Sep 24, 20261 min read

The two deals that gave Musk the cash to build his empire

Before Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk sold two startups for hundreds of millions, then risked it all when most would have stopped.

Before rockets, he noticed newspapers lacked useful internet directories. Strategy: own the platform connecting businesses, maps, and readers. Compaq bought Zip2 in 1999 for $307 million.

Betting on online banking

He put millions into X.com, betting banking would move online. eBay bought PayPal in 2002 for $1.5 billion. Then he refused the safe move: keeping it. By 2008, failed launches and recession threatened both flagship bets.

The result today

Today, over $400 billion mostly reflects Tesla and SpaceX stakes.

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