How Elon Musk went a Silicon Valley intern to becoming President Donald Trump's right-hand man
Elon Musk's unexpected entry into the wild US political landscape during 2024 has catapulted the billionaire entrepreneur onto the doorstep of the White House.
Musk, who was once a Democratic voter, has quickly carved out a role as a senior advisor in the West Wing and President Donald Trump's right-hand man.
The South African-born Space X founder has long made headlines for his staggering wealth and lucrative tech endeavours – but how did he find himself standing next to Trump?
Here, we track his rise from a Silicon Valley intern to savvy investor and, now, controversial political figure.
See all the photos here.
Following his move to California, Musk co-founded a software company called Zip2 alongside Greg Kouri and his brother, Kimbal.
It was a tool to help newspapers transform in the digital age – and Musk reportedly got the idea while on an internship and a Yellow Pages salesman came to the door to pitch an online business listing.
After selling Zip2 in 1999, Musk founded X.com, which later became online payments platform PayPal.
Musk married his first wife, Canadian author Justine Wilson, in 2000 and they had six children together.
They divorced in 2008.
When eBay bought PayPal in 2002, Musk earned over $175 million ($278 million) from the sale.
Already now a multi-millionaire, Musk went on to create his most famous company to date, Space X.
A few years later, Musk became involved with Tesla.
The billionaire, while a crucial early investor in Tesla, isn't technically one of the electric car giant's original founders.
He became Tesla's chief executive and product architect in 2008.
Elon Musk pictured with his second wife Talulah Riley in 2009.
Musk and Riley married each other twice – once in 2010 and again in 2013 after they divorced.
Musk and Riley seen at the Orange British Academy Film Awards in 2011.
Musk officially became a billionaire in 2012, when he was listed on the Forbes Billionaire List in 2012.
At the time, he had a net worth of around $2 billion.
Musk, pictured here with Riley at a state dinner hosted by then-US President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama in 2014, was once a Democratic voter.
Over the next few years, Musk began co-founding multiple successful tech businesses including OpenAI and Neuralink.
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