Elon Musk

Type: person Last Updated: 2026-02-16 Status: Active Research Sessions: 1

Executive Summary

Elon Musk is the world's wealthiest person (~$852B net worth as of February 2026) who leads multiple technology companies including Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, and X (formerly Twitter). He briefly served as head of the controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump administration from January to May 2025. He is currently embroiled in legal challenges related to xAI's Grok chatbot generating nonconsensual deepfake imagery.

Facts

Business Empire & Roles

• CEO and Chief Engineer of SpaceX since May 2002 — Source: https://www.crunchbase.com/person/elon-musk (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• "Technoking" and CEO of Tesla since October 2008, Board member since April 2004 — Source: https://ir.tesla.com/corporate/elon-musk (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• Executive Chairman and CTO of X (formerly Twitter) since 2023; Linda Yaccarino is CEO — Source: https://www.britannica.com/money/Elon-Musk (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• CEO of xAI leading AI development — Source: https://www.thomasnet.com/insights/elon-musk-companies/ (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• Founder of The Boring Company (infrastructure) and Neuralink (brain-machine interfaces) — Source: https://money.howstuffworks.com/what-companies-does-elon-musk-own.htm (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• SpaceX acquired xAI in February 2026, valuing combined entity at ~$1.25 trillion — largest merger in history — Source: CNBC (confidence: MEDIUM) (discovered: 2026-02-16)

Wealth & Net Worth

• Net worth estimated at ~$852 billion as of February 2026 — Source: Forbes (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• World's wealthiest person since 2025 — Source: Forbes (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• Wealth primarily derives from stakes in Tesla (~12%) and SpaceX (~42%) — Source: https://www.davemanuel.com/net-worths/elon-musk/ (confidence: MEDIUM) (discovered: 2026-02-16)

DOGE & Political Involvement

• Headed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for 134 days from January to May 2025 — Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Department-of-Government-Efficiency-United-States (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• Claimed over $200 billion in federal spending cuts; independent estimates disputed this — Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Department-of-Government-Efficiency-United-States (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• USAID shut down on July 1, 2025; ~55,000 federal positions eliminated under DOGE — Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Department-of-Government-Efficiency-United-States (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• DOGE "doesn't exist" as of November 2025; functions absorbed by Office of Personnel Management — Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Department-of-Government-Efficiency-United-States (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• Musk to be deposed in ongoing DOGE lawsuits — Source: https://www.axios.com/2026/02/05/state-department-elon-musk-doge (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)

Grok AI / xAI Controversies

• Grok created nonconsensual explicit deepfakes of women and children in January 2026 — Source: https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2026/01/california-investigates-deepfakes-elon-musk-company/ (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• California AG Rob Bonta issued cease-and-desist letter on January 10, 2026 — Source: https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2026/01/california-investigates-deepfakes-elon-musk-company/ (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• EU launched investigation into Grok on January 26, 2026 — Source: https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/26/tech/eu-probe-grok-sexualized-images-intl (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• French authorities raided X offices as part of deepfakes investigation — Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/11/senior-engineers-including-co-founders-exit-xai-amid-controversy/ (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• 6 of 12 original xAI co-founders have departed amid controversy — Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/11/senior-engineers-including-co-founders-exit-xai-amid-controversy/ (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)

Personal Life & Family

• Born June 28, 1971 in Pretoria, South Africa — Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• Canadian citizenship via mother (Maye Musk) — Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• 14 known children with 5 different mothers spanning 2002-2025 — Source: https://www.today.com/parents/parents/elon-musk-kids-rcna19692 (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• 6 children with ex-wife Justine Wilson — Source: https://parade.com/celebrities/elon-musk-children (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• 3 children with musician Grimes — Source: https://www.today.com/parents/parents/elon-musk-kids-rcna19692 (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• 4 children with Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis — Source: https://www.today.com/parents/parents/elon-musk-kids-rcna19692 (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)

Recent News (February 2026)

• X platform experienced widespread service disruption on February 16, 2026 lasting ~1 hour — Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-16/elon-musk-s-x-platform-faces-widespread-service-disruption (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• Public feud with Reid Hoffman over Jeffrey Epstein associations — Source: https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/tech-titans-elon-musk-reid-hoffman-attack-each-other-over-latest-epstein-emails (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• DOGE may have misused Social Security data — Justice Department concern — Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/doge-may-have-misused-social-security-data-justice-department-says-rcna255047 (confidence: HIGH) (discovered: 2026-02-16)

Related Entities

• SpaceX - CEO and Chief Engineer (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• Tesla - CEO ("Technoking") and Board member (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• xAI - CEO (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• X (Twitter) - Executive Chairman and CTO (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• The Boring Company - Founder (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• Neuralink - Founder (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• Grimes - 3 children together (discovered: 2026-02-16)
• Shivon Zilis - 4 children together, Neuralink executive (discovered: 2026-02-16)

Sources

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk - Wikipedia biography
2. https://www.britannica.com/money/Elon-Musk - Britannica profile
3. https://ir.tesla.com/corporate/elon-musk - Tesla official page
4. https://www.crunchbase.com/person/elon-musk - Crunchbase profile
5. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Department-of-Government-Efficiency-United-States - DOGE information
6. https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2026/01/california-investigates-deepfakes-elon-musk-company/ - California AG action
7. https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/11/senior-engineers-including-co-founders-exit-xai-amid-controversy/ - xAI exodus
8. https://www.today.com/parents/parents/elon-musk-kids-rcna19692 - Family information

Research History

• 2026-02-16: Initial research covering Business Empire, Wealth, DOGE, Grok Controversies, Personal Life, Recent News (1 iteration, 15+ sources)