According to a report on Saturday by the Washington Post, he was born in South Africa and has since denied claims that he worked there illegally as a Silicon Graphics representative for the US in the 1990s.

According to the report, Musk perhaps needed proper work authorisation when working on his first startup, Zip2, in Palo Alto, California. The Washington Post reported that Musk entered the US in 1995 to attend Stanford University with a plan to get his graduate degree, but he still needs to do so. Instead, he started Zip2, a software company he sold for nearly $300 million in 1999.

He did this on Sunday on X, his social media platform, responding to the claim that he committed fraud at Tesla. “I have been legally authorised to live and work in the US since 1992, so I was on a J-1 visa that transitioned to an H1-B,” Musk wrote.

According to The Washington Post interviews with immigration attorneys, an F-1 student needed to be actively enrolled in an entire course of study to maintain valid eligibility for employment under the J-1 visa, which led to further questions about his status at the time of completion of the early work experience period.

According to comments by *The Washington Post* in a podcast published in 2020, Musk believed that his activities in the US were lawful, although he did comment, “I was supposed to be doing student work.” Two other former colleagues recalled that Musk’s work authorisation in the United States had been approved in 1997, but his status in 1995 is still being determined.(More)

Recently, when endorsing Republican candidate Donald Trump in the November 5 set-up of the US presidential election, Musk took time to elaborate on migration issues at different times. Trump, who presided between 2017 and 2021, implementing intense immigration policies, insisted on following with large deportation if he wins re-election. There has been quite a hue and cry across the political divide because of this stand, with the election cycle bringing immigration reform as one of the pivotal issues.

The re-evaluation of Musk’s early life in Silicon Valley would accentuate the complexities of its visa process for foreign-born entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, Musk’s endorsement of Trump has given this controversy political colour. It has promptly sparked fierce debate on both sides of the political spectrum.