Elon Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa. His mother, Maye Musk, was a Canadian model and dietitian. His father, Errol Musk, was a South African engineer, pilot, and property developer. Elon is the oldest of three children, with a younger brother, Kimbal, and a younger sister, Tosca.

From a young age, Musk was a voracious reader, consuming books on a wide range of subjects, from science fiction to philosophy. He was often so lost in thought that his parents and doctors worried he might have a hearing problem. This intense focus, however, was a sign of a mind buzzing with ideas. His childhood wasn't always easy; he was a small, introverted boy and experienced severe bullying in school.

Musk’s fascination with technology ignited when he was about ten years old. He got his first computer, a Commodore VIC-20, and unlike most kids, he didn't just play games on it. He taught himself how to program using the manual that came with it, a process that was supposed to take six months. He finished it in three days.

At just 12 years old, he put his new skills to work. He created a space-themed video game called Blastar, where the player's mission was to destroy an alien freighter carrying hydrogen bombs. It was a simple game, but it was his own creation from start to finish. He sold the source code to a computer magazine called PC and Office Technology for approximately $500. This was his first taste of turning code into cash.

Even as a teenager, Musk had his sights set far beyond South Africa. He saw the United States as the place where big things happened, the land of opportunity for someone with his ambitions. He was also determined to avoid the mandatory military service in the South African Defence Force, which at the time was enforcing apartheid.

Using his mother's Canadian citizenship, he moved to Canada at age 17, marking the first step on a journey that would eventually lead him to the heart of Silicon Valley. He enrolled at Queen's University in Ontario before later transferring to the University of Pennsylvania. His early experiences with books, computers, and his first small business venture had set the stage for much bigger things to come.