From Netscape rejection to billion-dollar dreams! How Elon Musk’s job hunt changed his life | Net worth and other DETAILS

Long before Elon Musk became the world’s richest person and the face behind companies like Tesla and SpaceX, he was an ambitious young engineer struggling to break into the booming internet industry of the mid-1990s. At a time when Silicon Valley was witnessing the birth of modern web businesses, Musk found himself on the outside, trying and failing to secure a job at Netscape, one of the most influential internet companies of that era.

In a resurfaced old video, Musk recounts how he applied for a position at Netscape, the company behind the then-dominant web browser. He sent in his resume, hopeful of joining the internet revolution, but never received a response. “I tried to get a job at Netscape. I sent my resume, but I don't think they ever saw it and nobody responded,” Musk said.

Refusing to give up immediately, Musk took an unusual step. He physically went to Netscape’s headquarters and waited in the lobby, hoping to run into someone from the hiring team. “I tried hanging out in the lobby of Netscape to see if I could bump into someone,” he recalled. However, his plan never worked. Musk admitted that his own shyness held him back. “I was too shy to talk to anyone,” he said, describing the awkward experience of waiting without any result.

That rejection, however, proved to be a turning point. Realising that the traditional job route was not opening up for him, Musk decided to create his own opportunity. Frustrated but determined, he chose to write software himself instead of waiting for a company to hire him.

“I thought this was ridiculous,” Musk said in the video. “So I wrote software for myself and see how that goes.” His desire to be part of the internet economy remained strong. “I really wanted to be part of the internet in some way. And since I didn’t get a job at an internet company, I had to start my own company,” he added.

That decision led to the creation of Zip2, Musk’s first company, which provided online business directories and maps to newspapers. The startup was later sold, giving Musk his first major financial success and setting the stage for everything that followed.

Fast forward to recent years, and Musk’s journey has come full circle. He became the world’s richest person in 2021 after a sharp rise in Tesla’s stock price, overtaking Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. While the top spot briefly changed hands, Musk regained the title in late 2023 and remained at the top through 2024 and 2025. In December, he reportedly became the first individual to reach a net worth of USD 700 billion.

Today, Musk leads or owns several high-profile companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), Neuralink, The Boring Company and xAI, all tracing back, in part, to a moment when a rejected job application pushed him to bet on himself.