Elon Musk denies WaPo report he briefly worked illegally in U.S. in 1990s

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX (SPACE) chief executive Elon Musk worked illegally in the United States for a brief period in the 1990s while launching his startup, the Washington Post reported Saturday, citing former business associates, court records and company documents.

The South African-born billionaire denied the report on Sunday, writing in a post on X, “I was on a J-1 visa that transitioned to an H1-B.”

The J-1 visa is for individuals approved to participate in work-and study-based exchange visitor programs, whereas the H1-B visa allows U.S. employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialty occupations.

According to the report, Musk landed in Palo Alto, California, in 1995 to attend Stanford University, but never enrolled in the university’s graduate studies program. Instead, he built software firm Zip2, which was sold in 1999 for around $300 million.

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.”

Investors in Zip2 were concerned about the possibility of Musk being deported and gave him a deadline for obtaining a work visa, the report said.

The report cited two former Musk colleagues who said Musk received authorization to work in the U.S. in or around 1997.

“That wealthiest man in the world turned out to be an illegal worker here. No, I’m serious. He was supposed to be in school when he came on a student visa. He wasn’t in school. He was violating the law. And he’s talking about all these illegals coming our way?” President Joe Biden said in response to the report while campaigning on Saturday in Pittsburgh at a union hall.

“I was in fact allowed to work in the US,” Musk wrote in a post on X in response to Biden’s comments. “The Biden puppet is lying.”

Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, has emerged as one of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s most vocal and prominent supporters this election cycle. He has pledged millions of dollars to a super political action committee that is behind Trump.

Trump has said that he would appoint Musk to head a government efficiency commission if he wins the U.S. presidential election.

Trump has proposed harsh immigration restrictions that he believes will boost domestic employment, saying that jobs are being taken by illegal immigrants.

Dear readers: We recognize that politics often intersects with the financial news of the day, so we invite you to click here to join the separate political discussion.