The report shows that Elon Musk started his career as an illegal migrant worker

Elon Musk, billionaire tech mogul and prominent anti-immigration advocate, allegedly worked in the United States without permission early in his career, according to an investigation. Washington Post.. The report said Musk, who recently agreed with former President Donald Trump’s stance on immigration, entered the US tech landscape in the mid-1990s as an undocumented worker.

Musk, a native of Pretoria, South Africa, initially moved to the United States on a student visa, enrolling in a graduate program at Stanford University in 1995. However, within days of arriving, he left the program to launch Zip2, a software for business directory company that was later sold for almost $300 million. Citing former business partners and court records, a report by The Washington Post indicates that Musk was not legally authorized to work in the U.S. during the construction of Zip2.

At the time, Musk’s immigration status had become a matter of concern for investors. Zip2 board member Derek Proudian, who later served as the company’s CEO, recalled that investors were hesitant about Musk’s status, which “wasn’t what he was supposed to be legally employed running a company in the U.S.,” Proudian told The Post . To secure a $3 million investment from venture capital firm Mohr Davidow Ventures, Musk and his associates allegedly had to make sure they regularized their immigration status within 45 days or risked losing the funds.

According to records reviewed by The Washington Post, Musk acknowledged his precarious status in a 2005 email to Tesla co-founders Martin Eberhard and JB Straubel, in which he noted that his enrollment at Stanford University allowed him to maintain legal residence while using Zip2. Musk and his brother Kimbal, who worked with him at Zip2, both called themselves “illegal immigrants” during this period.

Today, Musk is the richest person in the world, with an estimated fortune of $274.7 billion. Despite his early experiences with immigration obstacles in the US, Musk has become one of the most visible critics of immigration policy, especially in the context of his social media activity. Musk’s posts on immigration and related issues, often amplifying claims of voter fraud and targeting undocumented immigrants, have attracted a lot of attention on X, formerly known as Twitter. Bloomberg reported that Musk posted about immigration more than 1,300 times in 2024 alone, with a noticeable increase in the number of posts ahead of the US elections.

Musk has previously claimed to be “pro-immigration,” advocating for more opportunities to immigrate to the U.S. for “hard-working” and “honest” people. But his recent posts suggest a much tougher stance, often warning against policies that he believes would lead to “permanent one-party rule.”

Representatives for Musk and his lawyer Alex Spiro have not responded to The Washington Post’s requests for comment on the matter, and Musk has not yet commented on the Post’s report on X.