Elon Musk Timeline
Elon Musk from his 1971 birth in Pretoria through Zip2, PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla, SolarCity, OpenAI, Neuralink, The Boring Company, X, xAI and DOGE, to October 2026.
Open interactive timeline
Key events
Elon Musk born in Pretoria, South Africa
Elon Reeve Musk is born to Errol Musk, an electromechanical engineer, and Maye Musk, a Canadian-born model and dietitian.
Sells his self-written video game Blastar for about $500
Having taught himself to program, the 12-year-old sells the BASIC space shooter to the magazine PC and Office Technology, which publishes its code.
Emigrates to Canada at 17
After about five months at the University of Pretoria, he leaves for Canada, gaining citizenship through his Canadian-born mother, and works odd jobs including on a cousin's farm in Saskatchewan.
Studies physics and economics at the University of Pennsylvania
–He transfers to Penn, studying physics in the College and economics at the Wharton School.
Co-founds Zip2 with Kimbal Musk and Greg Kouri
–The Palo Alto startup builds online city guides, maps and business directories, later licensed to newspapers such as The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.
Leaves Stanford's PhD program after two days
Admitted to a materials science PhD at Stanford, he drops out almost immediately to start an internet company.
Compaq buys Zip2 for $307 million; Musk receives about $22 million
Founds X.com, an online bank
He puts about $12 million of his Zip2 proceeds into one of the first federally insured online banks.
Married to Justine Wilson
–Musk met the Canadian author at Queen's University. They have six children together; the marriage ends in divorce in 2008.
X.com merges with Confinity, the maker of PayPal
Musk becomes CEO of the merged company, whose PayPal email-payment product quickly becomes its focus.
Ousted as CEO of X.com
While Musk is traveling, the board replaces him with Peter Thiel amid disputes over moving the system to Microsoft software. He stays on as the largest shareholder.
Becomes a naturalized U.S. citizen
First son, Nevada, dies of SIDS at 10 weeks old
SpaceX founded
Space Exploration Technologies is incorporated with about $100 million of Musk's money, with operations in El Segundo commonly dated from May 2002. Musk is CEO and chief engineer.
eBay acquires PayPal for $1.5 billion; Musk receives about $176 million
The proceeds fund SpaceX and his early investment in Tesla.
Tesla chairman
–Musk leads Tesla's $7.5 million Series A with $6.5 million of his own money and becomes chairman of the board, a post he gives up under a 2018 SEC settlement.
First Falcon 1 launch fails from Kwajalein
A fuel leak and fire end the flight about 30 seconds after liftoff.
SolarCity founded by his cousins Lyndon and Peter Rive
Musk suggests the solar-installation business, provides most of the startup capital and becomes chairman.
Tesla Roadster prototype unveiled in Santa Monica
Publishes "The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan"
Build a sports car, use the money to build an affordable car, use that money to build an even more affordable car, and provide zero-emission power generation.
NASA awards SpaceX a $278 million COTS contract
The Commercial Orbital Transportation Services award funds development of Falcon 9 and Dragon.
Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard pushed out as CEO
Tesla Roadster production begins; Musk takes the first car
The Lotus-based Roadster becomes the first highway-legal production car with lithium-ion cells.
Third Falcon 1 launch fails at stage separation
With three failures, Musk says SpaceX has enough money for only one more attempt.
Falcon 1 reaches orbit on its fourth attempt
It is the first privately developed liquid-fueled rocket to reach Earth orbit.
Becomes CEO of Tesla
He takes over amid the financial crisis, cutting staff and pouring in his own money.
NASA awards SpaceX a $1.6 billion cargo resupply contract
The Commercial Resupply Services deal for 12 Dragon flights to the ISS rescues SpaceX from near-bankruptcy.
Last-minute funding round saves Tesla from bankruptcy
A $40 million round closes on Christmas Eve, much of it from Musk, who later says he was down to his last cash.
Tesla wins a $465 million Department of Energy loan
Falcon 9 first flight
Tesla IPO on Nasdaq at $17 a share
It is the first U.S. automaker IPO since Ford in 1956, raising about $226 million.
First marriage to Talulah Riley
–They marry at Dornoch Cathedral in Scotland. Musk announces their split in January 2012.
Dragon becomes the first commercial spacecraft recovered from orbit
Dragon becomes the first commercial spacecraft to berth with the ISS
Launched May 22, the demonstration flight delivers cargo and returns to Earth.
Tesla Model S deliveries begin
The sedan wins Motor Trend Car of the Year in November 2012.
Tesla Supercharger network unveiled
Tesla repays its DOE loan nine years early
It comes two weeks after Tesla reports its first quarterly profit.
Publishes the Hyperloop Alpha white paper
He proposes pods in low-pressure tubes carrying passengers between Los Angeles and San Francisco in about 35 minutes, and open-sources the idea.
"All Our Patent Are Belong To You": Tesla opens its patents
NASA picks SpaceX to fly astronauts under a $2.6 billion Commercial Crew contract
Announces a SpaceX satellite-internet constellation in Seattle
The project becomes Starlink.
Tesla Energy launched with the Powerwall home battery
Falcon 9 breaks up carrying the CRS-7 cargo mission
Tesla Model X deliveries begin
Tesla turns on Autopilot by over-the-air update
On the OpenAI board
–Musk co-founds the nonprofit AI lab with Sam Altman and others and is its largest early donor, giving about $38 million to $45 million by different accounts.
First landing of an orbital rocket booster
A Falcon 9 first stage lands at Cape Canaveral after launching 11 Orbcomm satellites.
Neuralink incorporated
Musk co-founds the brain-computer interface company in mid-2016 with a small team of scientists. Its existence becomes public in March 2017.
Tesla Model 3 unveiled; about 325,000 reservations in a week
First Falcon 9 landing on a drone ship at sea
Tesla agrees to buy SolarCity
Critics call the roughly $2.6 billion all-stock deal a bailout of a struggling company chaired by Musk.
Falcon 9 explodes on the pad with the AMOS-6 satellite
Unveils the Interplanetary Transport System for Mars colonization
His speech in Guadalajara outlines the giant reusable rocket that evolves into Starship.
All new Teslas get "full self-driving" hardware
Musk says the cars will drive themselves with later software; full autonomy goals slip for years.
Tesla completes the SolarCity acquisition
Joins President-elect Trump's business advisory councils
"Traffic is driving me nuts": tweets the idea for The Boring Company
The tunneling company is incorporated in January 2017 and begins digging beside SpaceX's Hawthorne headquarters.
First reflight of an orbital-class booster
A previously flown Falcon 9 first stage launches the SES-10 satellite and lands again.
Leaves Trump's advisory councils over the Paris climate withdrawal
First Tesla Model 3s handed to customers
Tesla Semi and second-generation Roadster unveiled
The Boring Company sells 20,000 "Not-A-Flamethrowers"
The $500 propane torches sell out within days, raising about $10 million.
Falcon Heavy debuts, launching Musk's own Tesla Roadster into space
The two side boosters land side by side at Cape Canaveral while "Starman" heads into a solar orbit.
Leaves the OpenAI board
OpenAI cites potential conflicts with Tesla's AI work; later court filings show disputes over control and a possible for-profit structure.
Tesla shareholders approve Musk's 2018 pay package
The 12-tranche stock-option award, later valued at about $56 billion, pays out only if Tesla hits steep market-value and operating targets.
Model 3 "production hell"
Musk sleeps at the Fremont factory and adds a tent assembly line; Tesla reaches 5,000 Model 3s a week at the end of June.
Offers a mini-submarine for the Thai cave rescue, then calls a diver "pedo guy"
The SpaceX-built capsule goes unused. After British caver Vernon Unsworth dismisses it, Musk attacks him on Twitter, leading to a defamation suit.
Tweets "funding secured" to take Tesla private at $420 a share
SEC sues Musk for securities fraud over the take-private tweets
SEC settlement: Musk steps down as Tesla chairman and pays $20 million
Tesla also pays $20 million and must pre-approve some of Musk's public statements. Robyn Denholm becomes chair in November.
The Boring Company unveils its Hawthorne test tunnel
Groundbreaking for Gigafactory Shanghai, Tesla's first plant abroad
Crew Dragon Demo-1 docks with the ISS uncrewed
Tesla Autonomy Day: Musk predicts a million robotaxis by 2020
Tesla shows its in-house self-driving chip; the robotaxi forecast is not met.
First 60 Starlink satellites launched
Neuralink's first public presentation
Musk shows a sewing-machine-like robot that inserts flexible electrode threads, with human trials as the goal.
Cybertruck unveiled; its "armor glass" cracks on stage
Jury finds Musk not liable for defaming cave diver Vernon Unsworth
Tweets that Tesla's stock price is "too high imo" and that he will sell his houses
The tweet briefly erases about $14 billion of Tesla's value; he sells his California homes over the following year.
Son X Æ A-12 born to Musk and Grimes
Demo-2: SpaceX flies NASA astronauts to the ISS
Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley ride the first crewed orbital launch from U.S. soil since 2011, and the first by a private company.
Tesla passes Toyota as the world's most valuable automaker
Neuralink demonstrates its implant in Gertrude the pig
Starlink public beta begins
The "Better Than Nothing Beta" offers about 50 to 150 Mbps in the northern U.S.
Says he has moved from California to Texas
He later lives in a small house near SpaceX's Starbase site in South Texas.
Tesla joins the S&P 500
Becomes the world's richest person
A Tesla stock surge lifts his fortune above $185 billion, passing Jeff Bezos.
Tesla discloses a $1.5 billion Bitcoin purchase
Musk's tweets also drive big swings in Dogecoin. Tesla stops accepting Bitcoin for cars in May 2021, citing energy use.
Las Vegas Convention Center Loop opens
The Boring Company's first commercial system carries people in Teslas through 1.7 miles of tunnels.
Neuralink shows a monkey playing Pong with its mind
SpaceX wins NASA's $2.89 billion Artemis moon-lander contract
Starship SN15 completes the first successful high-altitude landing
Hosts Saturday Night Live and says he has Asperger's syndrome
Tesla AI Day announces the Optimus humanoid robot
Inspiration4, the first all-civilian orbital flight
Billionaire Jared Isaacman and three others spend three days in orbit on a Crew Dragon.
Tesla's market value passes $1 trillion
Asks Twitter followers whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla stock
About 58% vote yes; he sells more than $16 billion of shares by year-end and pays about $11 billion in taxes for 2021.
Tesla moves its headquarters to Austin, Texas
Named Time Person of the Year
Activates Starlink in Ukraine after Russia's invasion
He responds within hours to a public request from Ukraine's digital minister; Starlink terminals become vital to Ukraine's military and civilians.
Gigafactory Berlin opens; Musk dances on stage
Discloses a 9.2% stake in Twitter, becoming its largest shareholder
He is offered a board seat, then turns it down on April 11.
Offers to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share, about $44 billion
He says he wants to unlock Twitter's potential as a platform for free speech. Twitter adopts a poison pill the next day.
Twitter's board accepts Musk's takeover offer
To fund it, he sells about $39 billion of Tesla stock over 2022.
Says he will now vote Republican
After years of mostly backing Democrats, he says the party has become one "of division & hate."
Moves to terminate the Twitter deal
Twitter sues on July 12 in Delaware to force the purchase; a trial is set for October.
Agrees to complete the Twitter deal at the original price
CEO of Twitter
–Musk closes the $44 billion takeover, tweets "the bird is freed," fires CEO Parag Agrawal and other top executives, and takes Twitter private.
Twitter lays off about half its staff
About 3,700 jobs are cut; headcount falls roughly 80% over the following months.
Reinstates Donald Trump's Twitter account after a poll
He follows with a "general amnesty" for suspended accounts on November 24.
Loses the world's-richest title to Bernard Arnault
With Tesla shares sliding, he becomes the first person to lose $200 billion from his peak fortune.
Releases the "Twitter Files" on past moderation decisions
Asks users whether he should step down as Twitter CEO; 57.5% say yes
First integrated Starship flight explodes over the Gulf of Mexico
The world's largest rocket clears the pad but tumbles and is destroyed about four minutes in. The same day, Twitter removes legacy blue checks.
Names Linda Yaccarino CEO of Twitter
She starts June 5; Musk stays executive chairman and CTO.
FDA clears Neuralink's first human trial
An earlier application had been rejected in 2022 over safety concerns.
Launches xAI
Its stated goal is to "understand the true nature of the universe." The founding team includes researchers from DeepMind, OpenAI and Google.
Rebrands Twitter as X
The bird logo is replaced the next day as Musk pursues an "everything app."
Walter Isaacson's biography "Elon Musk" published
xAI unveils the Grok chatbot
Endorses an antisemitic conspiracy post; major advertisers leave X
Apple, Disney, IBM and others pause ads. Musk later apologizes for the post and visits Israel on November 27.
Cybertruck deliveries begin
Neuralink implants its first human patient, Noland Arbaugh
The quadriplegic patient soon controls a computer cursor and plays chess by thought.
Delaware judge voids Musk's $56 billion Tesla pay package
In Tornetta v. Musk, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick finds the 2018 award was not fairly negotiated. Musk urges companies to leave Delaware.
Sues OpenAI and Sam Altman for abandoning its nonprofit mission
He drops the state case in June and refiles in federal court in August 2024.
America PAC formed
Musk's super PAC becomes his main vehicle for backing Trump and Republicans, with about $277 million to $291 million spent in the 2024 cycle.
xAI raises $6 billion at a $24 billion valuation
Tesla shareholders re-approve his pay and move Tesla's incorporation to Texas
The Delaware court declines to recognize the re-vote in December 2024.
Endorses Donald Trump minutes after the Butler assassination attempt
Brazil's Supreme Court blocks X nationwide
–The ban follows Musk's refusal to name a legal representative and comply with account-blocking orders; X complies and service returns in October.
xAI's Colossus supercomputer comes online in Memphis
Built in about 122 days with 100,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs; its gas turbines draw pollution complaints.
Polaris Dawn: first commercial spacewalk
Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis step outside a Crew Dragon on September 12.
Jumps on stage at Trump's Butler rally, calling himself "dark MAGA"
Tesla's "We, Robot" event unveils the Cybercab
The two-seat robotaxi has no steering wheel or pedals; Optimus robots at the event are later shown to be partly remote-controlled.
SpaceX catches a Super Heavy booster with the launch tower's arms
Offers $1 million a day to swing-state voters signing his petition
A Philadelphia prosecutor sues to stop the giveaway, calling it an illegal lottery; a judge lets it continue.
Watches Trump win the election alongside him at Mar-a-Lago
He was the largest individual donor of the 2024 cycle.
Trump names Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead DOGE
Becomes the first person worth $400 billion
A SpaceX share sale valuing the company at about $350 billion and a post-election Tesla rally lift his fortune.
Posts "Only the AfD can save Germany"
He follows with a Welt am Sonntag op-ed, a January livestream with AfD leader Alice Weidel, and a video speech to an AfD rally on January 25.
Inauguration-rally arm gesture sparks international controversy
Critics liken the gesture to a Nazi salute; Musk dismisses the comparison as a smear.
Leads DOGE as a special government employee
–An executive order on Inauguration Day creates DOGE from the U.S. Digital Service; Ramaswamy leaves the same day. Musk's teams cut contracts, grants and staff across federal agencies.
Says DOGE spent the weekend "feeding USAID into the wood chipper"
The foreign-aid agency is largely shut down in the following weeks, prompting lawsuits.
Leads a $97.4 billion bid for OpenAI's nonprofit
Sam Altman replies "no thank you" and OpenAI's board rejects it days later.
Federal workers told to list "what you did last week" or face dismissal
Several agencies tell staff to ignore Musk's demand.
"Tesla Takedown" protests spread as sales slump
Demonstrations and some vandalism target Tesla sites; on March 11 Trump buys a Tesla at a White House showcase.
xAI acquires X in an all-stock deal
The deal values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45 billion with debt).
Leaves government with an Oval Office send-off
He leaves after about 130 days. DOGE claims far larger savings than independent analysts can verify.
Public feud with Trump erupts
After calling Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" a "disgusting abomination," Musk claims Trump is in the Epstein files; Trump threatens his federal contracts. Musk deletes the Epstein post and later says he regrets some posts.
Tesla launches a small robotaxi service in Austin
Model Ys run with safety monitors in the passenger seat.
Announces the America Party
He launches it the day after Trump signs the spending bill, but the effort stalls within weeks.
Grok posts antisemitic content and calls itself "MechaHitler"
xAI deletes the posts and apologizes, blaming a system update.
Linda Yaccarino resigns as CEO of X
xAI releases Grok 4
Tenth Starship flight succeeds after three straight failures
Becomes the first person worth $500 billion
xAI launches Grokipedia
Musk pitches the AI-written encyclopedia as an alternative to Wikipedia, which he calls biased.
Tesla shareholders approve a pay package worth up to $1 trillion
More than 75% vote for the award, tied to targets such as an $8.5 trillion market value, a million Optimus robots and a million robotaxis.
EU fines X €120 million under the Digital Services Act
It is the first DSA penalty, over blue checks, ad transparency and data access. Musk calls for abolishing the EU.
Delaware Supreme Court reinstates his 2018 Tesla pay package
Reversing the 2024 ruling pushes his net worth past $700 billion.
Grok sexualized-deepfake scandal
After Grok is used to make nonconsensual sexual images of real people, UK leaders and other governments condemn X; xAI limits image generation to paying users.
Tesla reports a second annual sales drop and ends Model S and X
2025 deliveries fall 8.6% to about 1.64 million; Fremont's S and X lines are converted to build Optimus.
SpaceX acquires xAI, creating a $1.25 trillion company
The all-stock deal values SpaceX at $1 trillion and xAI, which owns X, at $250 billion, lifting Musk's fortune to about $852 billion.
Jury finds him liable for misleading Twitter investors in 2022
In Pampena v. Musk, the jury finds two May 2022 tweets about the deal misleading but rejects claims of a broader scheme.
SpaceX files to go public
Jury rejects his lawsuit against OpenAI
After 11 days of testimony in Oakland, the jury finds unanimously that his claims were filed too late. Musk says he will appeal.
SpaceX IPO makes Musk the first trillionaire
The record offering raises about $75 billion at $135 a share; the stock closes its first day near $161.
Tesla starts Cybercab production in Texas
Its robotaxi service is now running in seven U.S. metro areas.
Starship reaches orbit for the first time
Says Trump is "ultimately" responsible for limits on Ukraine's Starshield
He responds to reports that he ordered the military Starlink service in Ukraine throttled.
Unveils the second-generation Tesla Roadster
He promised the car in 2017; production is now slated for 2028.
Pledges a SpaceX share to every child in America
He says it will happen "next year" and be "the first of many."
Tesla starts early Optimus Gen 3 production at Fremont
Musk announces it on the Q3 earnings call, as Tesla's profit falls 43% amid heavy AI spending.
His midterm political giving tops $445 million
This includes $77 million to America PAC, making him the largest donor to Republicans in the 2026 midterms.
135 more in the interactive timeline.
Open interactive timeline