Discover the career path of Elon Musk, from the first major opportunity to industry-changing achievements.
Elon Musk is a prominent businessman and entrepreneur, recognized globally for his leadership roles in companies like Tesla, SpaceX, X, and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). He has held the position of the world's wealthiest individual since 2021, with Forbes estimating his net worth at US$424.7 billion as of May 2025.
In 1994, Elon Musk held two internships in Silicon Valley: one at Pinnacle Research Institute and another at Rocket Science Games.
In 1995, Elon Musk co-founded the software company Zip2.
In 1995, Elon Musk was accepted to a graduate program at Stanford University but decided to join the Internet boom instead.
In February 1999, Compaq acquired Zip2 for $307 million in cash, and Elon Musk received $22 million for his share.
In 1999, Elon Musk co-founded X.com, an online financial services and e-mail payment company.
In 1999, Zip2 was sold and Elon Musk co-founded X.com, an online payment company.
In 2000, Elon Musk was ousted as CEO of X.com and replaced by Peter Thiel.
In 2001, Elon Musk became involved with the nonprofit Mars Society and discussed funding plans to place a growth-chamber for plants on Mars.
In 2001, Elon Musk founded the Musk Foundation, which aims to provide solar-power energy systems in disaster areas and supports human space exploration, pediatrics, renewable energy, and safe artificial intelligence.
In 2001, X.com was renamed PayPal.
In May 2002, Elon Musk founded SpaceX, becoming the company's CEO and Chief Engineer.
In 2002, Elon Musk became an American citizen. PayPal, which X.com had merged into, was acquired by eBay.
In 2002, Elon Musk founded SpaceX, a space technology company, becoming its CEO and chief engineer.
In 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion in stock, with Elon Musk receiving $175.8 million as the largest shareholder.
In 2002, the Musk Foundation began donating to OpenAI, with nearly half of its $25 million in donations going to the organization between 2002 and 2018.
In July 2003, Tesla Motors (now Tesla, Inc.) was incorporated by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.
In February 2004, Elon Musk led the Series A round of investment in Tesla, investing $6.35 million, becoming the majority shareholder and chairman.
In 2004, Elon Musk joined the automaker Tesla as an early investor.
In 2006, Elon Musk provided the initial concept and financial capital for SolarCity, which was founded by his cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive.
In 2008, Elon Musk became the CEO and product architect of Tesla.
In 2008, Elon Musk received the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics George Low Transportation Award for his contributions to the development of the Falcon rockets.
In 2008, Tesla began delivery of the Roadster, its first mass production all-electric car.
In 2008, following the financial crisis and conflicts within the company, Elon Musk assumed leadership of Tesla as CEO and product architect.
In 2009, a lawsuit settlement designated Elon Musk as a Tesla co-founder.
In 2010, Tesla had its Initial Public Offering, after which the company's stock rose significantly.
In 2012, Tesla launched the Model S, a four-door sedan.
In 2012, the Dragon vehicle docked with the ISS, marking a first for a commercial spacecraft.
In August 2013, Elon Musk announced plans for a version of a vactrain and assigned engineers from SpaceX and Tesla to design a transport system between Greater Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.
By 2013, SolarCity had grown to become the second-largest provider of solar power systems in the United States.
In 2014, Elon Musk promoted the idea of SolarCity building an advanced production facility in Buffalo, New York, which would be triple the size of the largest solar plant in the United States.
In December 2015, Elon Musk co-founded OpenAI, a not-for-profit artificial intelligence (AI) research company, with the goal of developing artificial general intelligence that is safe and beneficial to humanity. Musk pledged $1 billion of funding to the company.
In 2015, Elon Musk co-founded OpenAI to advance artificial intelligence research.
In 2015, Tesla launched the Model X, a crossover vehicle.
In 2016, Elon Musk co-founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology startup, with an investment of $100 million. The company aims to integrate the human brain with artificial intelligence.
In 2016, Tesla acquired SolarCity for $2 billion and merged it with its battery unit to create Tesla Energy. The deal announcement resulted in a drop in Tesla's stock price.
In 2017, Elon Musk founded the Boring Company to construct tunnels and revealed plans for specialized, underground, high-occupancy vehicles. Early in 2017, the company began discussions with regulatory bodies and initiated construction of a "test trench" on SpaceX premises.
In 2017, Elon Musk purchased the domain X.com from PayPal.
In 2017, Tesla launched the Model 3, a mass-market sedan.
In 2017, the construction of SolarCity's advanced production facility in Buffalo, New York, was completed after starting in 2014.
In early 2017, Elon Musk expressed interest in buying Twitter and questioned the platform's commitment to freedom of speech.
From 2002 to 2018, the Musk foundation donated nearly half of its $25 million directly to Musk's OpenAI.
In 2018, prototype satellites were launched for the Starlink constellation.
In 2018, the Los Angeles tunnel, less than two miles in length, debuted to journalists. It used Tesla Model Xs and was reported to be a rough ride at suboptimal speeds.
In March 2019, Elon Musk, through his label Emo G Records, released a rap track titled "RIP Harambe" on SoundCloud.
In May 2019, the first large constellation of Starlink satellites was deployed.
Since 2019, SpaceX has been developing Starship, a reusable, super heavy-lift launch vehicle.
In May 2020, Elon Musk resigned as chairman of the board of Tesla as part of a settlement with the SEC, which stemmed from a lawsuit regarding his tweets about securing funding to take Tesla private.
In 2020, Elon Musk relocated from California to Cameron County, Texas, citing concerns that California had become "complacent" about its economic success.
In 2020, SpaceX launched its first crewed flight, the Demo-2, becoming the first private company to place astronauts into orbit and dock a crewed spacecraft with the ISS.
In 2020, Tesla launched the Model Y, a crossover vehicle.
In early 2020, SolarCity's advanced production facility in Buffalo, New York, ceased operating as a joint venture with Panasonic.
In the summer of 2020, Tesla became the most valuable carmaker, and it entered the S&P 500 later that year.
In October 2021, Tesla reached a market capitalization of $1 trillion, becoming the sixth company in U.S. history to achieve this milestone.
By the end of 2021, the Musk Foundation's assets had grown to $9.4 billion, although it only dispensed $160 million to charities that year.
In 2021, Neuralink released a video showing a macaque playing the video game Pong via a Neuralink implant.
In early 2021, the Boring Company completed a tunnel beneath the Las Vegas Convention Center. Local officials approved further expansions of the tunnel system.
On October 27, 2022, Elon Musk bought Twitter for approximately $44 billion, after backtracking on his initial decision.
In 2022, Elon Musk acquired the social network Twitter.
In 2022, Neuralink announced that clinical trials would begin by the end of the year.
In 2022, immediately after acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk fired several top executives including CEO Parag Agrawal and became the CEO himself. He instituted monthly subscriptions for a "blue check", laid off a significant portion of the staff, and lessened content moderation, leading to an increase in hate speech on the platform.
In July 2023, Elon Musk launched the artificial intelligence company xAI, aiming to develop a generative AI program to compete with existing offerings like OpenAI's ChatGPT.
In September 2023, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Neuralink to initiate six-year human trials.
In 2023, Tesla launched the Cybertruck, a pickup truck.
In 2023, the social network Twitter was rebranded as X after being acquired by Elon Musk.
In January 2025, the organization was created by executive order, and Elon Musk was designated a "special government employee". Musk is leading the organization and is a senior advisor to the president.
On May 28, 2025, Elon Musk announced his planned departure from the Trump administration upon the expiration of his 130-day term as a special government employee. A White House official confirmed that Musk's offboarding was already in progress.
On May 30, 2025, Elon Musk's departure from the Trump administration was officially confirmed during a joint press conference with Trump in the Oval Office.
In early 2025, Elon Musk served as senior advisor to United States president Donald Trump and as the de facto head of DOGE.
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