According to a report by The Washington Post, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk worked illegally in the United States for a brief period in the 1990s while attempting to launch a startup.

Musk, who was born in South Africa, arrived in Palo Alto, California, in 1995 to attend Stanford University but never enrolled in the program. Instead, he focused on developing his software company, Zip2, which he sold in 1999 for around $300 million.

Musk denied the allegations, asserting that he was legally permitted to work in the U.S. during that time, stating on his social media platform X, “I was on a J-1 visa that transitioned to an H1-B.”

The J-1 visa allows foreign students to receive academic training in the U.S., while the H1-B visa is designated for temporary employment.

Two immigration law experts noted that to maintain valid work authorization as a student, Musk would have needed to be enrolled in a full course of study. Musk, in a 2020 podcast, acknowledged that he was allowed to work in a supportive capacity while studying.

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The report also mentioned that two former colleagues of Musk recalled him receiving U.S. work authorization around 1997.

Meanwhile, Musk has recently endorsed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for the upcoming election, despite Trump’s history of portraying migrants negatively and pledging strict immigration policies.