A shocking report has claimed that South African-born billionaire businessman Elon Musk allegedly worked illegally in the United States for a short time during the 1990s while establishing his startup company.
The report from The Washington Post on Saturday said that Musk came to Palo Alto, California, in 1995 to study at Stanford University but never enrolled in his graduate program. Instead, he focused on developing Zip2, a software company that was eventually sold for approximately $300 million in 1999.
Two immigration law experts interviewed by the Post suggested that Musk would have been required to be enrolled in a full course of study to maintain a valid work authorisation as a student.
Leon Fresco, a former immigration litigator at the Justice Department, said that international students are prohibited from leaving their studies to establish a business, "even if they are not immediately getting paid." He explained to The Post that engaging in activities that contribute to generating revenue, such as coding or attempting to make sales, can lead to legal consequences for these students.
"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," Fresco told The Post.
Musk did not respond to requests for comment sent to four of his companies - SpaceX, Tesla, the social media company X and The Boring Company - nor did Musk's lawyer Alex Spiro.
In a 2020 podcast cited by the Post, Musk said: "I was legally there, but I was meant to be doing student work. I was allowed to do work sort of supporting whatever."
Two former colleagues of Musk recalled him receiving his US work authorisation around 1997, according to the Washington Post.
Musk has publicly endorsed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for the upcoming US election on November 5. During his 2017-2021 presidency, Trump consistently portrayed migrants as invaders and criminals, implementing strict measures to limit both legal and illegal migration. If reelected, he has vowed to carry out the largest deportation effort in US history.