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Personal stories
Short, sourced explainers on the turning points in Elon Musk's life outside the companies, in the order they happened.
Childhood in Pretoria
Books, bullying, and the science fiction that shaped his mission-driven streak.
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Blastar
The space shooter he coded around age 12 and sold for about $500.
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Leaving South Africa
He left at 17 in 1989 for Canada on a passport through his mother, Maye Musk.
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McLaren F1 Crash
One of about 100 cars in the world, spun on Sand Hill Road with Peter Thiel aboard.
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PayPal Years
The board named a new chief executive in 2000, and his stake later funded SpaceX and Tesla.
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Near-Fatal Malaria
A vacation that ended at a South African game reserve put him in intensive care.
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2008 Near-Collapse
Divorce, a third Falcon 1 failure, and Tesla hours from bankruptcy.
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"Will Own No House" Pledge
The 2020 tweets and the mansions he sold, including Gene Wilder's old home.
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Asperger's Reveal on SNL
What he said on the 2021 broadcast and how he frames it.
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First Trillionaire
How the SpaceX listing made Elon Musk the first person worth $1 trillion, and how he crossed the mark again in October 2026.
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For the year-by-year view, read the Personal Life timeline.
