Musk, Elon (1971-…), is a South African-born entrepreneur (business developer). He pioneered an online payment system that helped commercialize the internet. Musk has also worked to develop clean energy technologies and commercial space travel. He helped establish Paypal, SpaceX, Tesla Motors, and other innovative companies. Musk also owns the social networking website X (formerly called Twitter). In addition, he is the chairman of the Musk Foundation, which promotes science education and renewable energy.
Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa. He taught himself computer programming and sold his own software when he was 12 years old. He entered the graduate program in applied physics at Stanford University in 1995. However, he halted his studies to start a company called Zip2. The company developed city business directories for newspaper websites.
In 1999, the computer manufacturer Compaq Computer Corporation (now part of the Hewlett-Packard Company) acquired Zip2. Musk used his multimillion-dollar payout to help found X.com, an online bank that enabled people to transfer money via email. After mergers and corporate transitions, X.com became known as PayPal.
In 2002, Musk created his third company, SpaceX. The company develops lower-cost, reliable spacecraft. Musk himself led the design of the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets. The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has awarded SpaceX contracts for transporting cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station and other destinations. SpaceX designed the powerful Falcon Heavy rocket to carry humans on missions to the moon or to Mars. 
In 2003, Musk helped establish Tesla Motors, a manufacturer of electric cars. He designed the Tesla Roadster, an expensive, high-performance electric sports car. In late 2018, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Musk for making what it claimed were false statements to investors. As a result, he was forced to step down as chairman of Tesla. He remains the chief executive officer (CEO) of the company. In 2006, Musk helped develop SolarCity, one of the biggest suppliers of solar power systems in the United States.
In the early 2010’s, Musk began developing an idea for a tunnel-based transit system called a hyperloop. In this system, electric skates inside tunnels would shuttle cars at very high speeds, allowing rapid transportation across cities. The skates would also be able to carry pods for transporting multiple passengers at once. Vacuum shells in the tunnels would allow pods to move at hundreds of miles or kilometers per hour. In 2016, Musk created the Boring Company, a company that bores tunnels underneath densely populated urban areas. Similar tunnels would be required for hyperloop transit.
In the mid-2010’s, Musk became one of the founders of the technology company Neuralink. Neuralink is developing a system in which a computer chip is connected to electrodes that can be implanted in the brain to detect brain activity. Such a system, called a brain-computer interface (BCI), allows people to use their thoughts to control electronic devices. Most BCI’s are designed to help paralyzed people use electronic prosthetics or interact with equipment they would otherwise need working muscles to use. According to Musk, Neuralink would eventually have a greater variety of uses for both paralyzed and nonparalyzed people. For example, he has suggested people may one day be able to digitally transfer their thoughts and memories into a computer. In 2024, Musk announced that the company’s first human test subject had received a brain implant.
In October 2022, Musk purchased Twitter for about $44 billion and became its CEO. He soon made major changes in the company, including firing thousands of its employees. Some of his decisions were unpopular with government agencies responsible for regulating social media. In 2023, Musk changed the name of Twitter to X. That same year, he appointed business executive Linda Yaccarino to succeed him as CEO of the company.
