South African-born Elon Musk has become one of the biggest critics of illegal immigration in the United States, but the billionaire’s own immigration status was in question when he founded his first company in the 1990s.

Although Musk, now 53, entered the country legally on a Stanford student visa in 1995, he was never enrolled at the prestigious California school.

Instead, two days after the semester started, he called his department chair to tell him he wouldn’t be going to school; This should have led to his immediate departure from the country as he had no legal right to remain. Washington Post.

But the entrepreneur did not leave the United States and remained in the country as an illegal immigrant to start his first company, Zip2; a moment in his impressive career that he simply calls ‘grey area’.

The Telsa and SpaceX founder is a leading critic of the US border crisis and recently criticized the Biden Administration for turning a blind eye to rising immigration rates from the US-Mexico border.

In fact, the world’s richest man, who has a staggering net worth of nearly $270 billion, has become one of Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump’s biggest donors ahead of the 2024 elections next month.

South African-born Elon Musk (pictured wearing a MAGA hat in October) has become a vocal critic of illegal immigration

Although Musk, now 53 (pictured in 2004), entered the country legally on a Stanford student visa in 1995, he was never actually enrolled at the prestigious California school, which should have led to his immediate departure from the country as he had no legal rights to do so. to stay

Musk has made it his mission to help Trump bolster his claims that the ‘open border’ and the influx of 2 million immigrants who have crossed the Southern border into the US in the last 12 months are destroying America.

The issue of immigration is a central part of the 2024 election as major US cities, including New York City and Los Angeles, struggle under the weight of new arrivals.

Despite his vocal words on the current immigration issue, Musk has remained largely silent on his own immigration story.

On the other hand, his brother Kimbal openly admitted that the duo were illegal immigrants in the country during the Zip2 period. 2013 interviewHe admitted that the brothers slept in their offices and showered at the YMCA.

Kimbal explained that investors knew about their immigration status when they started financing the guide company they were building.

‘Actually, when they funded us, they realized we were illegal immigrants,’ he said in the interview.

“Well,” Musk replied.

“Yes we were,” his brother lamented, to which the billionaire replied: “I’d say it’s a gray area.”

“We were illegal immigrants,” Kimbal bluntly reminded his brother.

The entrepreneur (pictured with Trump in October) did not leave the US when he violated visa requirements and remained in the country as an illegal immigrant to start his first company, Zip2. ‘gray area’

Musk has made it his mission to help Trump bolster his claims that the ‘open border’ and the influx of two million immigrants crossing the Southern border into the US in the last 12 months are destroying America (image: Eagle Pass, Texas, in September 2023)

It’s a little-known fact that Musk kept largely under wraps in his retelling of his success story, which included the successful—albeit controversial—acquisition of Twitter, which he later renamed X.

Musk also has a stake in the co-founder of PayPal, which was spun off to eBay for $1.5 billion in 2002; the acquisition of SolarCity, owned by his cousins; and co-founded OpenAI in 2015 before stepping down from the board in 2018.

His first creation, Zip2, was sold to Compaq Computer Corporation for $300 million in 1999, according to The Washington Post.

Musk likes to tell his story as a journey of personal growth and ambition, leaving out the illegal parts of his success.

According to former Justice Department Immigration Litigator Leon Fresco, foreign students are not allowed to drop out of school and start companies while maintaining their visa status.

“If you do anything that helps facilitate revenue generation, like design code or try to sell to further revenue generation, then you’re in trouble,” he told The Washington Post.

In order for Zip2 to become a public company, it must be under review by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, its former partners told the D.C.-based publication.

When Mohr Daidow Ventures offered Musk and his team $3 million in 1996, one of the terms of the deal was that the brothers had to obtain legal employment status within 45 days or the money would not come.

Elon’s brother Kimbal openly admitted in a 2013 interview that the duo was illegal in the country during the Zip2 era. The brothers received a work permit in 1997 (image: Elon Musk in 2004)

“We do not want our founder to be deported,” Zip2 board member Derek Proudian told the press. ‘We want to get this done well before anything that could break happens.’

Musk told others he was working under a student visa, according to six former co-workers, The Washington Post reported.

In 2020, the father of 12 claimed that he obtained a student-work visa and was ‘legally there’ after leaving Stanford.

“But I had to do student work,” he admitted in a podcast, according to The Post. ‘I was allowed to work in support of anything.’

However, in a 2005 email sent to Telsa co-founder Martin Eberhard and JB Straubel and obtained by The Post, Musk admitted that he did not have permission to work in the United States at the time.

‘I didn’t really care about the degree, but I didn’t have money for the lab and I didn’t have the legal right to stay in the country, so this seemed like a good way to solve both problems,’ he wrote. ‘Then the internet came along and it seemed like a much surer bet.’

According to The Post, the brothers met with Immigration Attorney Jocelyne Lew in February 1996, who encouraged them to downplay their role in Zip2 and apply for the U.S. visa lottery.

According to Proudian, the brothers received work permits in 1997.