ChronoFive
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Setting the scene
Elon Reeve Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa, to a Canadian mother and South African father. He taught himself programming, sold a video game at 12, and immigrated to Canada then the United States for university.
What happened
He co-founded Zip2 and PayPal, then SpaceX in 2002 and Tesla's leadership path in 2004, pushing reusable rockets and electric vehicles. He acquired Twitter in 2022, renaming it X, and leads Neuralink and The Boring Company.
Why it still matters
Musk became the world's wealthiest person by net worth during Tesla's 2021 surge, then fluctuated with stock and crypto markets. Memorable detail: SpaceX's first three Falcon 1 launches failed; Musk said he had funding for only one more attempt before the fourth flight succeeded in 2008.
Background
Reusable rockets and EVs followed.