Elon Musk (born 28 June 1971) is a South African-born American entrepreneur. He is best known for founding SpaceX, and co-founding Tesla Motors and PayPal (initially known as X. com). While at those companies, he oversaw the construction of the first electric car of the modern era, the Tesla Roadster, a private rocket known as Falcon 9/Dragon, and the Internet payment system PayPal.