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- Elon Musk left South Africa in 1989 with $4,000 from his parents, per Walter Isaacson's biography.
- Musk initially stayed in a youth hostel, sharing a room with 5 other people, per the book.
- The biography debunks suggestions that he left his homeland with "pockets filled with emeralds".
Elon Musk had just $4,000 to his name when he left South Africa at the age of 17 and moved to Canada to study, according to Walter Isaacson's biography.
His father, Errol Musk, "gave him $2,000 in traveler's checks" and his mother, Maye Musk, handed him $2,000. His mother was born in Canada, which meant he was able to obtain a Canadian passport.
Isaacson writes in the biography, released this week, that when Musk arrived, he shared a room with five other people at a youth hostel.