Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Meet Elon Musk’s college bestie Navaid Farooq: the Tesla and SpaceX CEO hired his pal for his first company, Zip2, founded with brother Kimbal Musk … but why did Farooq quit after just 6 weeks?
STORYLynn Farah
They were in the same first-year dormitory at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada; like his now-billionaire pal, Farooq enjoyed strategy games and ‘had made no close friends in high school’
The world’s richest person, Elon Musk is certainly no stranger to headlines, from his support of US president-elect Donald Trump and influence in Washington, to reports that he was building a secretive family compound in Austin, Texas. The Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder denied the claims, saying that he actually wants to create “a big futuristic art project”, per Page Six.
While Musk has made his political ambitions clear, slivers of information around his private life are rarely available. He has spoken only a handful of times about his inner circle, one of whom was college mate Navaid Farooq.
Meet the man who knew Musk before the billions.
How did Navaid Farooq meet Elon Musk?
Advertisement
It was 1990 and Farooq was in the same first-year dormitory as Musk at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Musk and Farooq were placed in the international section where a Canadian student was paired with a student from overseas, according to Ashlee Vance’s book Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (2017).
Third-culture kids
Musk left South Africa for Canada when he was 17 years old, becoming a citizen through his Canadian-born mother, Maye Musk, per CNBC. Farooq’s father was Pakistani and his mother Canadian, according to The Globe and Mail. His parents worked for United Nations organisations, and he had been raised in Nigeria and Switzerland. “Like Elon, he had made no close friends in high school,” continues the source.
Bonding over board games
Farooq and Musk bonded over their shared love of computer and board games, especially strategy games. “I don’t think he makes friends easily, but he is very loyal to those he has,” Farooq said about Musk in the Vance biography.