Elon Musk's business empire: The companies behind the world's richest man
Elon Musk has built several revolutionary companies including SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, and The Boring Company, becoming the first person to surpass a net worth of $500 billion.
Born in Pretoria, South Africa in 1971, Elon Musk achieved his first commercial success at age 12 by selling the source code for a video game called Blastar for about $500. He then co-founded Zip2 with his brother Kimbal, a company that helped newspapers bring local business listings and maps online. Zip2 was sold in 1999 for over $300 million, earning Musk about $22 million. He used that capital to launch X.com, which later became part of PayPal and was acquired by eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion; Musk reportedly received around $176 million from the deal.
In 2002, Musk founded SpaceX, investing roughly $100 million of his own money. The company, initially considered highly risky, debuted on Wall Street this month with a valuation of about $1.75 trillion, and its market capitalisation quickly surpassed $2 trillion. SpaceX owns Starlink, a satellite internet provider that generated $4.4 billion in operating income last year. However, not all Musk's ventures are profitable: xAI reported operating losses of $6.4 billion, and SpaceX itself posted an overall operating loss of $2.6 billion.
Musk has led Tesla since 2008, overseeing its rise to one of the world's most valuable companies. In 2024, Tesla lost its position as the largest EV manufacturer to China's BYD, and sales were affected by boycotts linked to Musk's political activities. Musk argues Tesla's future lies in autonomous driving and robotics, including the Optimus humanoid robot programme. Tesla's market capitalisation currently stands at about $1.5 trillion.
Neuralink, co-founded in 2016, develops brain-computer interface technology. The company has announced several successful implant procedures and had 21 trial participants as of January. The Boring Company, founded in 2016, is known for the Vegas Loop tunnel network under Las Vegas, using Tesla vehicles to transport passengers. It has faced criticism over environmental and safety concerns.
According to Forbes, Musk became the first person to surpass a net worth of $500 billion in October 2025. The vast majority of his fortune comes from retaining large ownership stakes in SpaceX and Tesla as their valuations soared.
