The Guardian-US
Elon Musk briefly worked illegally in the US after abandoning a graduate studies program in California, according to a Washington Post report that contrasted the episode with the South African multibillionaire’s anti-immigration views.
The boss of Tesla and SpaceX, who has in recent weeks supported Donald Trump’s campaign for a second presidency while promoting the Republican White House nominee’s opposition to “open borders” on his X social media site, has previously maintained that his transition from student to entrepreneur was a “legal grey area”.
But the Washington Post reported Saturday that the world’s wealthiest individual was almost certainly working in the US without correct authorization for a period in 1995 after he dropped out of Stanford University to work on his debut company, Zip2, which sold for about $300m four years later.
Legal experts said foreign students cannot drop out of school to build a company even if they are not getting paid. The Post also noted that – prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks against the US in 2001 – regulation for student visas was more lax.
“If you do anything that helps to facilitate revenue creation, such as design code or try to make sales in furtherance of revenue creation, then you’re in trouble,” Leon Fresco, a former US justice department immigration litigator, told the outlet.
But the Post also acknowledged: “While overstaying a student visa is somewhat common and officials have at times turned a blind eye to it, it remains illegal.”
Musk has previously said: “I was legally there, but I was meant to be doing student work. I was allowed to do work sort of supporting whatever.”
Musk employs 121,000 people at Tesla, about 13,000 at SpaceX and nearly 3,000 at X. The scrutiny of his immigration status after dropping out of Stanford comes after Trump has touted his desire for Musk to play a high-profile role focused on government efficiency in a second Trump administration if voters return him to office at the expense of Kamala Harris in the 5 November election.
Musk in turn has accused the vice-president and her fellow Democrats of “importing voters” through
illegal and temporary protected status immigration. During a recent Trump campaign appearance, he compared the US-Mexico border to a “zombie apocalypse” – even as he had also previously described himself “extremely pro immigrant, being one myself”.
Bloomberg News published an analysis of more than 53,000 posts sent from Musk’s X account, finding that the entrepreneur’s output turned increasingly political this election year.
“In 2024, immigration and voter fraud has become Musk’s most frequently posted and engaged with policy topic, garnering about 10bn views,” the outlet said. “Musk posted more than 1,300 times about the topic overall, with more than 330 posts in the past 2 months alone.”
Bloomberg described Musk – who paid $44bn for X, then Twitter, in 2022 – as the platform’s single most important influencer and has reportedly ordered site engineers to push his posts into users’ feeds. That makes Musk “the most widely read person on the site today”, Bloomberg said.
The boss of Tesla and SpaceX, who has in recent weeks supported Donald Trump’s campaign for a second presidency while promoting the Republican White House nominee’s opposition to “open borders” on his X social media site, has previously maintained that his transition from student to entrepreneur was a “legal grey area”.
But the Washington Post reported Saturday that the world’s wealthiest individual was almost certainly working in the US without correct authorization for a period in 1995 after he dropped out of Stanford University to work on his debut company, Zip2, which sold for about $300m four years later.
Legal experts said foreign students cannot drop out of school to build a company even if they are not getting paid. The Post also noted that – prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks against the US in 2001 – regulation for student visas was more lax.
“If you do anything that helps to facilitate revenue creation, such as design code or try to make sales in furtherance of revenue creation, then you’re in trouble,” Leon Fresco, a former US justice department immigration litigator, told the outlet.
But the Post also acknowledged: “While overstaying a student visa is somewhat common and officials have at times turned a blind eye to it, it remains illegal.”
Musk has previously said: “I was legally there, but I was meant to be doing student work. I was allowed to do work sort of supporting whatever.”
Musk employs 121,000 people at Tesla, about 13,000 at SpaceX and nearly 3,000 at X. The scrutiny of his immigration status after dropping out of Stanford comes after Trump has touted his desire for Musk to play a high-profile role focused on government efficiency in a second Trump administration if voters return him to office at the expense of Kamala Harris in the 5 November election.
Musk in turn has accused the vice-president and her fellow Democrats of “importing voters” through
Bloomberg News published an analysis of more than 53,000 posts sent from Musk’s X account, finding that the entrepreneur’s output turned increasingly political this election year.
“In 2024, immigration and voter fraud has become Musk’s most frequently posted and engaged with policy topic, garnering about 10bn views,” the outlet said. “Musk posted more than 1,300 times about the topic overall, with more than 330 posts in the past 2 months alone.”
Bloomberg described Musk – who paid $44bn for X, then Twitter, in 2022 – as the platform’s single most important influencer and has reportedly ordered site engineers to push his posts into users’ feeds. That makes Musk “the most widely read person on the site today”, Bloomberg said.
16 comments:
People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. ✌️
Elon already fucked Brownsville. he b happy.
Elon Musk is a mojado. Then he fixed his documents. But he was an illegal and now is friends with Trump whose family is also immigrant and he helped his father-in-law and mother-in-law get their papers. Trump's wife was also illegal in the USA.
Everybody here is an illegal alien. Why get uppity?
As the biggest Mojada Melania wins by a 🐫 camel toe.
The devil is in the details.
el mojado elton, tonellada de mierda das what!!!!
Melapela!
Wow Mr. Montoya, this is funny... Are you now discriminating against African Americans? And how hilarious that "universities" can claim what somebody should or not be able to do? I paid them around $80,000 of my money in 2004, graduated, and I have a trade as well. Who are they what to tell me, SpaceX, or Elon what to do??
6:35 is correct everyone that came to this country was an ilegal alien / immigrant at first ( no matter the country of origin). The true inhabitants were the native Americans ( and we know what happened to them) !!! What’s so different about that prick Elon Musk?? The huge difference with him is the immense wealth that he possesses and how quick he forgets where /how he came to the USA. He’s got a very short memory when it comes to that and now that he’s a billionaire, he thinks he can step on whoevers neck he feels like doing so. Once again, south texas elected officials , THANKS for bringing that CANCER to our area . A-HOLES !!
give this millionaire or billionaire some more free land from the most poverty city in this country so he can hold parties for the racist republicans. BOLA DE BABOSOS. MAYB GIVE FREE LAND TO EL MAMON TRUMPUTO TAMBIEN PINCHES MAMONES
give him some more FREE LAND
he just fired all mescans and will hire only whites.
Elon did not fuck Brownsville. You the democratic voters who voted for corrupt politicians fucked Brownsville.
Wrong! I'm not an illegal. I'm an American Indian. The white man stole the land from my ancestors many moons ago. You talk about the suffering of Blacks and Hispanics. But you never talk about my people.The American Indian is the race that has suffered the most. Maybe it's time for all illegals to leave our lands and bring us the buffalo you slaughter for your own selfish greed.
We have all suffered and we have all been abused. The mestiso did not kill the bison. The Aztecs had temples while the Native Americans had homes made of sticks but I will state that we must now all run with the ball and make the best of what we got.
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