According to the newspaper’s investigation Washington Postdespite supporting Mr. Trump’s anti-illegal immigrant agenda, billionaire Elon Musk previously worked illegally in the US.
‘America’s most successful immigrant’
Cite evidence from many sources and newspapers Washington Post reported that before becoming the largest and most enthusiastic donor of former US President Donald Trump, billionaire Elon Musk once worked illegally in the US, when he started a business after quitting the program. graduate studies in the state of California.
However, the South African-born billionaire has recently posted a lot of content on X showing his support for the statements of the Republican presidential candidate, when Mr. Trump said that “open borders” and Illegal immigrants are destroying America.
Posting on X, the billionaire accused presidential candidate Kamala Harris and other Democrats of “importing voters”, mentioning illegal immigrants voting even though this is banned in the US. .
According to Washington Postbillionaire Musk has never publicly revealed that he did not have the legal right to work in the US when building a company that later became Zip2.
In 1999, Zip2 was sold for $300 million. This was the stepping stone that led Musk to success with Tesla and many other ventures, then becoming the richest person in the world, and “America’s most successful immigrant”.
Stay in the US on a student visa
Arriving in Palo Alto, California in 1995, Musk was supposed to enter a graduate program at Stanford University, but he never signed up for classes, instead working on his startup.
According to legal experts, dropping out of school left billionaire Musk without a basis to stay in the US.
Mr. Leon Fresco, a former attorney specializing in immigration issues for the US Department of Justice, said foreign students cannot drop out of school to build a company, even if they do not immediately get paid.
“If you do anything that contributes to generating revenue, like writing code or trying to create sales to drive revenue, you’re going to get into trouble,” Mr. Fresco said.
Newspaper Washington Post There are also documents showing that when venture capital firm Mohr Davidow Ventures poured $3 million into Mr. Musk’s company in 1996, the funding agreement at that time stated that the Musk brothers and an associate had 45 days to obtain legal status to work in the US. Otherwise this company will withdraw its investment.
“Their (immigration) status at that time did not qualify them to be legally hired to operate a company in the United States,” said Derek Proudian, a Zip2 board member at the time and later. This became the CEO, said.
Washington Post also cited 6 former associates and shareholders at Zip2 saying that Mr. Musk once revealed to his colleagues that he was in the US on a student visa.
In 2020, the billionaire shared on a Podcast channel that he had a “student work visa” after postponing his studies at Stanford: “I was here legally, I was allowed to do my work.” student”.
In 2005, in a late-night email, Mr. Musk admitted he was not authorized to be in the US when he founded Zip2, saying he applied to Stanford so he could stay in the US legally. This email was sent by Musk to Tesla co-founders Martin Eberhard and JB Straubel.
“Actually, I didn’t really care much about the degree, but I had no money for a lab and no legal right to stay in this country. So that seemed like the best way to go about it.” two problems”, Washington Post cite the email.
The newspaper emphasized that overstaying in the US on a student visa is quite common and is sometimes ignored by officials, but it is still illegal.
Currently, billionaire Musk, lawyer Alex Spiro and Musk’s family office manager have not responded to requests for comment. Washington Post sent via email.