Birthplaces of Notable Celebrities
Elon Musk
The White House, Public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons
Elon Reeve Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa. He is the eldest of three children born to Maye Musk, a model and dietitian, and Errol Musk, an engineer. From a young age, Musk showed a strong interest in technology and entrepreneurship — he learned to code by the time he was a teenager, and he even sold a homemade video game when he was 12.
After finishing high school in South Africa, Musk moved to Canada and then to the United States. He studied at Queen’s University in Ontario, before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned two bachelor’s degrees: one in economics and another in physics. He briefly enrolled in a PhD program at Stanford but dropped out after just two days to try his hand in the fast-growing world of internet startups.
Musk’s early ventures included Zip2, an online city guide software company, which he co-founded with his brother. He sold it and later co-founded X.com, which eventually became PayPal. After PayPal was acquired, Musk used his earnings to fund ambitious aerospace and transport companies.
He founded SpaceX, with the goal of making space travel affordable and one day colonizing Mars. He also joined and grew Tesla, Inc., the electric-car company, where he serves as CEO and product architect. In addition, Musk has started or co-founded several other companies: Neuralink (neurotechnology), The Boring Company (infrastructure and tunneling), and xAI (artificial intelligence), among others.
As of late 2025, Elon Musk’s net worth is estimated at around US$470 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and about $500 billion according to Forbes, making him one of the richest people in the world. Much of his wealth comes from his large equity stakes in Tesla and his privately held space company, SpaceX.
On the personal front, Musk has been married and in high-profile relationships. His first marriage was to Justine Wilson (2000–2008). They had six children: their first son, Nevada, tragically died as an infant; later they had twins (Griffin and Vivian) and triplets (Kai, Saxon, and Damian) via in vitro fertilization. Vivian legally changed her name to Vivian Jenna Wilson in 2022.
Musk later married Talulah Riley twice (2010–2012, 2013–2016). He has also had a long-term relationship with the musician Grimes (Claire Boucher), with whom he shares three children — including a son named X Æ A-12. More recently, he has children with Shivon Zilis, a Neuralink executive.
Beyond business, Musk is also known for his philanthropic work. He is president of the Musk Foundation, which supports causes such as renewable energy, space exploration, science education, and safe artificial intelligence.
Key Achievements
- Founded SpaceX, pioneering reusable rockets and lowering the cost of spaceflight
- Led Tesla, Inc. to become a leader in electric vehicles
- Co-founded Neuralink, The Boring Company, and xAI
- Helped build PayPal, one of the most important online payment systems
- Drives philanthropy through the Musk Foundation
References
Books about Elon Musk
Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson (2023) - View on Amazon
📍 Birthplace Location
🌍 Also born in South Africa
Born on this day
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