Whatever you think of Elon Musk, you can’t say he’s dull..The leader of Tesla, SpaceX, and X (Twitter) is the richest man on earth ($362.5 billion net worth) and an ally of President Donald Trump, heading the administration's Department of Government Efficiency.Although Musk is constantly in the news nowadays, there's a lot that many people don’t know about him.Here are 15 things you may not know about Elon Musk: 1. He Created A Video Game At 12 Years OldMusk taught himself computer programming and developed a game called Blastar, which he sold to a computer magazine in 1984 for about $500. It’s a space-themed shooter, and you can play it online here. 2. He Lived On $1 A Day In CollegeTo test his willpower and budgeting skills, Musk reportedly lived on just $1 a day for food during college at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, in 1990, surviving mostly on hot dogs and oranges. He wanted to prove to himself he could survive as an entrepreneur. 3. He Almost Sold Tesla To GoogleIn 2013, when Tesla was struggling financially, Musk approached Larry Page to sell Tesla to Google for about $6 billion. The deal almost went through, but Tesla’s sales picked up just in time, and the company recovered. 4. He Owns A James Bond CarMusk bought the Lotus Esprit submarine car from the 1977 Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me at auction for nearly $1 million in 2013. He plans to one day convert it into a working, real-life submarine car using Tesla tech. 5. He's Not A Founding Member Of TeslaAlthough often credited as a Tesla founder, Musk actually joined after the company was established in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. However, he became the largest investor in 2004 and later the electric car company's chief executive officer in 2008. 6. He Dropped Out Of A PhD Program After Two DaysMusk was enrolled at Stanford to study applied physics but dropped out after just two days in 1995 to pursue opportunities in the Internet boom. That move led to Zip2 and later PayPal.Zip2 was Musk's first company, a software firm that provided licensed online city guide platforms — including maps, business listings, and navigation — for newspapers and media organizations in the early days of the Internet. 7. He Made A Cameo In Iron Man 2Musk appears briefly in the 2010 film Iron Man 2, chatting with protagonist Tony Stark. Robert Downey Jr., the actor who played Tony Stark, has even compared Musk to a real-life Tony Stark. 8. He Has Asperger's SyndromeElon publicly revealed on Saturday Night Live in 2021 that he has Asperger’s, making him one of the few high-profile tech leaders to speak openly about being on the autism spectrum. 9. He's Owned The X.com Domain For YearsMusk originally launched an online bank called X.com in 1999. It later became PayPal. He bought back the domain in 2017 from PayPal for sentimental reasons.Now, X.com is the social media site formerly known as Twitter, which Musk owns. 10. He Used To Sleep On A Beanbag Chair In His OfficeDuring the early Zip2 days (1995 and 1996), Musk couldn’t afford rent, so he slept on a beanbag chair next to his desk and showered at the local YMCA. That same hustle carried into Tesla and SpaceX — he’s been known to sleep at the factories. 11. He Thinks A Universal Basic Income Is InevitableAlthough Musk is a proponent of cutting government spending, he thinks the United States government will eventually cut people checks for merely existing.“In a benign scenario … probably none of us will have a job," Musk said at the VitaTech conference in Paris on Friday. "… But in that benign scenario, there will be universal high income — not universal basic income, universal high income. There will be no shortage of goods or services.”12. He Married The Same Woman TwiceThe tech entrepreneur has been married three times, including twice to the same woman.Musk married author Justine Wilson in 2000 and divorced her in 2008. Then, he married actress Talulah Riley twice.They first married in once in 2010 and divorced in March 2012. Then, they remarried in July 2013 and divorced again in 2016. 13. He Tried Starting A Satirical Media OrganizationIf you've noticed that Musk likes The Babylon Bee, there's probably a reason for that.In 2017, Musk teased launching a web site called "Thud" — described as a satirical media company. He hired former employees of the liberal satire news site The Onion. Thud featured fake startups, parody press releases, and absurdist takes on tech culture. However, Musk pulled out before its full launch over concerns it might seem like a platform to mock his critics. It eventually launched and shut down in 2019. 14. He Owns A Town In TexasMusk is building a company town for SpaceX and Tesla workers near Bastrop, Texas, called “Snailbrook.” The community will include 110 houses available to rent for $800 per month. However, if someone leaves one of his companies, they're also expected to move out of town within a month.The town is expected to launch later this year. 15. He Once Bought a McLaren F1 — and Crashed ItIn 1999, Musk bought a rare $1 million McLaren F1 supercar. He famously wrecked it with PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel in the passenger seat — and it wasn’t insured.
Whatever you think of Elon Musk, you can’t say he’s dull..The leader of Tesla, SpaceX, and X (Twitter) is the richest man on earth ($362.5 billion net worth) and an ally of President Donald Trump, heading the administration's Department of Government Efficiency.Although Musk is constantly in the news nowadays, there's a lot that many people don’t know about him.Here are 15 things you may not know about Elon Musk: 1. He Created A Video Game At 12 Years OldMusk taught himself computer programming and developed a game called Blastar, which he sold to a computer magazine in 1984 for about $500. It’s a space-themed shooter, and you can play it online here. 2. He Lived On $1 A Day In CollegeTo test his willpower and budgeting skills, Musk reportedly lived on just $1 a day for food during college at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, in 1990, surviving mostly on hot dogs and oranges. He wanted to prove to himself he could survive as an entrepreneur. 3. He Almost Sold Tesla To GoogleIn 2013, when Tesla was struggling financially, Musk approached Larry Page to sell Tesla to Google for about $6 billion. The deal almost went through, but Tesla’s sales picked up just in time, and the company recovered. 4. He Owns A James Bond CarMusk bought the Lotus Esprit submarine car from the 1977 Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me at auction for nearly $1 million in 2013. He plans to one day convert it into a working, real-life submarine car using Tesla tech. 5. He's Not A Founding Member Of TeslaAlthough often credited as a Tesla founder, Musk actually joined after the company was established in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. However, he became the largest investor in 2004 and later the electric car company's chief executive officer in 2008. 6. He Dropped Out Of A PhD Program After Two DaysMusk was enrolled at Stanford to study applied physics but dropped out after just two days in 1995 to pursue opportunities in the Internet boom. That move led to Zip2 and later PayPal.Zip2 was Musk's first company, a software firm that provided licensed online city guide platforms — including maps, business listings, and navigation — for newspapers and media organizations in the early days of the Internet. 7. He Made A Cameo In Iron Man 2Musk appears briefly in the 2010 film Iron Man 2, chatting with protagonist Tony Stark. Robert Downey Jr., the actor who played Tony Stark, has even compared Musk to a real-life Tony Stark. 8. He Has Asperger's SyndromeElon publicly revealed on Saturday Night Live in 2021 that he has Asperger’s, making him one of the few high-profile tech leaders to speak openly about being on the autism spectrum. 9. He's Owned The X.com Domain For YearsMusk originally launched an online bank called X.com in 1999. It later became PayPal. He bought back the domain in 2017 from PayPal for sentimental reasons.Now, X.com is the social media site formerly known as Twitter, which Musk owns. 10. He Used To Sleep On A Beanbag Chair In His OfficeDuring the early Zip2 days (1995 and 1996), Musk couldn’t afford rent, so he slept on a beanbag chair next to his desk and showered at the local YMCA. That same hustle carried into Tesla and SpaceX — he’s been known to sleep at the factories. 11. He Thinks A Universal Basic Income Is InevitableAlthough Musk is a proponent of cutting government spending, he thinks the United States government will eventually cut people checks for merely existing.“In a benign scenario … probably none of us will have a job," Musk said at the VitaTech conference in Paris on Friday. "… But in that benign scenario, there will be universal high income — not universal basic income, universal high income. There will be no shortage of goods or services.”12. He Married The Same Woman TwiceThe tech entrepreneur has been married three times, including twice to the same woman.Musk married author Justine Wilson in 2000 and divorced her in 2008. Then, he married actress Talulah Riley twice.They first married in once in 2010 and divorced in March 2012. Then, they remarried in July 2013 and divorced again in 2016. 13. He Tried Starting A Satirical Media OrganizationIf you've noticed that Musk likes The Babylon Bee, there's probably a reason for that.In 2017, Musk teased launching a web site called "Thud" — described as a satirical media company. He hired former employees of the liberal satire news site The Onion. Thud featured fake startups, parody press releases, and absurdist takes on tech culture. However, Musk pulled out before its full launch over concerns it might seem like a platform to mock his critics. It eventually launched and shut down in 2019. 14. He Owns A Town In TexasMusk is building a company town for SpaceX and Tesla workers near Bastrop, Texas, called “Snailbrook.” The community will include 110 houses available to rent for $800 per month. However, if someone leaves one of his companies, they're also expected to move out of town within a month.The town is expected to launch later this year. 15. He Once Bought a McLaren F1 — and Crashed ItIn 1999, Musk bought a rare $1 million McLaren F1 supercar. He famously wrecked it with PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel in the passenger seat — and it wasn’t insured.
