Elon Musk Career Timeline
Elon Musk’s career timeline starts with a video game he sold at 12 in 1983 and runs through Zip2 (1995), PayPal (1999-2002), SpaceX (2002), Tesla (2004), the Twitter purchase (2022) and xAI (2023), to the SpaceX IPO on 12 June 2026, which made him the first person worth $1 trillion 12.
Full nameElon Reeve Musk
Born28 Jun 1971, Pretoria, South Africa
Age55
NationalitySouth Africa (birth), Canada (through his mother), United States (2002)
EducationQueen's University
Known forSpaceX, Tesla, xAI, PayPal, Starlink
SpouseJustine Wilson
ResidenceTexas, United States
Elon Musk timeline: 1971-1994, early life
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1971 | Born on 28 June in Pretoria, South Africa, to Errol and Maye Musk 1 |
| 1979 | Parents divorce; he later moves in with his father 1 |
| 1983 | Aged 12, sells the code for his video game Blastar for about $500 1 |
| 1989 | Moves to Canada in June, aged 17 1 |
| 1990 | Enters Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario 1 |
| about 1992 | Transfers to the University of Pennsylvania 1 |
| 1994 | Summer internships in Silicon Valley at Pinnacle Research Institute and Rocket Science Games 1 |
- 1971 · PERSONALBorn on 28 June in Pretoria, South Africa
- 1989 · MILESTONEMoves to Canada, aged 17
- 1992 · EDUCATIONQueen's University
- 1995 · FOUNDEDCo-founds Zip2 with his brother Kimbal
- 1995 · FOUNDEDStarts Zip2
- 1995 · EDUCATIONBA physics, BS economics, awarded 1997, University of Pennsylvania
- 1997 · EDUCATIONEarns degrees in physics and economics from the University of Pennsylvania
- 1999 · FOUNDEDSells Zip2 and co-founds X.com
- 1999 · FOUNDEDStarts X.com
- 2002 · FOUNDEDFounds SpaceX; eBay buys PayPal for $1.5 billion
- 2002 · FOUNDEDStarts SpaceX
- 2004 · ROLELeads Tesla’s first funding round and becomes chairman
- 2008 · ROLEBecomes Tesla CEO; Falcon 1 reaches orbit
- 2010 · MILESTONETesla lists on Nasdaq
- 2015 · FOUNDEDStarts OpenAI
- 2016 · FOUNDEDCo-founds Neuralink; Tesla buys SolarCity
- 2016 · FOUNDEDStarts Neuralink
- 2017 · FOUNDEDStarts The Boring Company
- 2022 · DEALBuys Twitter for about $44 billion
- 2023 · FOUNDEDLaunches xAI
- 2023 · FOUNDEDStarts xAI
- 2025 · ROLELeads DOGE for 130 days
- 2026 · MILESTONESpaceX lists in the largest IPO ever; first person worth $1 trillion
Elon Musk timeline: 1995-2001, Zip2 and PayPal
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1995 | Accepted to a Stanford PhD programme but leaves to co-found Zip2 with his brother Kimbal 1 |
| 1997 | University of Pennsylvania awards his BA in physics and BS in economics 1 |
| 1999 | Compaq buys Zip2 for $307 million; his share is $22 million. He co-founds X.com 1 |
| 2000 | X.com merges with Confinity in March; Musk is replaced as CEO later that year. Marries Justine Wilson 1 |
| 2001 | Travels to Moscow twice to try to buy rockets for a Mars mission 1 |
Elon Musk timeline: 2002-2009, SpaceX and Tesla
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2002 | eBay buys PayPal for $1.5 billion; Musk receives $175.8 million. Founds SpaceX in May. Becomes a US citizen 1 |
| 2004 | Leads Tesla’s first funding round with $6.35 million and becomes chairman 1 |
| 2006 | Helps his cousins start SolarCity 1 |
| 2008 | Falcon 1 reaches orbit on its fourth attempt; NASA awards SpaceX a $1.6 billion contract. Becomes Tesla’s CEO. Divorces Justine Wilson 1 |
Elon Musk timeline: 2010-2019, growth years
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2010 | Tesla lists on Nasdaq. Marries Talulah Riley 1 |
| 2012 | SpaceX’s Dragon becomes the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the space station. Tesla launches the Model S. First appears on a Forbes list, at $2 billion 13 |
| 2015 | Falcon 9 lands its first stage; Starlink work begins. Co-founds OpenAI 1 |
| 2016 | Tesla buys SolarCity for about $2 billion. Co-founds Neuralink 1 |
| 2017 | Founds The Boring Company 1 |
| 2018 | Falcon Heavy launches his Tesla Roadster into space. Settles with the SEC over the “funding secured” post and steps down as Tesla chairman. Leaves OpenAI’s board 1 |
| 2019 | SpaceX deploys its first large batch of Starlink satellites and starts building Starship 1 |
Elon Musk timeline: 2020-2024
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2020 | SpaceX flies the first private crewed mission to the space station. Pledges to “own no house” and starts selling his homes 14 |
| 2021 | Tesla’s market value passes $1 trillion. Becomes the first person worth over $300 billion 13 |
| 2022 | Buys Twitter for about $44 billion, completing on 27 October 1 |
| 2023 | Renames Twitter X and steps back as its CEO. Launches xAI in July and Grok in November 1 |
| 2024 | Endorses Donald Trump and spends about $291 million in the US election. Becomes the first person worth over $400 billion 13 |
Elon Musk timeline: 2025
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Jan 2025 | Leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as a special government employee 1 |
| 28 Mar 2025 | xAI buys X in an all-stock deal valuing X at $33 billion 5 |
| 28 May 2025 | Leaves DOGE at the end of his 130-day term 1 |
| 22 Jun 2025 | Tesla starts a robotaxi service in Austin 6 |
| 5 Jul 2025 | Announces the America Party 7 |
| 6 Nov 2025 | Tesla shareholders approve a pay package worth up to about $1 trillion 8 |
| Dec 2025 | Delaware Supreme Court restores his 2018 Tesla pay award 3 |
Elon Musk timeline: 2026
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Feb 2026 | SpaceX takes over xAI at a combined $1.25 trillion valuation 9 |
| Apr 2026 | Tops Forbes’ 2026 World’s Billionaires list at $839 billion 10 |
| 12 Jun 2026 | SpaceX lists on Nasdaq (SPCX) in the largest IPO ever; Musk becomes the first person worth $1 trillion 2 |
| Jun 2026 | Exercises about 304 million Tesla options from his 2018 award 11 |
| Jul 2026 | Falls below $1 trillion as SpaceX shares drop 3 |
| 28 Sep 2026 | Starship reaches orbit for the first time on Flight 14 12 |
| 1 Nov 2026 | Forbes values him at $869 billion, still the world’s richest person 13 |
Frequently asked questions
Elon Musk co-founded his first company, Zip2, in 1995 with his brother Kimbal, after leaving a Stanford PhD programme before it began. Compaq bought Zip2 in 1999 for $307 million.
He founded SpaceX in May 2002, using money from the sale of PayPal. He joined Tesla in February 2004 by leading its first funding round, and became Tesla’s chief executive in 2008.
Musk completed his purchase of Twitter for about $44 billion on 27 October 2022 and renamed it X in 2023. In March 2025 his AI company xAI bought X, and since February 2026 both have been part of SpaceX.
On 12 June 2026, when SpaceX began trading on Nasdaq, Elon Musk became the first person worth more than $1 trillion. Falling SpaceX shares took him back below that level from July 2026.
Sources✓ Verified 3 Nov 2026
1 Wikipedia, Elon Musk, 3 Nov 2026, accessed 2026-11-03
2 CNBC, Elon Musk becomes world’s first trillionaire as SpaceX begins trading on the Nasdaq, 12 Jun 2026
3 Wikipedia, Wealth of Elon Musk, 3 Nov 2026, accessed 2026-11-03
4 The Real Deal, Elon Musk no longer owns any homes in California, 12 Mar 2022
5 Bloomberg, Musk’s xAI startup swallows up X social network, 28 Mar 2025
6 Automotive News, Tesla robotaxi hits Austin streets in limited launch, 1 Jun 2025
7 Business Standard, Elon Musk launches ‘America Party’, 6 Jul 2025
8 NPR, Tesla shareholders approve Elon Musk’s trillion-dollar pay package, 6 Nov 2025
9 Bloomberg, SpaceX acquires xAI as Musk prepares for mega IPO, 2 Feb 2026
10 The Standard (Hong Kong), Elon Musk tops new Forbes billionaires list with worth of US$839b
11 Not a Tesla App, Musk exercises stock options worth $114B, 18 Jun 2026
12 AIAA, Starship reaches orbit for first time on Flight 14, 28 Sep 2026
13 Forbes, The top 10 richest people in the world, 1 Nov 2026
Report a correction