Elon Musk ran unlicensed nightclub during university years

During his time as a student at the University of Pennsylvania in the early 1990s, Elon Musk and his roommate Adeo Ressi operated an unlicensed nightclub out of a large, inexpensive 10-bedroom rental house.

By charging a $5 entry fee that included drinks, the duo could host up to 500 guests, generating approximately $2,500 in cash in a single night—an amount Musk noted was sufficient to cover a month's rent. The operation utilized the vacant space during weekends to turn a sunk cost into a revenue stream.

This account was detailed in Ashlee Vance’s 2015 biography, ‘Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future’. Musk has personally corroborated the story on social media in 2019 and 2022, describing the house as looking impressive at night with neon lights and scrap metal sculptures, despite its appearance during the day.