Elon Musk had a unique childhood growing up in South Africa, where his tendency to correct classmates’ small mistakes often left him feeling out of place. According to Forbes, while he thought he was being helpful, others saw it as arrogance, making him a bit of an outsider. In his biography, Elon also shared how he became estranged from his father, a relationship that grew complicated after his dad had two children with Elon’s former stepdaughter.
In 1990, Elon started at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, where he crossed paths with Justine Wilson, a fellow student. Elon confidently told her they’d met at a party—though Justine knew she hadn’t been there. Years later, he confessed he’d made it up to strike up a conversation. Despite the rocky start, he invited her out for ice cream, which she first agreed to but then canceled with a note left on her door. That evening, she went to the study center and was surprised to find Elon behind her, holding two ice cream cones. Justine later said, “He’s not a man who takes no for an answer.”
At first, Justine knew she wasn’t the only woman Elon was pursuing. Still, he was persistent, and she told CNBC that he would call her so often she couldn’t easily brush him off. “He’s like the Terminator—he locks in on something and says, ‘It shall be mine.’”
After Elon transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, they kept in touch, and he’d always reach out to her whenever he visited Canada. Later, when he was in Silicon Valley building his first company, Zip2, they reconnected and eventually got engaged. Justine joked about him leaving her for a supermodel after he sold Zip2 for $20 million, but Elon surprised her by proposing instead. They married in 2000, and during their first dance, he told her, “I am the alpha in this relationship.”
That comment might be a red flag for some, though—when a man feels the need to declare himself as the “alpha,” it can hint at insecurity rather than strength. Real leadership in a relationship doesn’t rely on one partner asserting dominance but rather on both giving each other respect and care.
After selling Zip2, Elon used his earnings to fund a new venture, an online banking platform called X.com, which would later morph into PayPal. But on the home front, things were tense. Justine, his wife, felt that Elon often dismissed her opinions, and he didn’t hold back in pointing out what he saw as her flaws. When she’d remind him, “I’m your wife, not your employee,” Elon would reply, “If you were my employee, I’d fire you.”
At the company’s suggestion, Elon asked her to sign a postnuptial agreement just two months after they married. She agreed, thinking, “We’re soulmates; we’ll never divorce.” But, as she later told Marie Claire, she now sees that there were signs that she’d chosen to ignore.
In 2002, they welcomed their son Nevada, but tragedy struck when he suddenly stopped breathing during a nap. Though paramedics were able to revive him, he had gone too long without oxygen and was declared brain-dead. After three days on life support, he passed away at just 10 weeks old. Justine said Elon shut down any discussion about their son’s death, which deeply pained her. She wanted to grieve openly, but Elon couldn’t understand that, even calling her “emotionally manipulative.” A couple of months later, Justine began IVF treatments, leading to the births of twins and later triplets.
The family settled into a Bel-Air mansion, complete with a staff of five to help care for the kids. On the outside, Justine knew she was living a dream life, but on the inside, she felt unfulfilled. Elon was constantly consumed by work, and when he was around, he often criticized her for reading too much. Over time, she started feeling like she was fading into the background. She began questioning what her relationship with Elon was teaching their young sons, especially as his critical comments weighed more heavily on her. In spring 2008, after a car accident, she had a moment of clarity. She realized she had changed so much to make Elon happy that she didn’t even recognize herself.
Deciding she wanted to be an equal partner, not a “trophy wife,” she told Elon she was ready for a real partnership. He agreed to try therapy, but after only three sessions, he cut it short, saying, “We either fix this marriage today, or I’ll divorce you tomorrow.” The very next day, he filed for divorce.
During the divorce, Justine challenged the postnuptial agreement, which capped her share of their marital assets at $20 million and separated everything they’d acquired before and during the marriage. Justine found herself embroiled in a rocky legal battle, realizing just how much she had sacrificed in signing the agreement.
Not long after, Elon met actress Talulah Riley at a London club. Just six weeks after filing for divorce, he texted Justine to let her know he was engaged to Talulah. Looking back, Justine’s story is a powerful reminder: love is meaningful, but so is the need for mutual respect and an equal partnership.
Looking back on her marriage to Elon, Justine opened up to Marie Claire magazine, saying, “I don’t regret my marriage. I’ve worked through a lot of anger—anger at Elon for making me feel disposable and anger at myself for buying into a fairy tale when I should’ve known better.” She also shared that during the divorce, she and Talulah grew close, discovering they actually really liked each other. Justine admitted that Talulah seemed to be a much better fit for Elon’s lifestyle and personality.
After their divorce, Elon married Talulah in 2010, but it wasn’t long before the relationship hit a bump. Just two years later, Elon tweeted, “I will love you forever. You will make someone very happy one day.” The very next day, Talulah filed for divorce. Elon later confessed to TMZ that while he loved her, he wasn’t in love with her. They tried a trial separation, but after some time apart, Elon realized that his feelings hadn’t changed, and he was ready to move on. Talulah ended up leaving the marriage with a $4.2 million settlement, some jewelry, and a Tesla.
A year later, Elon and Talulah reconciled, remarried in 2013, but, once again, it didn’t last. According to The New York Times, Talulah wanted to focus on her career rather than having children, which ultimately contributed to their breakup. This time, Talulah received a hefty $16 million settlement, along with other assets. In the same year, Elon started dating actress Amber Heard, who had just gone through a messy divorce with Johnny Depp. Elon fell head over heels for Amber, but some people close to him were concerned. His brother reportedly described Amber as a “toxic nightmare” and said Elon often fell for beautiful women with a darker side. After a turbulent on-again, off-again relationship, Elon and Amber called it quits in early 2018. Elon later admitted in an interview with Rolling Stone that Amber had ended things and said, “If I’m not in love, if I’m not with a long-term companion, I cannot be happy. I will never be happy without having someone. Going to sleep alone kills me.”
Around this time, Elon became more outspoken about the declining birth rate in the U.S. and other countries. He even donated $10 million to the University of Texas to study fertility and population trends. He tweeted, “I’m doing my best to encourage more people to become parents and ideally have three or more kids so humanity can grow.”
In May 2018, Elon began dating musician Grimes. After a brief breakup, they got back together and conceived a child through IVF. Their baby was born in May 2020, and although we won’t attempt to pronounce their child’s unique name, it’s definitely one for the books. Despite having a child together, Grimes described their relationship as “fluid,” suggesting that Elon likely lived life on his own terms.
In 2021, things took another turn when Elon secretly donated sperm to Shivon Zilis, an executive at his company Neuralink. There was no romantic involvement between them, but Shivon went ahead with IVF and gave birth to twins in November 2021. Shortly after, Grimes and Elon welcomed another child, also through IVF, carried by a surrogate.
Things got even more complicated when Grimes and Shivon, who were friends, found out that Elon had children with both of them at nearly the same time. To make matters worse, Elon took a baby name he and Grimes had chosen for their child and gave it to one of Shivon’s twins. Grimes took to Twitter, writing, “A girl cursed with my daughter’s name will now carry her mother’s shame,” prompting Shivon to change her daughter’s name to avoid further drama.
In September 2023, Elon revealed in his biography that he and Grimes had secretly welcomed another child named Techno Mechanicus. Around the same time, sources reported that Elon was dating actress Natasha Bassett. Then, in June 2024, Elon announced that Shivon had given birth to yet another baby. If you’re keeping track, Elon now has six children with his first wife, three with Grimes, and three with Shivon, making him a father of 12 by three women. At this point, some might joke that he’s trying to assemble a football team—or maybe he and Nick Cannon are comparing notes.
It looks like Elon Musk isn’t ready to stop adding to his family just yet. The New York Times reported that at a dinner party, Elon casually offered to donate his sperm to a couple who were having trouble conceiving. Then, in September 2024, after Taylor Swift publicly supported Kamala Harris and humorously referred to herself as a “childless cat lady,” Elon took to Twitter, writing, “Fine, Taylor, you win. I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life.” He even joked, “You get some sperm, you get some sperm, everybody gets some sperm!”
As of now, Elon has bought a massive 14,000 sq. ft. mansion in Austin, close to Tesla’s headquarters. His plan is to turn the property into a family compound, where his younger children and some of their mothers can live in adjoining homes. According to The New York Times, his goal is for his kids to have a strong connection with each other, and the compound will make it easier for him to spend time with them. Elon even joked, saying, “They’d better know each other, or they might end up kissing cousins—or siblings—if they don’t know who all the brothers and sisters are!”
But we’re focusing on the younger kids because, apparently, Elon hasn’t been the best dad to some of his older children. In April 2022, his daughter Vivien, whom he shares with his first wife Justine, filed a petition to legally change her last name from Musk to her mom’s maiden name, Wilson. She also wanted to officially recognize her gender as female and stated that she no longer wanted to be associated with her biological father. The court granted Vivien’s request in June 2022.
When speaking to The Financial Times in October 2022, Elon suggested that Vivien’s decision might have stemmed from her discomfort with what he called the “neo-Marxist takeover” of elite schools and universities. He said, “The relationship may change, but I have very good relationships with all the other children. Can’t win them all.”