Tech

Where is Elon Musk from?

The world’s richest man was not born in the United States.

by
Alex Gatewood
May 4, 2022

elon musk with a blurred globe in the background

Image: KnowTechie

We know a lot about eccentric billionaire Elon Musk. The world’s richest man is the founder of PayPal, CEO of Tesla, and the brains behind the development of SpaceX. But many people may not know where Elon Musk originally comes from.

Musk splits his business endeavors between California and Texas today, with Tesla recently migrating its headquarters to Austin, Texas. And he has been operating in America for a long time now after attending the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia back in 1992.

But where did Musk come from originally? The world’s richest man wasn’t born in the United States. And it took a couple of steps for him to reach his destination.

Where was Elon Musk born?

Short answer: Pretoria, South Africa

Elon Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa on June 28, 1971, to a South African father and Canadian mother. He spent the majority of his younger years there before moving to Canada in 1988, presumably to avoid the mandatory military service in South Africa during apartheid.

pretoria south africa on map — Image: KnowTechie

READ MORE: How old is Elon Musk?

After making his way to Canada, Musk began college at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania in 1992.

He finished his degree in physics there before attending Stanford for graduate school. However, Musk dropped out of Stanford fairly quickly to pursue his internet business.

He developed Zip2, an online business directory with maps in 1995. He sold that business in 1999 for a cool $307 million. Musk then went on to develop PayPal, SpaceX, and began his investment in Tesla. And the rest is history.

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