Elon Musk worked in US illegally in 1995 after quitting school ā report
Elon Musk briefly worked illegally in the US after abandoning a graduate studies program in California, according to a Washington Post report that contrasted the episode with the South African multibillionaireās anti-immigration views.
The boss of Tesla and SpaceX, who has in recent weeks supported Donald Trumpās campaign for a second presidency while promoting the Republican White House nomineeās opposition to āopen bordersā on his X social media site, has previously maintained that his transition from student to entrepreneur was a ālegal grey areaā.
But the Washington Post reported Saturday that the worldās wealthiest individual was almost certainly working in the US without correct authorization for a period in 1995 after he dropped out of Stanford University to work on his debut company, Zip2, which sold for about $300m four years later.
Washington Post contrasts the episode with the South African multibillionaireās anti-immigration views
www.theguardian.com
Elon Musk, enemy of āopen borders,ā launched his career working illegally
Investors in Muskās first company worried about āour founder being deportedā and gave him a deadline for obtaining a work visa.
Long before he became one of Donald Trumpās biggest donors and campaign surrogates, South African-born Elon Musk worked illegally in the United States as he launched his entrepreneurial career after ditching a graduate studies program in California, according to former business associates, court records and company documents obtained by The Washington Post.
What Musk has not publicly disclosed is that he did not have the legal right to work while building the company that became Zip2, which sold for about $300 million in 1999. It was Muskās steppingstone to Tesla and the other ventures that have made him the worldās wealthiest person ā and arguably Americaās most successful immigrant.
Musk and his brother, Kimbal, have often described their immigrant journey in romantic terms, as a time of personal austerity, undeterred ambition and a willingness to flout conventions. Musk arrived in Palo Alto in 1995 for a graduate degree program at Stanford University but never enrolled in courses, working instead on his start-up.
Leaving school left Musk without a legal basis to remain in the United States, according to legal experts.
Foreign students cannot drop out of school to build a company, even if they are not immediately getting paid, said Leon Fresco, a former Justice Department immigration litigator.
āIf you do anything that helps to facilitate revenue creation, such as design code or try to make sales in furtherance of revenue creation, then youāre in trouble,ā Fresco said.