Elon Musk: A very quick guide to the Twitter and Tesla boss

12 April 2023

Who is Elon Musk?

He's rich, owns Twitter and wants to get to Mars. If you're not up to date with Elon Musk's colourful history, here's what you need to know.

He's one of the richest people in the world

Elon Musk's fortune is guessed to be worth about $200 billion - putting him in the top few spots on international rich lists. But that doesn't mean all that money is sitting in his bank account - the amount is worked out based on things he owns and what his companies are worth.

He made his first fortune with Paypal

Musk dropped out of the elite Stanford University in the USA to help launch two tech firms - one was Paypal, used to pay money on the internet. It was sold to auction giant eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion.

He then turned to electric cars and space rockets

He put his money into Tesla, becoming chief executive of the electric car maker in 2008, and rocket company SpaceX. Both companies have had bumpy rides along the way, but Musk is often credited with making them a success.

He boasts about being a workaholic

People who know Musk say he only invests in things that he believes can help the human race, and he's called Twitter an important place to share ideas. He told staff to to expect "extremely hardcore" working to achieve greatness. Thousands have been sacked - or quit - since he took over.

He paid $44 billion for Twitter... even if he might not have wanted to

Musk joined Twitter's management in March 2022 but disagreed a lot with its top bosses - so decided to buy the whole company. It was messy - Twitter rejected his offer, then accepted it, then Musk tried to pull out. In the end, the sale was sorted out just days before a big court battle.

He's made some big controversial changes

He said he bought Twitter to protect free speech, and quickly restored the accounts of banned users such as Donald Trump. Twitter's also charging people for the blue tick on big-name accounts that proves they are who they say they are. But some people think that makes it easier for fakers, who can just pay for the tick now, and big names like the New York Times say they won't hand over cash for it.

Even the BBC has had run ins

Its account was one among many labelled “government funded media”. The BBC objected, saying it’s mainly funded by British people through an annual charge, and not by taking money straight from the government. In an interview with the BBC in April, Musk said he would change the BBC’s Twitter label to “publicly funded”. The distinction might seem small, but the BBC says that’s how it keeps its independence.

He's been in trouble for his tweets

Musk has more than 119 million Twitter followers. In fact, he previously agreed to pay $20 million in fines over tweets about having "funding secured" to buy Tesla, which raised the stock price - but that never happened and the American business regulator wasn't happy. Part of the settlement involved putting limits on what Musk can tweet about Tesla.

He has many children

He has reportedly had a string of high-profile relationships including with actresses Tallulah Riley and Amber Heard, and musician Grimes. He and Grimes named one of their children 'X Æ A-12' - X for short.