Elon Musk’s first company, founded with Kimbal Musk in 1995, was Zip2.
Zip2 developed an online city guide that helped newspapers provide maps, business directories, and local information on the early internet. The brothers founded the company in Palo Alto, California, during the rapid growth of commercial web services.
Compaq acquired Zip2 in 1999 for approximately $307 million in cash, plus stock options. Musk used part of his proceeds to help launch X.com, which later became associated with PayPal. A common mix-up is to call X.com Musk’s first company; it was his second major business venture, not the first.