Is Elon Musk A US Citizen? [Details]

Elon Musk was born June 28, 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa.

His father, Errol Musk, is South African. His mother, Maye Musk, is Canadian.

So, Musk had Canadian citizenship through his mother.

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How did Musk receive US citizenship?

He came to the US as a student from Canada. After earning a bachelor’s degree, Musk helped start an internet company called Zip2.

Musk did not have a green card at this point, so investors guided him to get an EB-5 investor green card, which he received in 1997.

By 2002, Musk became a US citizen via the naturalization process from the green card.

Musk’s Childhood in South Africa

Musk’s childhood was not an easy one.

He was born into a wealthy family, but his parents divorced when he was 9 years old.

Despite these difficulties, Musk excelled in school. He eventually attended the University of Pennsylvania where he studied economics and physics.

It was during this time that Musk started to show an interest in technology and entrepreneurship.

Post-College

After college, Musk moved to California to pursue his dreams of starting a technology company.

This is where he would eventually work on projects like Zip2 and X.com.

X.com was eventually acquired by Confinity, which was building PayPal as a product.

Though Musk likes to call himself a co-founder of PayPal, he was integrated into the team after it launched.

After being fired from PayPal in 2002, Musk went on to found SpaceX.

Later on in 2004, he led the Series A round of Tesla, then known as Tesla Motors. Musk was not one of the original founders, but received the co-founder title later through legal action.

In 2006, Musk helped start SolarCity, a solar energy company.

US Citizenship

As mentioned earlier, Musk became a US citizen in 2002 through the naturalization process.

It is still unclear whether or not Musk maintains citizenship in any country other than the United States.

Some sources say he still has 3 citizenships (US, Canada, South Africa).

Why does Elon Musk have 3 citizenships?

FAQs

Is Elon Musk married?

As of 2024, he is not.

He was formerly married to Justine Musk and Amber Heard.

He has also had a relationship with the singer Grimes of which he shares two children.

Musk also has a set of twins with Shivon Zilis, an employee at Neuralink, a company he has an equity stake in.

How old is Elon Musk?

He was born on June 28, 1971.

Has Elon Musk ever been charged with fraud?

Yes, Musk was charged with securities fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in September 2018 for making misleading statements to investors.

He was also found in violation of that agreement later and was forced to rework it.

Musk is known for making big promises to investors that are untrue or unrealistic.

How did Elon Musk become so rich?

Mostly via Tesla (TSLA) stock, where most of his net worth is wrapped up in.

Tesla is well-known for having a large valuation relative to its production.

Many believe the company is simply a stock promotion and even possibly has fraudulent accounting.

Is Elon Musk a charlatan?

It depends on who you ask.

Some people believe he is a genius entrepreneur who is changing the world.

Others believe he is a fraudster who takes advantage of investors by inflating stock/equity values to enrich himself with grandiose promises he has no intention of realistically fulfilling.

What country is Elon Musk from?

Musk was born in South Africa and later moved to Canada and then the United States.

He is now a citizen of the United States.

Does Elon Musk have any siblings?

Yes, he has two siblings, Tosca (sister) and Kimbal (brother).

Who is Lyndon Rive?

Lyndon Rive is Musk’s cousin, who was part of the team at SolarCity.

Who are Elon Musk’s parents?

His father is Errol Musk. His mother is Maye Musk.

Elon Musk – General Biography

Elon Musk is a South African-born Canadian-American business magnate.

He is the founder, CEO, CTO, and chief designer of SpaceX; early investor, CEO, and product architect of Tesla Motors; founder of The Boring Company; co-founder of Neuralink. A centibillionaire, Musk is one of the richest people in the world.

He first gained prominence as a member of PayPal and was an early investor in Tesla Motors. In 2002, he founded SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company. In 2004, he joined electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors Inc (now Tesla, Inc.) as chairman and product architect, becoming its CEO in 2008.

In 2006, he helped create SolarCity, a solar energy services company and current Tesla subsidiary.

In 2015, he co-founded OpenAI, a nonprofit research company that promotes friendly artificial intelligence.

In 2016, he co-founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology company focused on developing brain–computer interfaces, and founded The Boring Company, a tunnel construction company. Musk has also proposed the Hyperloop, a high-speed vactrain transportation system.

Musk was born to a Canadian mother and South African father and raised in Pretoria, South Africa.

He briefly attended the University of Pretoria before moving to Canada to attend Queen’s University.

He transferred to the University of Pennsylvania two years later, where he received dual bachelor’s degrees in economics and physics.

He moved to California in 1995 purportedly to attend Stanford University but decided instead to pursue a business career, co-founding web software company Zip2 with his brother Kimbal.

The start-up was acquired by Compaq for $307 million in 1999. Musk co-founded online bank X.com that same year, which merged with Confinity in 2000 to form the company PayPal and was subsequently bought by eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion.

In 2002, Musk founded SpaceX, an aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company, of which he is CEO, CTO, and lead designer.

In 2004, he joined electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors Inc (now Tesla, Inc.) as chairman and product architect, becoming its CEO in 2008.