Elon Musk worked in the U.S. without proper authorization while on a student visa when he co-founded Zip2, leaving Stanford to start his entrepreneurial journey, according to The Washington Post, which cited former colleagues, court records, and company documents.

This is in contrast with Musk later becoming a prominent supporter of Donald Trump and amplifying Trump's claims against "open borders" and undocumented immigration.

Musk has also alleged that Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats are “importing voters.”

The sale of Zip2 for about $300 million in 1999 enabled Musk to fund ventures like Tesla and SpaceX, propelling him to become the world’s wealthiest person.

His launch of X.com, later rebranded as PayPal and acquired by eBay, earned Musk around $176 million.

With a net worth now at $277 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk surpasses Amazon's Jeff Bezos, who ranks second at $211 billion.

Former Justice Department immigration attorney Leon Fresco noted that foreign students are legally prohibited from dropping out and founding companies.

In Musk's case, Mohr Davidow Ventures, an early investor in Zip2, required him and his brother Kimbal to secure legal work authorization within 45 days to avoid reclaiming its investment.

Zip2 board members were also concerned, with board member Derek Proudian quoted as saying, “We don’t want our founder being deported... We want to take care of this long before there’s anything that could screw up” Zip2’s IPO plans.