Chapter 5: Escape Velocity: Leaving South Africa, 1989

In 1989, as apartheid remained entrenched and South Africa's future looked bleak, Musk decides to leave the country at age seventeen. He departs for Canada with minimal planning, driven by a desire to avoid military service and pursue greater opportunities elsewhere.

Musk, increasingly restless in South Africa during the final years of apartheid, makes the decision to emigrate. With his mother Maye's support, he leaves for Canada with little more than a backpack, aiming to escape military conscription and the limited prospects he sees in his home country. The move marks a turning point in his life, setting him on a path that would eventually lead to the United States and his entrepreneurial ventures. His departure reflects both his dissatisfaction with South African society and his characteristic impatience to pursue bigger ambitions elsewhere.