Elon Musk biography & net worth

Net-worth

Musk became the first person in history to boast a net worth of $400 billion or more in December 2024. The Washington Post reported the entrepreneur’s net worth grew by more than $200 billion that year. The unprecedented feat followed Musk’s historic milestone of becoming the first person to lose $200 billion at the end of 2022..

According to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List, Musk is worth $432.1 billion as of May 29, 2025. Bloomsburg’s estimate is lower, totaling Musk’s fortune at $386 billion. Because much of his net worth is tied up in stock, Musk’s wealth is highly variable.s of February 2025.

Elon Musk: Birth Date, place, Spouses And Children

Musk Biography

personal Life:

Ex-Wives and Children

Although Musk is currently single, he has been married three times to two women and has 13 living children. His firstborn died as an infant.

Ex-Wife Justine Musk

In 2000, the entrepreneur wed Justine Wilson, who then changed her last name to Musk. They met as students at Queen’s University.

In 2002, their first son, Nevada, died at 10 weeks old from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The loss didn’t prevent them from growing their family later on. Elon and Justine welcomed twins, Griffin and Vivian, in 2004 followed by triplets—Kai, Saxon, and Damian—in two years later. All five children were conceived through in vitro fertilization.

Vivian is transgender and legally changed her name to Vivian Jenna Wilson in 2022. She doesn’t wish to be associated with Elon in any way. In a 2024 interview with NBC News, she called her father “uncaring and narcissistic” and said he was cruel to her as a child for being queer.

Ultimately, Elon and Justine’s marriage broke down. Their contentious divorce was finalized in 2008.

Ex-Wife Talulah Riley

Elon Musk and actor Talulah Riley have been married and divorced twice.

Musk met actor Talulah Riley after his first marriage collapsed. Today, she is best known for her roles in the 2005 movie Pride & Prejudice and the TV show West world.

Musk and Riley married in 2010 but split by 2012. They decided to marry again in 2013, but their relationship ultimately ended in a second divorce in 2016.

Relationship with Amber Heard

Musk reportedly began dating actor Amber Heard in 2016 after finalizing his second divorce with Riley and following Heard’s divorce from actor Johnny Depp. Their busy schedules caused Musk and Heard to break up in August 2017. The couple got back together in January 2018 and split again one month later.

Relationship with Grimes

elon musk and grimes standing next to each other and smiling with a crowd of people around

Elon Musk and Grimes attend the Met Gala in May 2018.

In May 2018, Musk began dating musician Grimes, whose real name is Claire Boucher. That month, Grimes announced she had changed her name to “c,” the symbol for the speed of light, reportedly at the encouragement of Musk. Fans criticized the feminist performer for dating a billionaire whose company had been described as a “predator zone” amid accusations of sexual harassment.

However, the couple discussed their love for one another in a March 2019 feature in the Wall Street Journal Magazine. Musk told the Journal, “I love c’s wild fae artistic creativity and hyper-intense work ethic.”

Grimes gave birth to their first son in early May 2020, with Musk announcing they named the boy X Æ A-12. The name was partly inspired by the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft. Later in the month, after it was reported that the State of California wouldn’t accept a name with a number, the couple said they were changing their son’s name to X Æ A-Xii.

Musk and Grimes welcomed their second child, a daughter named Exa Dark Sideræl Musk, in December 2021. The child was delivered via a surrogate. In September 2023, journalist Walter Isaacson revealed in his biography about Musk that Grimes and Musk had a third child, a son named Techno Mechanicus and nicknamed “Tau.”

Grimes announced in March 2022 that she and Musk had broken up.

Kids with Shivon Zilis

During his relationship with Grimes, Musk quietly welcomed two children, a son named Strider and a daughter named Azure, with Shivon Zilis in November 2021. Zilis is the project director of his Neuralink company. Since then, she has had two more children with Musk. Their daughter Arcadia was born in February 2024, and they have another son named Seldon.

The New York Times reports Zilis and the kids live on a compound in Austin, Texas, that Musk helped purchase. The property includes two mansions and is close to a third home Musk regularly stays at when he’s in town. A day after the Times article was published, the entrepreneur told Page Six he didn’t own and isn’t building such a compound.

Son with Ashley St. Clair

In February 2025, conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair announced she had a brief romantic relationship with Musk that resulted in a baby boy, whose name is Romulus. Musk hasn’t confirmed his role as the boy’s father, though a paternity test confirmed he is. The would-be co-parents are currently in a custody lawsuit, as St. Clair is seeking full custody.

In 2000, Musk married Canadian-born author Justine Wilson, whom he met while attending Queen’s University. Their first son died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) when he was ten days old; they later had five children—a set of twins and a set of triplets, all boys—via in vitro fertilization. Musk and Wilson announced their separation in September 2008; they later divorced, remaining estranged but sharing joint custody of their children. In September 2010, Musk married British actor Talulah Riley-Milburn. They announced the end of their relationship in January 2012 but subsequently remarried in 2013. They were divorced again in 2016. In 2018, Musk began dating musician Grimes. The couple had a son, in May 2020. In December 2021, Grimes gave birth to the couple’s second child, named Exa Dark Sidereal. Musk also had twin children with Canadian venture capitalist Shivon Zillis, born in November 2021. Zillis and Musk had worked together at Neuralink. In 2023, Musk revealed that he and Grimes had a third child together, named Techno “Tau” Mechanicus. On September 29, 2023, Grimes filed a petition against Musk to establish a parental relationship in the San Francisco Superior Court in California.Elon Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, Transvaal (now Gauteng), South Africa, one of three children born to Canadian model and dietitian Maye Musk (née Haldeman) and South African engineer Errol Musk, now divorced. Elon spent his early childhood with his brother, Kimbal, and sister, Tosca, in South Africa. His parents divorced when he was 10.

Musk Contributions towards his Nation/Country

Details:Elon Musk used his technology skills and business savvy to become a successful US-based serial entrepreneur. His first company, Zip2, which he co-founded with his brother shortly after leaving the graduate physics program at Stanford University, provided online content publishing software for local news organizations and was acquired by Compaq. As a founder and early driving force behind the online payment-processing company PayPal, Musk reaped significant financial rewards from PayPal’s initial public offering (IPO) in early 2002—the first successful IPO of a technology company after the US terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. After eBay acquired the post-IPO PayPal later in 2002, Musk then used the significant wealth he had accumulated to co-found, invest in, and become chief executive officer (CEO) of both Space Exploration Technologies (Space X) and Tesla Motors. In these roles, Musk is largely credited with having developed the Falcon 9/Dragon, a commercial successor to the Space Shuttle, and the Tesla Roadster, the first viable electric car of the modern era. Under his direction, Tesla also invested heavily in developing self-driving vehicle technologies. In 2022, Musk made headlines for purchasing social media giant Twitter and initiating a number of changes at the company, including renaming it to X in July 2023. He subsequently became increasingly involved in American politics, wielding significant influence over Donald Trump’s successful second bid for the US presidency in 2024.

SpaceX

In 2002, Musk reportedly used $100 million of his own money to found Space Exploration Technologies (Space X), which develops rockets and spacecraft. Products include Falcon 1, a launch vehicle that in 2008 became the first privately developed liquid-fuel rocket to put a satellite into Earth orbit; Falcon 9, also a launch vehicle, which in 2012 became the first privately developed rocket of any type to deliver to the International Space Station (ISS); and Dragon, a free-flying, reusable spacecraft used to transport cargo and crew members into low Earth orbit, which in 2012 was launched to the ISS using Space X’s Falcon 9.

In December 2008, Space X was awarded a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) contract having a value of up to $3.1 billion for not less than twelve flights of its Falcon 9/Dragon to the ISS, replacing the Space Shuttle after it retired in 2011. During the second phase of its Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program, NASA supplied funding for Space X to develop refinements that would enable Dragon to carry a crew. By August 2017, Space X had flown twelve resupply missions to the ISS. December 2015 marked the first Falcon 9 landing, an unprecedented feat for an orbital-class rocket. Another Space X product became the world’s most powerful rocket, possessing the ability to carry payload weighing more than twice the payload of the US Space Shuttle (the next closest vehicle). Falcon Heavy made its first launch in February 2018, with a Tesla Roadster on board.

In addition to having been the primary founder and funder of Space X, Musk has been its CEO and chief technology officer. He envisions humans one day colonizing other planets such as Mars, a desire that has fueled the Space X mission from its inception. Toward that goal, Musk announced in September 2016 the Interplanetary Transport System program that will create the technology needed to support interplanetary space travel. Musk also continued to promote Space X, unveiling a new plan for the massive BFR rocket in 2017 and discussing a planned mission to Mars. He further announced in February 2017 that two wealthy individuals had contracted with Space X to travel around the moon in a Dragon spacecraft in 2018, which would for all accounts be the first instance of tourism in space. The flight was later delayed. In 2018, Musk announced his company had been cleared to launch a system of low-orbit satellites aimed at providing improved internet service. By 2021, that system, called Star link, was providing high-speed broadband internet to rural areas of the US that previously had little or no access to reliable internet, with plans to expand the service globally.

Space X made headlines in early 2018 for its mysterious Zuma mission, in which it launched a satellite of unknown function for an unidentified government agency. Because of the classified nature of the payload, much speculation arose about whether the launch was in fact successful or not. Another notable launch in 2018 brought the ISS supplies that included an experimental device intended to help remove dangerous space debris from orbit around the earth. Space X also continued its efforts to improve the re usability of its rockets, though it had trouble in attempts to recover fairings from spent rockets. In 2019, Space X launched the Crew Dragon, which became the first US spacecraft to autonomously dock to the ISS. In March 2020, Space X launched its twentieth commercial resupply services mission, using the Dragon to launch the commercial Bartholomew payload hosting platform to the ISS.

In May 2020 Musk realized his goal of returning human spaceflight to the United States when the Dragon spacecraft completed a successful mission to and from the ISS, carrying two NASA astronauts onboard. Later that year, NASA certified Space X’s human spaceflight system for crew missions to the ISS, making Space X the first commercial operation to achieve that certification. Space X completed two more crewed flights to the ISS: one in November 2020 and one in April 2021. The April 2021 launch was the first spaceflight in history to reuse both its Dragon spacecraft and the Falcon 9 rocket. Previously, most rockets were designed to burn upon reentry and thus could only be used once. Also in 2021 Space X launched the Inspiration4 mission, which became the first all-civilian spaceflight, when it sent four private citizens to orbit Earth for three days aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft. Meanwhile, the company’s Star link system continued to expand, with over 4,300 satellites in orbit by mid-2023.

In April 2023 Space X conducted its first test of its Starship rocket, the largest and most powerful rocket flown up to that point in history. However, after numerous issues during its launch, the Starship rocket disintegrated less than four minutes into its flight. Despite this setback, Musk said this initial test met his expectations and predicted that Space X would attempt another launch in the near future. In November 2023, Space X launched its second test of Starship, which reached a number of milestones that the initial test in April failed to attain. The capsule spent several minutes roughly ninety miles above Earth’s surface before Space X lost its signal. In March 2024 Space X conducted the third test launch of Starship, during which Starship traveled its farthest distance into space up to that point and completed almost its entire test flight; however, upon reentry into Earth’s atmosphere, Space X lost contact with Starship, which disintegrated during its return to the planned crash location in the Indian Ocean. Suborbital test flights of Starship continued to make progress throughout 2024, and all elements of the spacecraft successfully survived reentry to Earth’s atmosphere and landing on Earth’s surface during Starship June, October, and November flights.

Tesla and Solar City

In 2003, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning co-founded Tesla Motors (now Tesla, Inc.), a car company solely devoted to producing electric cars. Musk and two others joined the company at an early stage and are now also considered to be part of the founding team; Musk in particular led the series A round of investment in February 2004. It is reported that he has used nearly $50 million of his own money to participate in the various funding rounds of Tesla, where he became its first chair and product architect, helping design the groundbreaking Tesla Roadster. Musk, who became CEO of the company in October 2008, has been credited with many of the company’s achievements, including the design, engineering, and manufacturing of Tesla products; launching the company’s regional sales and service centers across two continents; securing a $50 million investment and strategic partnership from Germany’s Daimler; spearheading a successful cost-down program that enabled the company to achieve profitability in mid-2009; and guiding development of the Model S, an all-electric luxury sedan that debuted production in 2012. In October 2014, the company unveiled a new dual-motor version of the Model S that enabled the new vehicles to be all-wheel drive and have a longer range. Its first all-electric sport-utility vehicle (SUV), the Model X, was announced in 2015. The same year, Tesla, under Musk’s direction, moved into the energy-storage market with a battery wall pack specifically for solar electricity, tying in with another Musk venture, Solar City.

In 2006, Musk reportedly provided the initial concept for and (again) used his own money to help launch Solar City, the largest US provider of solar power systems to homes, business, and government. Unlike Space X and Tesla, Solar City initially saw Musk take a limited operational role; the company’s co-founders, his cousins Peter and Lyndon Rive, ran the company on a day-to-day basis. With a 22 percent stake in Solar City as of August 2016, however, Musk remained the largest shareholder and chair of the board. In November 2016, Tesla stockholders voted to approve the $2.6 billion acquisition of Solar City, which Musk explained would enhance his vision of a diversified renewable energy company that can generate, store, and utilize alternative power for homes, cars, and businesses without the use of fossil fuels. Following the acquisition, Solar City became a subsidiary of Tesla, Inc., and was rolled into Tesla Energy. The Rives left the company in June and July 2017, leaving Musk in charge.

Meanwhile, Musk continued to receive criticism over Tesla’s struggles with production and profitability. After he carried out layoffs and restructuring that appeared to improve operations, he then drew significant attention in August 2018 for announcing he was considering making Tesla a private company. While the announcement drove company stock up, it attracted scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and lawsuits from investors over potential stock manipulation, and Musk later noted Tesla would remain public. He later openly discussed how the turmoil around Tesla took a heavy toll on his personal life and well-being. In September 2018, Musk gave rise to further controversy when he was seen smoking marijuana on air during an interview on The Joe Rogan Experience. (The interview took place in California, where marijuana was legal.) Tesla’s stock dropped 9 percent after the incident, but soon rebounded. Later that month, it was announced that Musk would step down as chair of Tesla’s board of directors and also pay a $20 million fine in an agreement with the SEC. He remained the CEO.

In the 2010s, Musk also began to face accusations of labor violations due to practices at a Tesla plant in California; in particular, he and his colleagues at Tesla allegedly practiced anti-union activities. A 2019 ruling by the National Labor Board required Musk to delete an anti-union tweet; additionally, Tesla was required to rehire a worker fired for union organizing.

In 2019, Musk appeared at the groundbreaking of Tesla’s first large-scale manufacturing plan outside the US—in China. That year, Tesla also unveiled two new car models: the Cyber truck, a vehicle combining the utility of a traditional truck with the performance of a sports car, and the Model Y compact SUV. The following year, Musk reduced his annual salary to zero dollars, while continuing to earn significant compensation through stock and performance bonuses.

By the mid-2010s, Tesla had begun pouring resources into developing self-driving cars, something Musk considered to be the future of the automotive industry. In 2014, Musk announced the development of Autopilot, which he considered to be a safe and effective self-driving system, and predicted that Tesla would eventually produce fully autonomous self-driving cars. Starting in October 2015, Tesla Model S drivers were able to use Autopilot features, and in 2021, Musk announced the release of a beta version of the company’s full self-driving technology (FSD). The rollout of this technology, which relied on cameras for a fully autonomous driving experience, was marred by multiple accidents, at least one of them fatal. These accidents brought negative publicity for both Musk and Tesla; by the end of 2021, the company faced an investigation from US auto regulators, as well as multiple lawsuits from crash victims.

In 2022, Musk led Tesla through a number of developments, including the release of the Tesla Semi, a semi-truck. Amid ongoing lawsuits related to issues with the company’s self-driving car technology, in July 2022 the company was forced to pay $10.5 million to the family of one victim of a fatal Tesla-related accident. While Musk criticized the conclusions of US government regulators who found issues with the company’s FSD technology, in February 2023 Tesla recalled 362,000 vehicles. That month, Musk also revealed that Tesla would establish a new engineering headquarters in Palo Alto, California, although he chose to keep the company’s corporate headquarters in Texas. Despite its legal challenges, Tesla remained a leader in the US EV market into the mid-2020s.

X.com

In April 2022, after weeks of negotiations, Musk spent roughly $44 billion to purchase Twitter after purchase musk remaned twitter to X one of the world’s leading social media companies; as part of the deal, Musk announced plans to make the company private. He promised to quintuple the company’s revenue by 2028, reduce its reliance on advertising revenue, and enact other changes, including greater transparency around the company’s technology and practices. However, the markets reacted unfavorably to this announcement, and Twitter’s market value fell by more than $125 billion by the end of April. Afterward, Musk began to distance himself from the deal and also began to further scrutinize the company’s practices. In July, Musk notified Twitter of his formal intent to cancel his purchase and withdraw from the deal; in response, the company sued Musk for breaching a legally binding agreement.

Despite these legal issues, in October 2022 Musk again changed his mind and decided to move forward with his purchase of Twitter, which was finalized at a total cost of $44 billion, or $54.20 a share. Musk’s purchase resulted in a number of immediate and sweeping changes at the company. After taking over, Musk fired Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and a number of executives, installed himself as CEO, and laid off a number of Twitter employees. In subsequent weeks, the company continued to fire much of its workforce and hundreds of employees resigned rather than continue to work under Musk’s leadership. Under Musk’s direction, Twitter’s system of user verification was overhauled, and an $8/month subscription fee was put in place for users who wanted to have a blue check mark on their profile, which signifies that the profile is verified. However, Twitter was forced to suspend sign-ups for this service, known as the Blue subscription service, due to a significant and sudden increase in fake profiles of notable people and brands successfully acquiring verification.

Musk’s dynamic shakeup of Twitter continued into November. That month, the company reinstated a number of previously banned accounts, including the account of former US president Donald Trump, whose account had been permanently suspended following the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol Building. Alongside the restoration of these accounts, some observers noted a significant increase in hate speech on the social media platform.

During the first months of 2023, Musk oversaw further changes at Twitter, including continued job cuts; by March, more than 3,750 employees had been laid off or fired, with some employees claiming they had been fired after criticizing Musk. An advisory firm that had been involved in Musk’s acquisition of Twitter also accused him of not paying for their services and filed a lawsuit against him. Despite these controversies, in March of that year Musk announced that Twitter’s financial situation had improved over the previous year and expressed hope that the company would become profitable within a few months. Meanwhile, a number of Twitter users reported issues, outages, and bugs with the site, which some observers blamed on job cuts among engineers responsible for keeping the site up and running.

One of Musk’s most significant changes at Twitter occurred in July 2023 when he renamed the company to X and replaced the company’s longtime logo, a blue bird, with the letter “X.” Meanwhile, Musk continued to make efforts to lure back companies and brands which had distanced themselves from the platform in the aftermath of his takeover. Despite these efforts, Musk revealed in July 2023 that Twitter’s advertising revenue had gone down 50 percent since his purchase of the company.

By that point, the company also faced renewed competition from longtime rival Meta, formerly known as Facebook. The same month that Twitter re-branded, Meta launched a new social media platform known as Threads, a text-based app intended to compete directly with Twitter. Amid this increased competition, Musk frequently and publicly feuded with Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta. During the summer of 2023, both men discussed engaging in a martial-arts fight against each other.

In November 2023, Musk stirred controversy after he replied to a post made by another user on X that expressed antisemitic beliefs. In his response, Musk reaffirmed that the post, which accused members of the Jewish faith of promoting hatred against White people, conveyed a factual sentiment. That same month, the nonprofit organization Media Matters reported that several prominent corporations’ advertising campaigns appeared next to antisemitic and White nationalist content posted on X. The report and Musk’s controversial comments spurred a mass departure of high-profile advertisers from X; several corporations, including IBM, Com-cast, and the Walt Disney Company, suspended their advertising campaigns on X and denounced Musk for his discriminatory behavior and promotion of hate speech. In late November, X filed a lawsuit against Media Matters, claiming its report contained defamatory information.

Other Projects

In 2016, Musk founded The Boring Company, a tunnel construction company that he began in the hopes of creating tunnels for cars to alleviate traffic congestion. In 2017, Musk announced that the company received government permission to construct a tunnel connecting New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, DC; however, the transit authorities of all four metropolitan areas denied any knowledge of such an agreement. Musk announced in March 2017 that the Boring Company would shift its priorities to creating passages for pedestrians and bicyclists, rather than cars. Nevertheless, in June of that year, the company won a contract with the city of Chicago to create a car route from O’Hare Airport to the city center.

In March 2017, Musk made a bet on Twitter with Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of the Australian software company Atlassian, that he would install the world’s largest lithium-ion battery in South Australia within one hundred days of signing an agreement with the state’s government; if he failed to meet the deadline, Musk would supply the battery, valued at $50 million or more, for free. The agreement was signed in September of that year, with a deadline of December 1; Musk had the battery installed and working by the end of November, winning the bet.

In September 2017, following the devastation caused in Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria, Musk donated $250,000 of his own money to the relief effort. He also had Tesla send hundreds of its Power wall batteries, designed to store solar energy and then supply it for later use, to the still-powerless island, along with employees to install the batteries and to either repair or install the associated solar panels. In late October, Bill Chappell reported for NPR that the solar-panel-and-battery systems had restored reliable power to the Hospital del Niño (children’s hospital) in San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital city. When a children’s soccer team was trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand in 2018, Musk constructed a miniature submarine that he hoped could be used to rescue the children; however, by the time the submarine was completed, eight of the twelve children had been rescued, and the Thai government opted not to try using it. Musk publicly feuded with several of the divers assisting in the rescue mission, who said that his submarine was impractical because it was rigid and could not have gotten around obstacles in the cave.

In 2016, Musk founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology company that primarily focuses on brain implant technology. In May 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Neuralink’s request to conduct clinical trials on human test subjects. The study, called Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface (PRIME), used robotics to surgically implant the company’s wireless brain-computer interface technology into the area of a subject’s brain that dictates the intention of movement. In September 2023, Neuralink began recruiting participants for the company’s first human clinical trials. The study specifically requested participants with quadriplegia due to a cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Musk announced on X in January 2024 that Neuralink completed its first implantation procedure on a human test subject. Musk maintained an optimistic outlook on the initial results and reported successful detection of neuron activity following the subject’s procedure.

Political Involvement

Although Musk began his involvement in American politics by donating to both sides of the aisle in the early 2000s, he increasingly supported Republican causes and candidates as the century progressed. By 2016, Musk had been appointed to President-elect Donald Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum, where he hoped to influence policies related to technology and space exploration. He also became part of President Trump’s Manufacturing Jobs Initiative, a move that some found controversial due to Musk’s stated disagreement with the Trump administration on many other issues. However, Musk defended his political advisory role as a way to further his goal of supporting a move to sustainable energy. He eventually stepped down from the positions in response to Trump’s withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Accord.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Musk publicly supported Ukraine. He gave financial support to the Ukrainian government, and also offered to provide free Starlink satellite service to people in Ukraine, allowing them to remain connected to the internet despite heavy fighting; by April, an estimated 150,000 people in Ukraine were using the service. Musk also became embroiled in high-profile Twitter disputes with individuals connected to the Russian government. He mocked Russian space officials for cutting the US off from access to Russian space rockets, and also offered to fight Russian president Vladimir Putin in “single combat.” In October, Musk’s offer to help arrange a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine was dismissed by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who criticized Musk for not fully understanding the conflict between the two countries. In August 2023, a former US Department of Defense official alleged that Musk had spoken directly to Putin at some point during the conflict to discuss a peace plan that he had proposed; this peace plan had drawn praise from the Russian government and criticism from Ukraine.

Musk subsequently played a notable role in Trump’s successful bid for a second term in office. He poured substantial resources and energy into Trump’s reelection campaign, including considerable financial contributions and public endorsements. Entering into Trump’s inner circle of advisors, he became a regular fixture at Trump’s private Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago, in the months leading up to the 2025 presidential inauguration. Furthermore, the media reported on Musk’s increasing alignment with far-right movements internationally, including the extremist Alternative for Germany party, and critics warned he could wield significant influence in future European elections as well

Adviser to Donald Trump

After Donald Trump was elected U.S. president in 2016, Musk found himself on common ground with the incoming commander-in-chief and his advisers as Trump announced plans to pursue massive infrastructure developments. That December, Musk was named to the president-elect’s Strategy and Policy Forum. Further solidifying their collaboration, he joined Trump’s Manufacturing Jobs Initiative in January 2017.

While sometimes at odds with the president’s controversial measures, such as a ban on immigrants from Muslim-majority countries, Musk defended his involvement with the new administration. “My goals,” he tweeted in early 2017, “are to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy and to help make humanity a multi-planet civilization, a consequence of which will be the creating of hundreds of thousands of jobs and a more inspiring future for all.”

Following Trump’s announcement in June 2017 that he was withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate accord, Musk stepped down from his advisory roles.

Elon Musk, who had served as an advisor in President Donald Trump’s first administration, took an active role in the Republican candidate’s 2024 reelection campaign.

Despite their uneven relationship during Trump’s first administration, Musk endorsed the Republican nominee for president in the 2024 election against Vice President Kamala Harris. Following an attempted assassination of Trump at a rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024, Musk said he would appear with Trump for another rally at the same location in October.

Later that month, Musk announced he would randomly give away $1 million dollars each day to a person who signed a petition from his political action committee supporting the Constitution as part of an effort to register voters who might support Trump. The giveaway became the subject of a lawsuit in Pennsylvania alleging it could improperly influence the November 5 election, but Musk’s lawyers argued that recipients were not actually chosen randomly, and a judge allowed the prizes to continue. Trump ultimately won a second term as president.

Musk had an up-close view of Trump’s inauguration come January 2025 and even spoke at a modified Presidential Parade, held indoors like the rest of the inaugural events on account of extreme cold. During his brief remarks, he made a straight-arm salute that caused controversy as some people likened it to the Nazi salute.

The president quickly appointed Musk to lead a temporary organization called the Department of Government Efficiency that works to cut unnecessary federal spending and modernize technology within the federal government. Trump granted DOGE 18 months to accomplish its mission before disbanding in early July 2026. “Elon Musk is a once in a generation business leader, and our federal bureaucracy will certainly benefit from his ideas and efficiency,” a Trump transition team spokesperson said.

DOGE announced a slew of deep cuts that have impacted more than 30 federal departments and agencies. Around 149,000 government employees have taken buyouts or been laid off, per The New York Times. Other downsizing has taken shape in the cancellation of contracts, grants, and office leases. Per its official website, DOGE estimates the measures are saving $175 billion. However, critics have pointed holes in the calculation, noting that some figures included in the total are contracts already set to expire, for example.

The activity has prompted many lawsuits, some regarding the constitutionality of the cuts, as well as backlash against Musk, who the White House has said is a senior presidential adviser and not the official DOGE administrator in court filings. Protestors took to demonstrating at or vandalizing Tesla showrooms, and some car owners sought to sell their models to distance themselves from the controversial billionaire.

Musk revealed he would be scaling back his work with DOGE in April 2025 to focus on Tesla after the company’s profits took a dive. In late May, however, he stepped down completely from his role as a top adviser to Trump. “As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,” Musk wrote in a social media post. “The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.”

SEC Investigation and Lawsuit

Not entirely surprising for the CEO of major public companies, Musk has at times faced scrutiny over his business decisions as well as his own investments. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigated the entrepreneur in 2018 after he floated the possibility of making Tesla a private company. Several years later, in 2025, the SEC filed a ongoing lawsuit against Musk concerning his shares in Twitter prior to purchasing the now-private company and renaming it.

Where Does Elon Musk Live?

In May 2020, Musk claimed in a series of social media posts he planned to sell nearly all of his physical possessions. According to biographer Walter Isaacson, this eventually spurred Musk to sell multiple properties and make a $50,000 rental home in Boca Chica, Texas, his primary residence. The house is located near SpaceX’s development and testing site.

Asperger’s Syndrome

In May 2021, Musk revealed while hosting an episode of the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live that he has Asperger’s syndrome, a developmental disorder that can cause difficulty with socialization and communication as well as obsessive interest in very specific topics. He elaborated further about his experience growing up with the condition a year later.

“I would just tend to take things very literally… but then that turned out to be wrong—[people were not] simply saying exactly what they mean, there’s all sorts of other things that are meant, and [it] took me a while to figure that out,” Musk explained at the TED2022 conference.

Religion and Political Views

Although long considered an atheist, Musk said in 2024 he considers himself a “cultural Christian” and believes in the teachings of Jesus Christ—even though he might not follow all tenets of the faith. “I do believe that the teachings of Jesus are good and wise,” he said in an interview with psychologist and podcast host Jordan Peterson.

This notable shift has coincided with Musk’s growing support of conservative political causes. He criticized lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and has used social media to amplify his beliefs related to free speech. According to PBS, he has shared memes and sometimes misinformation on X about topics such as illegal immigration, alleged U.S. election fraud, and transgender policies.

In broader terms, the boundless potential of space exploration and the preservation of the future of the human race have become the cornerstones of Musk’s abiding interests, and toward these, he has founded the Musk Foundation, which is dedicated to space exploration and the discovery of renewable and clean energy sources.