Elon Musk biography: the 55-year-old Tesla and SpaceX CEO age, family, children, net worth, and the 2026 SpaceX IPO that briefly made him a trillionaire.
Elon Musk remains the world’s most closely watched entrepreneur, and 2026 has already been one of the biggest years of his career. In June, SpaceX completed the largest initial public offering in history, briefly making Musk the first trillionaire ever recorded on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This Elon Musk biography covers his age, early life, business empire, family, net worth, and the latest developments from a year defined by record-breaking wealth alongside fresh political and legal controversy.
Musk built his fortune and reputation running Tesla and SpaceX, later adding X (formerly Twitter), xAI, Neuralink, and The Boring Company to a business empire that touches electric vehicles, rockets, artificial intelligence, social media, and brain-computer interfaces. His growing involvement in U.S. politics, from leading the Department of Government Efficiency to launching his own political party, has made him as much a political lightning rod as a business icon.
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Quick Facts About Elon Musk
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Elon Reeve Musk |
| Date of Birth | June 28, 1971 |
| Age | 55 (as of July 2026) |
| Birthplace | Pretoria, South Africa |
| Profession | Entrepreneur, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI |
| Net Worth | Estimated $800 billion (fluctuating; briefly exceeded $1 trillion in June 2026) |
| Children | 14 reported, across several relationships |
| Education | University of Pennsylvania (physics and economics); attended Stanford briefly |
| Famous For | Tesla, SpaceX, X (Twitter), Starlink, first trillionaire in history |
| Current Status | CEO of Tesla and SpaceX; involved in ongoing political and legal controversies |
Early Life and Family
Elon Reeve Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa, to Maye Musk, a model and dietitian, and Errol Musk, an engineer. He has a younger brother, Kimbal Musk, and a younger sister, Tosca Musk, both of whom have gone on to their own business and entertainment careers. Musk has described a difficult childhood marked by bullying at school and a strained relationship with his father.
At 17, Musk left South Africa for Canada, partly to avoid mandatory military service under apartheid, and enrolled at Queen’s University before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned degrees in physics and economics. He briefly began a PhD program in applied physics at Stanford University in 1995 but left after just two days to pursue a career during the early internet boom, a decision that set the direction for the rest of his career.
Business Career: From Zip2 to a Trillion-Dollar Empire
Musk’s business career began with Zip2, an online city-guide software company he co-founded in 1995 and sold four years later for more than $300 million. He then founded X.com, an online payments company that merged with a rival to become PayPal, which eBay acquired in 2002 for $1.5 billion. Musk used much of that windfall to found SpaceX in 2002 and to become an early investor in Tesla, joining the electric automaker’s board in 2004 and becoming CEO in 2008 after the company nearly collapsed during the financial crisis.
Over the following two decades, Musk built out a sprawling business empire: Neuralink, focused on brain-computer interfaces, and The Boring Company, focused on tunnel infrastructure, both launched in 2016. In 2022, he acquired Twitter for $44 billion and later rebranded it as X. In 2023, he founded the artificial intelligence company xAI, developer of the Grok chatbot, which SpaceX formally acquired in February 2026, folding AI operations into the rocket company’s business alongside Starlink and its core launch business.
Latest News: The SpaceX IPO and Trillionaire Status
SpaceX completed its long-awaited initial public offering on June 12, 2026, pricing shares at $135 and raising approximately $75 billion, the largest IPO in history. The listing briefly valued SpaceX above $2 trillion on its first trading day and pushed Musk’s personal net worth past $1 trillion, making him the first person ever recorded crossing that threshold on a major billionaire index. The company’s public debut also formally brought Starlink, Musk’s satellite internet business, and the newly acquired xAI operations under one publicly traded entity.
That milestone proved short-lived. By mid-July 2026, SpaceX shares had fallen well below their IPO price amid a broader tech selloff, pulling Musk’s net worth back down to roughly $800 billion and ending his trillionaire status for the time being. Around the same period, the Wisconsin Elections Commission referred allegations against Musk to the Brown County district attorney’s office, finding that his 2025 practice of promising $1 million checks to voters who signed a petition likely violated state election bribery laws. Prosecutors have weeks to determine whether to pursue charges.
Political Activities
Musk’s political profile expanded dramatically after he backed Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign and was appointed to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency in early 2025, an initiative aimed at cutting federal spending. His relationship with Trump later deteriorated publicly over disagreements about federal spending legislation, and in July 2025 Musk announced he had formed a new political party, the America Party, aiming to contest a small number of competitive congressional races in the 2026 midterms rather than run a full national slate. The party’s practical impact and formal registration status have remained uncertain, with reports suggesting Musk has at times scaled back his involvement to focus on his companies.
Musk also drew significant controversy in January 2025 when he made a gesture at a rally that many observers characterized as resembling a Nazi salute, a moment that sparked international backlash, including protest movements targeting Tesla and calls from some European politicians for restrictions on his activities. Musk and his supporters disputed that characterization of the gesture.
Personal Life
Musk has been married multiple times, including to author Justine Wilson, with whom he had several children, and actress Talulah Riley, whom he married and divorced twice. He later had a high-profile relationship with musician Grimes, with whom he shares several children, and has additional children with Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis. Across his relationships, Musk is widely reported to have fathered around 14 children, making his family life a recurring subject of media coverage. He has spoken publicly about his concerns over declining birth rates as part of his rationale for having a large family.
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Net Worth and Wealth Sources
Elon Musk’s net worth is estimated at roughly $800 billion as of late July 2026, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after briefly surpassing $1 trillion in the days following the SpaceX IPO. His fortune is built primarily on his ownership stakes in SpaceX, now publicly traded, and Tesla, supplemented by his holdings in X, xAI, Neuralink, and The Boring Company. Because the bulk of his wealth is tied to volatile stock prices rather than cash, his net worth can swing by tens of billions of dollars within a single trading day.
Final Thoughts
Elon Musk’s 2026 has captured the extremes that have defined his entire career: unprecedented financial triumph, punctuated almost immediately by volatility and controversy. Becoming history’s first trillionaire through the SpaceX IPO cemented his status as the most consequential entrepreneur of his generation, even as that milestone proved fleeting within weeks.
Between his sprawling business empire, his increasingly complicated political ventures, and the legal scrutiny now following him from the 2025 election cycle, Musk’s story remains very much unfinished. However the SpaceX stock, the America Party, and the Wisconsin investigation play out, few figures in modern business or politics generate as much sustained global attention.
People Also Ask
How old is Elon Musk?
Elon Musk was born on June 28, 1971, making him 55 years old as of July 2026.
What is Elon Musk’s net worth right now?
His net worth is estimated at roughly $800 billion as of late July 2026, down from a brief peak above $1 trillion following SpaceX’s June 2026 IPO.
Did Elon Musk really become a trillionaire?
Yes, briefly. The SpaceX IPO on June 12, 2026, pushed his net worth past $1 trillion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, though the value declined in the weeks that followed as SpaceX shares pulled back.
How many children does Elon Musk have?
Musk is widely reported to have around 14 children across several relationships, including with Justine Wilson, Grimes, and Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis.
