Born to a wealthy family inPretoria, South Africa, Musk emigrated in 1989 to Canada, whose citizenship he had inherited through his mother. He graduated from theUniversity of Pennsylvania in the U.S. before moving toCalifornia to pursue business ventures. In 1995, Musk co-founded the software companyZip2. Following its sale in 1999, he co-foundedX.com, an online payment company that later merged to formPayPal, which was acquired byeBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion. That year, Musk also became a U.S. citizen.
In 2002, Musk founded SpaceX and became its CEO and chief engineer. The company has since led innovations inreusable rockets andcommercial spaceflight. In 2004, Musk joined Tesla, Inc., as an early investor, and became its CEO and product architect in 2008; it has become a market leader inelectric vehicles. In 2015, he co-foundedOpenAI to advanceartificial intelligence research, but left its board in 2018. In 2016, Musk co-foundedNeuralink, a company focused onbrain–computer interfaces, and in 2017 launchedthe Boring Company, which aims to develop tunnel transportation. Musk was namedTime magazine's Person of the Year in 2021. In 2022, he acquired Twitter, implementing significant changes and rebranding it as X in 2023. In January 2025, he was appointed head of Trump's newly created DOGE.
Musk has fathered thirteen children, one of whom is deceased, along with an alleged fourteenth child that Musk has not yet acknowledged.[1][2][3] He met his first wife, Canadian authorJustine Wilson, while attending Queen's University in Ontario, Canada; they married in 2000.[4] In 2002, their first child Nevada Musk died ofsudden infant death syndrome at the age of 10 weeks.[5] After his death, the couple usedin vitro fertilization (IVF) to continue their family;[6] they had twins in 2004, followed by triplets in 2006.[6] The couple divorced in 2008 and hadshared custody of their children.[7][8]
In 2008, Musk began dating English actressTalulah Riley.[9] They married two years later atDornoch Cathedral in Scotland.[10][11] In 2012, the couple divorced, before remarrying the following year.[12] After briefly filing for divorce in 2014,[12] Musk finalized a second divorce from Riley in 2016.[13] Musk then datedAmber Heard for several months in 2017;[14] he had reportedly been "pursuing" her since 2012.[15]
In 2018, Musk and Canadian musicianGrimes said that they were dating.[16] Grimes gave birth to Musk's seventh child in May 2020.[17][18] In December 2021, Grimes and Musk had a second child together (Musk's tenth child), born viasurrogacy.[19] Despite the pregnancy, Musk confirmed reports that the couple were "semi-separated" in September 2021; in an interview withTime in December 2021, he said he was single.[20][21] In March 2022, Grimes said of her relationship with Musk: "I would probably refer to him as my boyfriend, but we're very fluid."[19] Later that month, Grimes tweeted that she and Musk had broken up again.[22] In September 2023 it was reported that the pair had had a third child (Musk's eleventh).[23] In October 2023, Grimes sued Musk over parental rights and custody of their eldest.[24][25][26]
In July 2022,Insider published court documents revealing that Musk had had his eighth and ninth children, twins born viaIVF withShivon Zilis, director of operations and special projects atNeuralink, in November 2021.[27] They were born weeks before Musk and Grimes had their second child via surrogacy in December. The news "raise[d] questions about workplace ethics", given that Zilis directly reported to Musk.[28] Zilis's third child together with Musk (his twelfth child) was born in early 2024 via surrogacy.[29][30] His fourth child with Zilis was born in 2025.[3]
Also in July 2022,The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk allegedly had an affair withNicole Shanahan, the wife of Google co-founderSergey Brin, in 2021, leading to their divorce the following year.[31] Musk denied the report.[32] Musk also had a relationship with Australian actressNatasha Bassett, who has been described as "an occasional girlfriend".[33] In October 2024,The New York Times reported Musk bought a Texas compound for his children and their mothers,[34] though Musk denied having done so.[35]
On February 14, 2025, Ashley St. Clair, an influencer and author, posted on X claiming to have given birth to Musk's son five months earlier, which media outlets reported as Musk's supposed thirteenth child.[36][37] On February 22, 2025, it was reported that St Clair had filed for sole custody of her five-month-old son and for Musk to be recognised as the child's father.[38][39]
Vivian Jenna Wilson (born April 15, 2004)[40] is a college student studying languages. She is the eldest living child of Elon Musk andJustine Wilson. Shecame out as atrans woman in 2020 at age 16.[41] In 2022, a judge granted her request tochange her name and gender on herbirth certificate;[42] she adopted her mother's surname because she no longer wished to be associated with Musk.[42] Elon's former partner Grimes has defended Vivian, supported her transition, and has stated she is proud of Vivian for speaking out.[43][44]
Vivian has been vocally critical of Elon Musk's actions and supportive oftransgender rights.[45][46] She expressed that Musk was "cold", "quick to anger", "uncaring and narcissistic", and that his infrequent visits commonly involved him berating her for being feminine.[47] Musk, separately, shared anecdotes of her as a child singing along toshow tunes and choosing outfits for Musk at age 4, describing his clothes as "fabulous". Wilson alleges that these are lies meant to characterize her as acamp gay man.[48] Following the result of the2024 United States presidential election, Vivian voiced her intention to emigrate from the United States in the future,[49] and afterElon's controversial gesture atTrump's inauguration which has been described as aNazi salute, she proclaimed "let'scall a spade a fucking spade".[50][51]
Elon Musk says that he signed papers allowing the prescription ofpuberty blockers because he was told she was suicidal. He has since regretted his decision claiming that he was tricked by the "woke mind virus".[52] Musk blamed the estrangement on what theFinancial Times characterized as "the supposed takeover of elite schools and universities byneo-Marxists", and has said that Vivian's gender transition is primarily what sparked his drive to "destroy the woke mind virus".[53][54] In a July 2024 episode ofJordan Peterson's podcast, Musk said that he had "lost [his] son, essentially" because ofgender-affirming care. He commented: "You know, they call itdeadnaming for a reason. The reason it's called deadnaming is because your son is dead", stating that Vivian "is dead, killed by the woke mind virus".[55]
X Æ A-Xii Musk
Elon and X Æ A-Xii Musk, in theOval Office, February 2025
X Æ A-Xii[needs English IPA] Musk was born in May 2020, the eldest child of Elon Musk and Grimes.[17][18] Musk and Grimes originally gave the baby the name "XÆ A-12", which would have violated California regulations as it contained characters (Arabic numerals) that are not in the modern English alphabet.[56][57] They then changed it to "X Æ A-Xii".[58][59] They have received criticism for choosing a name perceived to be impractical and difficult to pronounce.[60]
Errol Graham Musk is aSouth African politician and businessman,[62] who was elected as an independent to representSunnyside on thePretoria City Council in 1972.[63]
Musk had a lucrative engineering business which took on "large projects such as office buildings, retail complexes, residential subdivisions, and an air force base." He also owned an auto parts store, at least half a share in an emerald mine, and even "one of the biggest houses in Pretoria".[64][65] He was married toMaye Musk from 1970 to 1979.[66][65]
Maye's book recalls that at the time of the divorce, he owned two homes, a yacht, a plane, five luxury cars, and a truck.[67]
In the early 1990s, Errol, then aged 45, married Heide Bezuidenhout, a 25-year old he described as "one of the best looking women I've ever seen in my life".[68] They had two children.[69] Jana Bezuidenhout, who later became his romantic partner, was his stepdaughter from that marriage, four years old at the time Errol became her stepfather.[69][70]
Errol Musk's mother, Cora Amelia Robinson, was English fromLiverpool, and his father, Walter Henry James Musk, was mostly English-South African.[71][72]
Maye Musk (née Haldeman; born April19, 1948)[73] is a model,dietitian and author.[74][75] She has been a model for 50 years, appearing on the covers of magazines, including aTime magazine health edition,Women's Day, international editions ofVogue, andSports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She is the mother ofElon Musk,Kimbal Musk andTosca Musk.[76] She holds Canadian, South African, and American citizenship. She is a registered dietitian. She published her memoir,A Woman Makes a Plan in 2019.
The Haldeman couple spent time searching for theLost City of the Kalahari by plane.[81] Haldeman's mother Almeda Jane (Norman) Haldeman was the first recorded chiropractor in Canada.[80]
Wyn Fletcher
Winnifred Josephine Fletcher (1914–2012) was born inMoose Jaw, Canada, to English parents. Her older sister Kay Fletcher married the Canadianice hockey playerElmer Lach.[82]
Cora Amelia Robinson was born inEdge Hill, Liverpool to an English father and a South African mother. She moved to South Africa during World War II. Her father, fromToxteth,Liverpool, had emigrated to South Africa where he married her mother in 1911. Her mother was from a Dutch-South African background. They moved toEdge Hill, Liverpool and lived there until World War II.[84]
He owns The Kitchen Restaurant Group, a collection of restaurants located inColorado andChicago.[86] He is the co-founder and chairman ofBig Green, a501(c)(3) nonprofit that has built hundreds of outdoor classrooms calledLearning Gardens in schoolyards across America.[87][88][89] Musk is also the co-founder and chairman of Square Roots, an urban farming company growing food in hydroponic, indoor, climate controlled shipping containers.[90][91][92] Musk currently sits on the boards ofTesla Inc. andSpaceX, both of which his brother Elon is the current CEO. He is a major shareholder in Tesla. He was on the board ofChipotle Mexican Grill[93] from 2013 to 2019.[94]
In 1995 he co-founded, with his brother, Elon Musk, the software companyZip2, which was acquired byCompaq for $307 million in 1999.
Kimbal Musk was married toJen Lewin, with whom he established The Kitchen, from 2001 to 2010. The couple had two children together.[95] In April 2018, he married Christiana Wyly, an environmental activist and the daughter of ex-billionaireSam Wyly.[96]
Musk also has a daughter from another relationship.[97] One of his children istransgender.[98]
She is an executive producer and director of feature films, television programs, and web content. Her work includes K. Bromberg'sDriven, Rachel van Dyken'sMatchmaker's Playbook, and her web series,Tiki Bar TV.[100][101] She co-founded the streaming servicePassionflix.
Lyndon Robert Rive (born 22January 1977) is a South African-American businessman known as the co-founder ofSolarCity, and itsCEO until 2016. SolarCity is a provider ofphotovoltaic systems and related services. Rive co-founded SolarCity with his brother Peter in 2006. He is a cousin of Elon Musk; his mother Kaye Rive is the twin sister of Maye Musk.[102]
Rive started his first company at age 17 before leaving his native country, South Africa.[103] He then co-founded the enterprise software companyEverdream, which was ultimately acquired byDell.[104] In 2010, Rive was named in theMIT Technology Review'sInnovators Under 35 as one of the top 35 innovators in the world under the age of 35.[105]
Rive's parents were entrepreneurs in the natural-health business inPretoria, South Africa. Rive has three siblings: SolarCity co-founder Peter Rive, Russ Rive who runs an art, technology, and design company in Brazil, and competitivedirt bike riderAlmeda Rive [de].[106]
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