Video narration
Did Elon Musk really build every company from scratch-or follow one flawless master plan? His first wins came from software. In 1995, he co-founded Zip2, an online city guide, which was sold four years later. He then co-founded X.com, which became part of PayPal; eBay acquired PayPal in 2002. Those exits created capital and credibility. Then software stopped being the destination. It became fuel. In 2002, Musk founded SpaceX, putting personal money into rockets despite costly setbacks. In 2004, he joined Tesla as an early investor and chairman, later becoming CEO-but he did not found it. As Tesla grew, his wealth and influence grew. Later came energy ventures and, in 2022, the acquisition of Twitter, renamed X. So, no: he didn't build everything from scratch. He reinvested early software success into harder bets-founding some companies, backing or leading others, and acquiring another.