Is Musk a US citizen?

Asked by: Haven Ratke  |  Last update: June 20, 2026
Score: 4.9/5 (30 votes)

Yes, Elon Musk is a U.S. citizen. Born in South Africa, he became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2002. He also holds Canadian citizenship through his mother and originally moved to the U.S. in 1992, subsequently building his career in California.

When did Musk become a U.S. citizen?

Elon Musk became a U.S. citizen in 2002. He took the oath of naturalization that year at a ceremony in the Pomona Fairplex, California, around ten years after moving to the United States in 1992, as detailed in Walter Isaacson's biography.

Does Elon Musk pay taxes in the US?

Musk paid $455 million in taxes on $1.52 billion of income between 2014 and 2018. According to ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization, Musk paid no federal income taxes in 2018. He stated his 2021 tax bill was estimated at $12 billion based on his sale of $14 billion worth of Tesla stock.

What countries is Elon Musk a citizen of?

Elon Musk holds citizenship in three countries: South Africa, Canada, and the United States. He was born in South Africa, obtained Canadian citizenship through his mother, and became a U.S. citizen in 2002.

Is Elon Musk's mother an American citizen?

Maye Musk (née Haldeman; born April 19, 1948) is a model and dietitian. She is the mother of Elon Musk, Kimbal Musk and Tosca Musk. She holds Canadian, South African and American citizenship. Alongside her modeling work, she is a registered dietitian and earned two master's degrees in diet and nutrition.

is Elon Musk a US Citizen?

17 related questions found

How many passports does Elon Musk have?

Elon Musk holds citizenship in three countries—South Africa, Canada, and the United States—meaning he has three passports. He was born in South Africa, gained Canadian citizenship through his mother, and became a U.S. citizen in 2002. Despite a 2026 report suggesting he claimed to hold only an American passport, he legally holds all three.

What condition does Elon Musk suffer from?

Elon Musk publicly revealed during a 2021 Saturday Night Live monologue that he has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). He explained that this, at times, affects his ability to read social cues, maintain eye contact, or speak with varied intonation.

Why does Elon Musk have dual citizenship?

His mother, Maye (née Haldeman), is a model and dietitian born in Saskatchewan, Canada, and raised in South Africa. Musk therefore holds both South African and Canadian citizenship from birth.

How many wifes does Elon Musk have?

Elon Musk has been married three times to two different women. As of early 2026, he is not currently married but has fathered at least 14 children with four different women.

What is Elon Musk's IQ?

There is no official, publicly verified IQ score for Elon Musk. Estimates frequently cited online place his IQ in the "gifted" range, generally between 155 and 160. These figures are largely speculative, based on his success in technology, educational background, and reported past aptitude tests.

How much money have taxpayers given to Elon Musk?

Over the years, Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies and tax credits, often at critical moments, a Washington Post analysis has found, helping seed the growth that has made him the world's richest person. The payments stretch back more than 20 years.

Who is the highest taxpayer in the world?

Elon Musk is widely considered the highest individual taxpayer in history, claiming to have paid over $10 billion in taxes to the IRS, largely stemming from stock sales in 2021. While Jeff Bezos has also paid massive amounts (over $1 billion in some periods), Musk's 2021 payments are generally cited as the largest single-year individual tax bill.

Which billionaires pay no taxes?

Several billionaires, including Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Michael Bloomberg, Carl Icahn, and George Soros, have legally paid zero federal income tax in specific years. They achieve this by holding assets that appreciate rather than selling them for taxable income, borrowing against their wealth, and using deductions.

Did Elon Musk get his wealth from his parents?

Elon Musk received roughly $28,000 from his father, Errol Musk, in 1995 to help start his first company, Zip2. While Errol Musk has claimed he funded his son's early career with money from a Zambian emerald mine, Elon Musk has largely denied receiving significant funding, stating he did not inherit money and graduated with debt.

How many biological children does Elon Musk have?

As of May 2026, Elon Musk is known to have fathered 14 biological children with four different women over two decades, though some sources reported 12 or 13 due to the private nature of the newest additions. One of his children tragically passed away in infancy.

Can Elon Musk run for president of the United States?

As of May 2026, Elon Musk cannot run for President of the United States because he is not a "natural-born citizen". The U.S. Constitution (Article II, Section 1) requires the president to be born in the U.S. or to U.S. citizen parents, while Musk was born in South Africa, making him a naturalized citizen.

Do all of Elon Musk's kids live with him?

No, not all of Elon Musk's children live together. While Musk has reportedly acquired a $35 million "family compound" in Texas to house his children and two of their mothers (Shivon Zilis and Grimes) together, not all families are participating, and he has older children from a previous marriage who do not live with him.

What did Elon Musk's ex-wife say about him?

TALULAH RILEY, ELON MUSK'S EX-WIFE said: “I admit I walked away from Elon Musk when everything was collapsing around him — he was broke, stressed, and I feared he'd work himself to death. But I regret that decision. It was never about not loving him, it was about the pressure we were under.

Who is Elon Musk's current partner?

As of early 2026, Elon Musk is not publicly confirmed to be dating anyone, though he has recently been frequently accompanied by Shivon Zilis, a top executive at his company Neuralink and the mother of four of his children.

What is Elon Musk diagnosed with?

Elon Musk revealed he has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), during his monologue on Saturday Night Live in May 2021. He described it as a reason for his lack of eye contact and at times monotone, "emulation mode" speech, while noting he was the first person with the condition to host the show.

Does Elon Musk pay US taxes?

Yes, Elon Musk pays taxes in the United States, including a reported record-breaking $11 billion in 2021. However, his tax payments are inconsistent; he paid no federal income taxes in 2018 and paid relatively little from 2014-2018 relative to his wealth growth, as he typically holds wealth in stock rather than taxable income.

Can a naturalized citizen be deported?

Yes, a naturalized U.S. citizen can be deported, but only if they are first denaturalized (stripped of their citizenship) by a federal court. While naturalized citizens generally have the same rights as native-born citizens, their citizenship can be revoked if it was obtained through fraud, material misrepresentation, or illegal means.

What surgeries did Elon Musk have?

Elon Musk has undergone multiple, potentially up to five, back and neck surgeries to treat chronic pain stemming from a 2013 sumo wrestling injury. Most recently, in early 2025, he reported recovering from a complex neck operation involving his C5-C6 disc. He has previously recommended artificial disc replacement for similar injuries.

What medication is Elon Musk taking?

In a recent interview with Don Lemon, Elon Musk ― CEO of Tesla and X social platform ― disclosed that he takes small amounts of Ketamine about every two weeks under medical prescription to alleviate some negative mental states similar to Depression and does so «in the interest of investors.»

How much IQ did Elon Musk have?

Elon Musk has never publicly disclosed an official IQ test score, making any specific number speculative. Estimates generally range from 130 to over 150, based on proxies like his 1400 SAT score or his professional achievements, placing him in the highly intelligent range, though far from a verified 160+ or the low range of 110 claimed by some critics.