Politics & government
Supreme Court takes DOGE records case
The Court agrees to hear a dispute about disclosure of DOGE records. This concerns the initiative Musk initially led; it is not a new appointment for him.
Trace the story.
MUSK BE KIDDING 01 / EDITIONEDITORIAL REVIEW · 2026-10-14
123sourced milestones
1971—the story begins
The milestone archive
102 recorded entries · Partial dates preserve the precision of the source.
SpaceX
CRS-35 launch
NASA mission milestone.
xAI / successors
X subscription announcement
The x.ai news index lists a new X subscription announcement.
Politics & government
Midterm spending reported
Reuters reports roughly $366 million in political spending in the 2026 cycle, including $276 million since July.
Starlink · SpaceX business
Starlink satellite launch
Space.com reports a Falcon 9 launch carrying 27 Starlink satellites.
SpaceX
Crew-12 splashdown
NASA mission milestone.
Starlink · SpaceX business
Spectrum acquisition agreement
SpaceX announces a low-band spectrum deal relevant to Starlink Mobile. The transaction remains subject to approval.
Politics & government
Science awards ceremony
Musk is honored at a public science and technology awards event.
SpaceX
Crew-12 undocking
NASA mission milestone.
Tesla
Tesla reports Q3 deliveries
Tesla reports 486,532 vehicle deliveries and 13.7 GWh of storage deployments.
The Boring Company
Nashville construction update
The company reports preparations for another tunnel-boring machine.
SpaceX
Crew-13 launch
NASA mission milestone.
SpaceX
Crew-13 docking
NASA mission milestone.
Neuralink
Brain-data pretraining research
Neuralink publishes a technical article about pretraining on 50,000 hours of brain data.
SpaceX
Starship Flight 14
SpaceX records the flight as its first attempt to enter orbit.
xAI / successors
Team Bots announcement
Dated product announcement.
xAI / successors
Grok 4.7 announcement
Dated product announcement.
xAI / successors
Voice transcription update
Dated product announcement.
xAI / successors
Grok Build memory update
Dated product announcement.
xAI / successors
Enterprise bot announcement
Dated product announcement.
xAI / successors
Grok 4.6 announcement
Dated product announcement.
xAI / successors
Grok Bot announcement
Dated product announcement.
The Boring Company
Music City Loop update
Published project progress report.
Tesla
2026 Q2 financial results
Quarterly financial disclosure.
xAI / successors
Grok 4.5 announcement
Dated product announcement.
SpaceX
CRS-34 undocking
NASA mission milestone.
The Boring Company
Music City Loop update
Published project progress report.
SpaceX
CRS-34 docking
NASA mission milestone.
SpaceX
CRS-34 launch
NASA mission milestone.
Tesla
2026 Q1 financial results
Quarterly financial disclosure.
The Boring Company
Music City Loop update
Published project progress report.
SpaceX
CRS-33 undocking
NASA mission milestone.
SpaceX
Crew-12 docking
NASA mission milestone.
SpaceX
Crew-12 launch
NASA mission milestone.
The Boring Company
Music City Loop update
Published project progress report.
Neuralink
Two years of Telepathy
Neuralink publishes a retrospective on its human clinical program.
Tesla
2025 Q4 financial results
Quarterly financial disclosure.
SpaceX
Crew-11 splashdown
NASA mission milestone.
SpaceX
Crew-11 undocking
NASA mission milestone.
The Boring Company
Music City Loop update
Published project progress report.
Tesla
Annual shareholder meeting
Musk appears at Tesla’s annual meeting.
Tesla
2025 Q3 financial results
Quarterly financial disclosure.
The Boring Company
Music City Loop update
Published project progress report.
SpaceX
CRS-33 launch
NASA mission milestone.
SpaceX
Crew-11 launch
NASA mission milestone.
The Boring Company
Music City Loop announced
The company and Tennessee announce a Nashville tunnel project.
Tesla
2025 Q2 financial results
Quarterly financial disclosure.
Politics & government
Announces an America Party
Musk announces a new-party initiative after criticizing Trump’s spending legislation. This records the announcement, not ballot access or a verified continuing party organization.
Politics & government
Government departure announced
The White House confirms the start of Musk’s departure from his special-government-employee role.
Tesla
2025 Q1 financial results
Quarterly financial disclosure.
SpaceX
CRS-32 launch
NASA mission milestone.
SpaceX
Crew-10 launch
NASA mission milestone.
Politics & government
World Governments Summit video address
Musk discusses government reform in a video appearance.
Tesla
2024 Q4 financial results
Quarterly financial disclosure.
Politics & government
Addresses an AfD campaign event
Musk speaks in support of Germany’s AfD by video link. This was a remote appearance, not evidence of travel to Germany.
Politics & government
DOGE structure established by executive order
The order establishes the government-efficiency initiative. It is an institutional milestone; it does not itself establish Musk as the formal USDS administrator.
SpaceX
CRS-31 launch
NASA mission milestone.
Tesla
2024 Q3 financial results
Quarterly financial disclosure.
Tesla
We, Robot event
Tesla presents its autonomous-transport plans.
Politics & government
Trump campaign rally appearance
Musk speaks at Trump’s campaign rally.
Tesla
2024 Q2 financial results
Quarterly financial disclosure.
Politics & government
Endorses Trump for president
Musk publicly endorses Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Twitter / X
Cannes Lions interview
Musk discusses advertising and X with WPP’s Mark Read.
Tesla
2024 Q1 financial results
Quarterly financial disclosure.
Tesla
2023 Q4 financial results
Quarterly financial disclosure.
Neuralink
First human implant
Neuralink’s first participant receives an implant in its investigational study.
Tesla
Cybertruck delivery event
Tesla begins customer handovers at its delivery event.
Twitter / X
DealBook Summit interview
Public interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin about Musk’s companies and controversies.
Politics & government
AI discussion with Rishi Sunak
Musk and the UK prime minister discuss artificial intelligence and safety.
Tesla
2023 Q3 financial results
Quarterly financial disclosure.
Tesla
2023 Q2 financial results
Quarterly financial disclosure.
xAI / successors
xAI is announced
Musk introduces a new artificial intelligence company.
Twitter / X
VivaTech conference appearance
Musk participates in a public discussion about technology and his companies.
Tesla
2023 Q1 financial results
Quarterly financial disclosure.
Tesla
2022 Q4 financial results
Quarterly financial disclosure.
Twitter / X
Twitter acquisition closes
Musk takes control of Twitter, later renamed X.
The Boring Company
LVCC Loop opens
The convention center tunnel system begins operating in Las Vegas.
SpaceX
Crew Dragon carries astronauts
NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley launch on Demo-2.
OpenAI
Leaves the OpenAI board
OpenAI later confirms the end of Musk’s board involvement.
SpaceX
Falcon Heavy first flight
SpaceX flies its heavy-lift rocket for the first time.
Politics & government
Leaves Trump advisory councils
Musk announces his departure after the US decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord.
Tesla
Model 3 deliveries begin
Tesla begins delivering its smaller electric sedan.
SolarCity
Tesla acquires SolarCity
SolarCity becomes part of Tesla; Musk’s SolarCity chairmanship ends.
Neuralink
Neuralink is founded
Musk co-founds a brain-computer interface company.
The Boring Company
The Boring Company begins
Musk starts a tunneling venture.
OpenAI
OpenAI is introduced
The founding announcement names Musk and Sam Altman as co-chairs.
SpaceX
Dragon reaches the space station
The station’s robotic arm captures Dragon, a milestone for commercial resupply.
Tesla
Model S arrives
Tesla expands from a sports car to a sedan.
Tesla
Becomes Tesla CEO
Musk takes the chief executive role.
Tesla
Roadster debuts
Tesla introduces its first production car.
SpaceX
Falcon 1 reaches orbit
SpaceX puts a privately developed liquid-fuel rocket into orbit.
SolarCity
SolarCity chairmanship begins
Musk becomes chairman of SolarCity.
Tesla
Joins Tesla’s board
Musk joins Tesla as a board member after investing. Tesla was founded in 2003.
X.com / PayPal
eBay acquires PayPal
The acquisition marks the end of PayPal’s independent chapter.
SpaceX
SpaceX begins
Musk establishes SpaceX.
X.com / PayPal
X.com and Confinity merge
The combined company develops into PayPal.
Zip2
Zip2 acquired by Compaq
The sale closes Musk’s first major internet venture.
X.com / PayPal
Starts X.com
Starts an online financial-services company.
Zip2
Co-founds Zip2
Builds a business supplying online city guides to newspapers.
Life & education
Transfers to Penn
Transfers from Queen’s University to the University of Pennsylvania.
Life & education
Moves to Canada
Moves from South Africa to Canada.
Life & education
Born in Pretoria
Elon Musk is born in Pretoria, South Africa.