At age 11, Elon saw his first real computer in a Johannesburg mall and just stood there staring. He had only read about them in magazines before.
His dad hated computers (“just for games”), so Elon saved up from odd jobs and bought a Commodore VIC-20.
He finished the 60-hour BASIC programming course in 3 days, barely sleeping.
At 13, he created his own video game called Blastar (destroy an alien space freighter with hydrogen bombs) and sold it to a magazine for $500.
He then sold two more games: one similar to Donkey Kong, and another simulating roulette and blackjack.
This kid was built different from the start. 🚀
Source: Walter Isaacson's 'Elon Musk' (2023), chapter 4