You may have known that Elon Musk was the brains behind PayPal (originally X.com) and then went on to found the electric vehicle company Tesla, but you might not know that he is from South Africa or that he sold his first invention as a 12 year old child. Yes, it’s true! One fact about Elon Musk is that he created a game called Blastar after teaching himself to code. He then sold it to a magazine called PC and Technology for $500, which for the time, and especially for a 12 year old, was big money! Continue on for seven more interesting Elon Musk facts!
7 Elon Musk Facts
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- In grade school, Elon Musk was relentlessly bullied. (source) It even landed him in the hospital after one particularly vicious attack.
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- Elon Musk is a citizen of three different countries. (source) Born in South Africa in 1971, he decided to attend Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada when he was 17 and got his citizenship there in 1989. He then transfered to the University of Pennsylvania and received his US citizenship in 2002.
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- Elon’s first big company was called Zip2. (source) Him and his brother Kimbal sold to Compaq computers in 1999 for $300 million.
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- At the University of Pennsylvania, Elon ran a nightclub out of his college house. (source) With help of his entrepreneur roommate Andeo Ressi, the two converted their college house into a nightclub to pay the rent.
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- When Elon wanted to start Space X, he didn’t find a single investor to help fund what they called a ‘pipe dream.’ (source) Elon had to put all of his own money into the project that would change his life and space travel forever.
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- Elon Musk is set to become the world’s first trillionaire. (source) While he is currently the richest person in the world, his $230 billion dollar net worth is expected to reach trillionaire status with the help of SpaceX.
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- Elon has signed the Giving Pledge. (source) The Giving Pledge is a commitment to give away at least half of the person’s fortune to charity and other philanthropy upon their passing.
