What did Elon Musk sell at 12 years old?

Elon Musk’s First Sale: A Game at Age 12

Long before Tesla, SpaceX, or X (formerly Twitter), a young Elon Musk was already showing signs of his future as a tech entrepreneur—starting with a simple but impressive achievement at just 12 years old.

Living in Pretoria, South Africa, the young Musk was deeply fascinated by computers and coding. In 1984, he taught himself programming using a Commodore VIC-20 manual and quickly began writing his own software. One of his earliest projects was a space-themed video game called Blastar, created in BASIC, a beginner-friendly programming language of the era.

What set Musk apart wasn’t just his technical skill—it was his initiative. He didn’t just play games; he made one and then took the bold step of trying to sell it. He reached out to PC and Office Technology, a South African computer magazine, which agreed to publish the code. In return, Musk earned approximately $500—a significant sum at the time, equivalent to about $1,600 today when adjusted for inflation.

While Blastar wasn’t a commercial blockbuster, this moment was symbolic. It marked Musk’s first foray into turning an idea into a product. As he later reflected, that early experience taught him the value of initiative and problem-solving—skills that would fuel his future ventures.

This childhood anecdote isn’t just a fun fact; it’s a glimpse into the mindset that would later disrupt industries. Long before he dreamed of Mars or electric cars, Elon Musk was already thinking like an innovator—coding, creating, and selling, all before he turned 13.