Did young Elon Musk break US visa rules while starting his first company?

Washington Post questions **Elon Musk**ʼs work status during his early days in Silicon Valley. The tech-mogul defends his actions saying he had proper visa documentation for his startup work

October 27 2024 , 04:26 PM  •  6674 views

Did young Elon Musk break US visa rules while starting his first company?

A recent Washington Post investigation raised questions about Elon Muskʼs early work-status in America around 25 years ago. The paper suggests that the tech-entrepreneur might have broken visa rules while building his first company in the mid-90s

Musk quickly denied these claims on his X platform stating: “I was on a J-1 visa that transitioned to an H1-B.“ The South African-born businessman explained his position about working in the US during his early days; however immigration experts dont fully agree with his interpretation

The story goes back to 95ʼ when Musk arrived in Palo Alto (planning to attend Stanford) but instead started working on Zip2 – a software company that he later sold for about $300-million. Two immigration-law specialists pointed out that student-visa holders must be enrolled full-time to maintain valid work-authorization

I was legally there‚ but I was meant to be doing student work. I was allowed to do work sort of supporting whatever

Musk stated in a 2020 podcast

The timing of these revelations connects to the upcoming election where Musk supports the Republican candidate. The political landscape shows a tight race between candidates with different views on immigration policy – one side pushing for strict enforcement while the other maintains more moderate position