Tech mogul and prominent immigration advocate Elon Musk allegedly worked in the United States without legal permission early in his career, according to an investigation by The Washington Post. The report suggests that Musk, who recently aligned himself with former President Donald Trump’s stance on immigration, entered the US tech landscape in the mid-1990s as an undocumented worker.

Musk, originally from Pretoria, South Africa, initially moved to the United States on a student visa and enrolled in a graduate program at Stanford University in 1995. However, within days Upon arrival, he left the program to launch Zip2, a business directory software. company that would later sell for nearly $300 million. Citing former business associates and court records, the Washington Post report says Musk was not legally authorized to work in the United States when Zip2 was built.

At the time, Musk’s immigration status reportedly became a point of concern for investors. Zip2 board member Derek Proudian, who later became the company’s CEO, recalled that investors were hesitant about Musk’s status, which was “not where it should be for them to be legally employed as the head of a business in the United States,” Proudian told the Post. To secure a $3 million investment from venture capital firm Mohr Davidow Ventures, Musk and his associates would have had to ensure they regularized their immigration status within 45 days or risk losing the funding.

According to documents reviewed by The Washington Post, Musk acknowledged the precariousness of his status in a 2005 email to Tesla co-founders Martin Eberhard and JB Straubel, in which he noted that his enrollment at Stanford served as a way to maintain a legal residence while pursuing Zip2. Musk and his brother Kimbal, who worked alongside him at Zip2, both previously referred to themselves as “illegal immigrants” during this period.

Today, Musk is the richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $274.7 billion. Despite his early experiences with immigration barriers in the United States, Musk has become one of the most visible critics of immigration policies, particularly in the context of his social media activity. Musk’s posts on immigration and related issues, often reinforcing claims of voter fraud and targeting undocumented immigrants, have generated significant engagement on X, formerly known as Twitter. Bloomberg reported that Musk has posted about immigration more than 1,300 times in 2024 alone, with a notable increase in posts ahead of the US election.

Musk has previously declared himself “pro-immigration,” advocating for expanded immigration opportunities in the United States for “hard-working” and “honest” individuals. His recent posts, however, suggest a much stricter stance, often warning against policies he says would lead to “permanent one-party rule.”

Musk’s representatives and his lawyer, Alex Spiro, did not respond to The Washington Post’s requests for comment on the matter, and Musk himself has yet to respond to the Post’s report on X.