sep 2020 donor, $44M Primary record 2223

    Musk's lawsuit says more than $44 million; OpenAI says less than $45 million. Both put it at about $44 million.

born in

Timeline 14 dates
  1. 28 Jun 1971 – Elon Musk
  2. 1995 Elon Musk founded Zip2
  3. 2002 Elon Musk founded SpaceX
  4. 2002 – Elon Musk citizen of United States
  5. May 2002 – Elon Musk CEO of SpaceX
  6. 2004 Elon Musk invested in Tesla
  7. Oct 2008 – Elon Musk CEO of Tesla
  8. 19 Apr 2012 Elon Musk signed The Giving Pledge
  9. Dec 2015 Elon Musk founded OpenAI
  10. Dec 2015 – Feb 2018 Elon Musk board member of OpenAI
  11. Dec 2015 Elon Musk funded OpenAI
  12. 2016 – Sep 2020 Elon Musk funded OpenAI
  13. 27 Sep 2018 Elon Musk charged by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
  14. 29 Sep 2018 Elon Musk settled with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Proof 23 sources
  1. SolarCity Corporation Schedule 13D filed by Elon Musk, Elon Musk, 21 Dec 2012. Primary record
    Mr. Musk is a citizen of the United States of America.
  2. Elon Musk has been a U.S. citizen since 2002, PolitiFact, 5 Dec 2024. Scholarship & press
    He immigrated to the U.S. as a student in 1992 and became a U.S. citizen in 2002, according to a 2023 biography.
  3. Thousands sign petition asking government to remove Elon Musk's Canadian citizenship, CBC News, 23 Feb 2025. Scholarship & press
    Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa, but has Canadian citizenship through his Regina-born mother.
  4. Transcript of Elon Musk Interview: Iron Man, Growing up in South Africa, Fresh Dialogues, 7 Feb 2013. Self-published
    But she was born in Canada, so I actually filled out the forms for her and got her a Canadian passport, and me too. Within three weeks of getting my Canadian passport, I was in Canada.
  5. Elon Musk, a Canadian: How Tesla's man was shaped by the country of his mother's birth, The Globe and Mail, 10 Sep 2023. Scholarship & press
    He went to the Canadian consulate on his own, got application forms for a passport, and filled them out not only for himself but for his mother brother, and sister (but not father). The approvals came through in late May, 1989.
  6. Elon Musk, Encyclopaedia Britannica. Scholarship & press
  7. Why Canada can't strip Elon Musk of Canadian citizenship, CBC News, 26 Feb 2025. Scholarship & press
    I left South Africa by myself when I was 17 with just a backpack & suitcase of books
    Worked on my Mom's cousin's farm in Saskatchewan & a lumber mill in Vancouver.
    I'm proudly half Canadian!
  8. Tesla, Inc. 2025 proxy statement (Schedule 14A), Tesla, 17 Sep 2025. Primary record
    Applicable percentage ownership is based on 3,325,150,886 shares of Tesla’s common stock outstanding at September 15, 2025.
    Prior to SpaceX, Mr. Musk co-founded PayPal, an electronic payment system, which was acquired by eBay in October 2002, and Zip2 Corporation, a provider of Internet enterprise software and services, which was acquired by Compaq in March 1999.
    Mr. Musk has also served as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Technology Officer and Chairman of Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, a company which develops and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft (“SpaceX”), since May 2002
    Mr. Musk is the Technoking of Tesla and has served as our Chief Executive Officer since October 2008.
    Except for Messrs. Elon Musk (“Mr. Musk”), our Chief Executive Officer and a director, and Kimbal Musk (“Mr. Kimbal Musk”), a director, who are brothers, there are no other family relationships among any of our directors or executive officers.
  9. Elon Musk Charged With Securities Fraud for Misleading Tweets (press release 2018-219), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 27 Sep 2018. Primary record
    charged Elon Musk, CEO and Chairman of Silicon Valley-based Tesla Inc., with securities fraud for a series of false and misleading tweets about a potential transaction to take Tesla private.
  10. Elon Musk Settles SEC Fraud Charges; Tesla Charged With and Resolves Securities Law Charge (press release 2018-226), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 29 Sep 2018. Primary record
    Musk and Tesla will each pay a separate $20 million penalty.
    Musk will step down as Tesla’s Chairman and be replaced by an independent Chairman.
    Musk and Tesla have agreed to settle the charges against them without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations.
  11. Elon Musk Fast Facts, CNN, 3 Aug 2016. Scholarship & press
    1995 - Musk co-founds Zip2 Corp., a company that develops online city guides.
    Father: Errol Musk, engineer
    Mother: Maye (Haldeman) Musk, nutritionist and model
  12. SpaceX, Encyclopaedia Britannica. Scholarship & press
  13. Introducing OpenAI, OpenAI, 11 Dec 2015. Primary record
    OpenAI's co-chairs are Sam Altman and Elon Musk.
    Sam, Greg, Elon, Reid Hoffman, Jessica Livingston, Peter Thiel, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Infosys, and YC Research are donating to support OpenAI. In total, these funders have committed $1 billion, although we expect to only spend a tiny fraction of this in the next few years.
  14. Tesla Motors, Inc. registration statement (Form S-1), Tesla, 29 Jan 2010. Primary record
    Prior to joining Space Exploration Corporation, Mr. Musk co-founded PayPal, an electronic payment system, which was acquired by eBay in October 2002
    Elon Musk, our Chief Executive Officer, Product Architect and Chairman, and Kimbal Musk, one of our directors, are brothers.
    Elon Musk has served as our Product Architect since May 2008, our Chief Executive Officer since October 2008 and as Chairman of our board of directors since April 2004.
  15. How To Raise A Billionaire: An Interview With Elon Musk's Father, Errol Musk, Forbes, 2 Jul 2015. Scholarship & press Archived copy
    Errol Musk, father of billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk
  16. Elon Musk comes from a family of entrepreneurs - here's who they are, CNBC, 12 Aug 2018. Scholarship & press
    She once worked five jobs to support her children, Elon, Kimbal and Tosca, after divorcing their father, Errol Musk, a wealthy engineer.
  17. Maye Musk, the silver cover girl, CBS News, 20 May 2018. Scholarship & press
    Maye Musk is the mother of Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur
  18. Twelve more U.S. families pledge majority of wealth to philanthropy, The Giving Pledge, 19 Apr 2012. Primary record
  19. Elon Musk (pledger profile), The Giving Pledge. Primary record
    Pledged in 2012
  20. OpenAI LP, OpenAI, 11 Mar 2019. Primary record
    Elon Musk left the board of OpenAI Nonprofit in February 2018 and is not formally involved with OpenAI LP.
  21. OpenAI Supporters, OpenAI, 20 Feb 2018. Primary record
    Additionally, Elon Musk will depart the OpenAI Board but will continue to donate and advise the organization.
  22. Complaint, Musk v. Altman, No. 3:24-cv-04722 (N.D. Cal.), U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, 5 Aug 2024. Primary record
    All told, Musk contributed more than $44 million to OpenAI, Inc. in its first five critical years.
  23. OpenAI and Elon Musk, OpenAI, 5 Mar 2024. Primary record
    Elon said we should announce an initial $1B funding commitment to OpenAI. In total, the non-profit has raised less than $45M from Elon and more than $90M from other donors.
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