Elon Musk Is Often Called a "Genius," But What College Degrees Does He Actually Hold?

Billionaire Elon Musk is one of the most powerful men in the world. With a staggering net worth and fingers in the pies of multiple major corporations, he was already a heavy-hitter before becoming best buds with President Donald Trump and descending on Washington, D.C. with a purpose.

Yet there are rumors online that suggest that for all his "genius" and accomplishments, Elon Musk doesn't hold any college degrees. Are the rumors true? Here's what we know about Elon Musk's college degrees and the reason people often cry foul about his touted accomplishments.

When you're the wealthiest man in the world, it only tracks that controversies will follow you. Not only is he interconnected in the business world, itself known for controversy, but he's under a global microscope as critics and fans alike are always watching for the next big news headline regarding Elon.

So where are the rumors coming from that he may not hold any college degrees? It all started with a lawsuit in 2007, according to Snopes.

The outlet reports that Elon was sued for misrepresenting his educational and professional background to secure a business opportunity. The lawsuit ruled in Elon's favor, but documents provided for the lawsuit raised several inconsistencies about Elon's educational record.

Elon has claimed that he earned a degree in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1995. That's not true.

But he was seemingly awarded a degree in both Physics and Economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997.

Why the discrepancy? According to Snopes, Elon left the university in 1995, and they allowed him to finish an outstanding History and English credit at Stanford. Yet in 1997, requirements to obtain those degrees were changed and the need for the outstanding History and English credits were dropped. According to Elon, the University then awarded him both degrees on the technicality that he met all of the requirements.

So yes, it does appear that he holds both an Economics and Physics degree, but it also appears that he has misrepresented them in the past, and the way he has obfuscated explaining how he obtained them has raised red flags for some.

This isn't the first time that Elon has seemingly misrepresented his accomplishments, however.

He is often touted as the genius inventor behind Tesla, yet Tesla was actually founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Elon was instrumental in funding the venture and took over as CEO in 2008 according to Britannica.

Elon did fund SpaceX and PayPal, so his business accomplishments aren't nothing, but he is often represented as a self-made billionaire who was just a regular guy with good business sense.

However, that's not exactly the case. Elon's father, Errol Musk, co-owned an emerald mine in South Africa, and once bragged about how rich they were.

"We were very wealthy. We had so much money at times we couldn’t even close our safe." He explained that one person would push the contents in while another closed the door. "And then there’d still be all these notes sticking out and we’d sort of pull them out and put them in our pockets" (excerpt via The Independent).

There are certainly accomplishments to be admired in Elon's past. He does inarguably have a keen sense for how to make money, but he did not come from nothing.

And while he does indeed hold the college degrees he has bragged about, the details are often a little fuzzy when he tells the story.