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Elon Musk
Image: Getty

Who was Elon Musk before Trump and Tesla  

Elon Musk is often credited as the visionary behind Tesla and founder of SpaceX, but the story of how he became one of the most powerful men in the world is complicated.

His involvement in politics and his close ties to former US President Donald Trump have also brought him into the spotlight.

Click the link below to listen the full episode

On Wednesday morning’s episode of The Briefing, we chat to New York Times tech correspondent Mike Isaac to discuss Musk’s rise to power and what he’s really like behind the scenes.

Musk was born into a wealthy family in South Africa. His father was an industrialist, which gave Musk a privileged start in life.

However, his relationship with his father was difficult, and Musk eventually moved to the US to pursue his dreams in tech.

Before Tesla and SpaceX, Musk co-founded Zip2, one of the early online companies, and later became a part of PayPal’s success.

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“Even people were still worried, which sounds quaint now. They were worried about putting their credit cards into the Internet, to browsers,” Isaac said.

“It was good foresight for him to sort of go after this online e-commerce thing,” Isaac added.

But Musk’s power isn’t just in business. His influence on politics—especially his close relationship with Trump—has raised eyebrows.

Isaac said Musk has been “deeply tied” to different administrations over the years.

“I think the difference here under Trump is just how much power and control he seems to have this time. Whereas in past administrations, he was more at the mercy of certainly Democratic lawmakers and then President Obama in the past.”

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