Elon Musk has helped launch 6 companies over the years, including electric vehicle maker Tesla, aerospace company SpaceX, and artificial intelligence firm xAI.
His association with Tesla began in 2004, when he first invested in the company. Musk later took over as CEO in 2008 and has continued to lead the automaker since then.
Musk holds roughly 12 percent of Tesla’s shares, giving him a major ownership position in the company, as per Forbes. In addition to the shares he owns, Musk also has stock options that could allow him to purchase another 8 percent stake in Tesla.
In 2022, Musk led the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, taking the social media platform private in one of the most high-profile tech deals of the decade.
Three years later, in 2025, Twitter was merged with xAI, creating a combined company that was valued at around $113 billion after accounting for debt.
SpaceX, which Musk founded in 2002, later absorbed xAI in a major corporate move announced in February 2026.
That transaction valued the combined SpaceX and xAI entity at about $1.25 trillion, pushing Musk’s space company into the ranks of the world’s most valuable private firms.
Musk is believed to control about 43 percent of SpaceX, making him the dominant shareholder in the company.
Apart from Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, Musk also started The Boring Company, a venture focused on underground tunnel transportation systems.
He is also behind Neuralink, a company developing brain-computer interface technology aimed at connecting human brains directly with machines.
