Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a controversial character.
Whether it is acquiring Twitter and changing its name to X, challenging Mark Zuckerberg to a cage fight, making controversially sweeping remarks on gender pronouns, procreating a brood of 11 children or having a whirlwind of romantic life, the tech mogul is always making headlines.
Well, it is safe to say that Musk’s private life has been as fascinating (read scandalous) as his professional life, one imbued with one too many high-profile romances.
Yes, Elon Musk’s dating history has been one for the books boasting names of celebrities like Amber Heard and Grimes to his top executive at Neuralink, Shivon Zilis.
In this piece, we deconstruct Musk’s romantic life, from his ex-wives and the mothers of his children to his current girlfriend.
Breaking down the list of Elon Musk’s wives and ex-girlfriends
Get to know the ladies up close and personal who’ve dated, married and procreated a stellar brood with the billionaire businessman Elon Musk.
Jennifer Gwynne (1994-1995)
Elon Musk with his college ex-girlfriend Jennifer Gwynne.#ELONMUSK #ElonMuskSpaceX #elonmusktwitter pic.twitter.com/xDcroVB1FN
— Man Mahendra (@manmahendrasgh) April 17, 2023
Profession: Inventory Analyst at McKesson
First up on the list we have Elon Musk’s ex-girlfriend, his college sweetheart, Jennifer Gwyne. The two dated back in the mid-1990s while studying at the University of Pennsylvania.
They were together only for about a year but were serious enough to introduce each other to their families. Musk even presented her with an emerald necklace as a birthday gift.
However, the two couldn’t keep up with a long-distance relationship and broke up soon after Gwynne returned from studying abroad.
Later in 2022, Gwynne famously auctioned off items from their time together, which included photos and handwritten cards, to help pay for her stepson’s college tuition fee. Ahead of the auction, she recalled that her time dating Musk was ‘amazing’ and that she was warmly welcomed by his family in their Toronto house during the holidays in 1994.
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Justine Wilson (1999-2008)
Profession: Canadian author
Next, we have Canadian author Justine Wilson who also happens to be Elon Musk’s first wife and inaugural partner in the journey to parenthood.
The two first met while studying at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada in the late ‘90s. At the time, Justine was a freshman and Musk was a sophomore. He approached her with two chocolate-chip ice cream cones after noticing her across the common room in the college.
Although the billionaire businessman later changed schools, he continued to pursue Wilson even when she was away and moved to Japan for a year to teach English. They took a brief pause from dating but the moment Wilson returned home to Canada, Musk called Justine requesting her to move to California to be with him. An engagement followed and soon after, the couple exchanged vows in 2000.
Their marriage lasted for eight years during which they became parents to six children. In 2002, they welcomed their first child, Nevada Alexander, who unfortunately died at just 10 weeks old of sudden infant death syndrome. They later had twins Griffin and Vivian in 2004 and a set of triplets — Kai, Saxon and Damian — in 2006.
Wilson, in a candid Marie Claire essay, recalled that they had a ‘dream life’ filled with extravagant events, plush homes and an army of staff that catered to all their needs. However, she felt a lack of ‘intimacy and empathy’ from Musk who often talked down to Wilson and said things like ‘I would have fired you if you were my employee.’
A car accident served as a wake-up call for Wilson who thought that she had been reduced to a trophy wife in their marriage. She wrote, “I barely recognised myself. I had turned into a trophy wife.” Shortly after the accident, the couple resorted to counselling, but after just a month, Musk allegedly gave her an ultimatum: to live life as they had or get a divorce.
Musk filed for divorce the next day and the two split up for good in 2008. Since there was tons of money and a squad of children involved, the divorce was a bit complicated, ending with shared custody of their five kids. Justine Musk, now Wilson again, received the couple’s home in LA and spousal and child support from Musk.
Talulah Riley (2008-2016)
Profession: Actor
In the aftermath of his split from Justine, Musk found solace in actress Talulah Riley – while he still was legally married to his first wife. The two first connected at a bar in London and according to Business Insider, Riley didn’t even know who Musk was at the time.
About a month and a half later, after Musk filed for divorce from Justine, he and Riley were engaged. Riley moved to L.A. and they got married in 2010. But two years later, in 2012, Musk filed for divorce from Riley only to get back together in 2013.
In July 2013, Musk and Riley tied the knot again for a second time. Their marriage was again met by another divorce proposal in 2014. However, Musk withdrew the petition after seven months. Although, in March 2016, Riley filed for a divorce which was finalised in November, of the same year.
Later in a 2022 interview with The Independent, Riley shared that she knew it was ‘strange’ to marry and divorce Musk twice. Citing the reason for the same, she said, “I suppose the reason to get remarried was just because it felt silly to be together unmarried after having been married. We were saying, ‘This is my husband.’ ‘This is my wife.’ ‘Oh, wait, no, we’re not that anymore. We better be that again.'”
Looks like a lot went on between the two and they continue to stay friends.
Amber Heard (2016-2018)
Profession: Actor
The next name to go down in Elon Musk’s dating history is that of another controversial celebrity – Amber Heard. The SpaceX founder dated the Aquaman actress in late 2016, shortly after her divorce from Johnny Depp.
The two were romantically involved for a year and then split up due to their busy schedules. Musk shared with Rolling Stone in November 2017 that the break-up was quite difficult for him, adding he was, “really in love, and it hurt bad.”
Musk also commented on one of Heard’s Instagram posts, writing that things ended amicably. “Although Amber and I did break up, we are still friends, remain close and love one another,” he wrote adding, “Long distance relationships, when both partners have intense work obligations are always difficult, but who knows what the future holds.”
However, keeping up with his pattern of getting back with his exes, Musk started dating Heard again in December 2017. The two were photographed kissing, but sources said they were ‘just friends.’ This was followed by clips coming from Musk and Heard vacationing together in Chile and it seemed they were at it again.
However, the couple finally broke it off for the second time in February 2018.
Grimes (2018-2022)
.Elonmusk with Grimes and lil X ❤️ pic.twitter.com/vRLAW6zon1
— Elon Musk Management (@ManagementMusk) April 29, 2024
Profession: Singer-musician
Two months after his break-up with Heard, Musk moved on to singer-musician Grimes. The dating rumours sparked following a flirty interaction on erstwhile Twitter in April. Just a few weeks later, in May, the couple made their red carpet debut at the Met Gala 2018.
In August 2018, speculations about the couple spitting-up started doing the rounds as they reportedly unfollowed each other on social media. However, they were spotted together again in October at a pumpkin patch in L.A. with Musk’s children. In December 2019, Kim Kardashian included the lovebirds in a group photo from the Kardashian-Jenner family Christmas party, confirming that things were romantically sound between Musk and Grimes.
In January 2020, Grimes took to Instagram and announced her pregnancy, confirming that Musk was the baby’s father.
In May of the same year, the two welcomed their first baby together, a son named X Æ A-12, or X for short. Following the birth of their first child, the couple apparently ‘semi-separated’ with Grimes taking on the major share of parental duties. However, the tech mogul and the songstress made a joint appearance on Saturday Night Live in May 2021 and things looked cordial between the two.
Despite their separation, the duo welcomed their second baby via surrogate in December of the same year. Grimes confirmed the birth during a cover interview with Vanity Fair in March 2022, sharing that they welcomed a baby girl named Exa “Y” Dark Sideræl.
She also shared that she and Musk had patched up. “There’s no real word for it. I would probably refer to him as my boyfriend, but we’re very fluid,” she said, adding, “We live in separate houses. We’re best friends. We see each other all the time. … We just have our own thing going on, and I don’t expect other people to understand it.”
But on the day when the magazine published the story, Grimes shared that the couple’s relationship status had changed since the interview.
Me and E have broken up *again* since the writing of this article haha, but he’s my best friend and the love of my life, and my life and art are forever dedicated to The Mission now, I think Devin wrote that part of the story rly well. Sique – peace out
— 𝖦𝗋𝗂𝗆𝖾𝗌 ⏳ (@Grimezsz) March 10, 2022
Shivon Zilis (on and off)
Elon Musk and Shivon Zilis with their twins in Austin, Texas@shivon @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/0MjDCWlUdz
— Dima Zeniuk (@DimaZeniuk) December 30, 2023
Profession: Neuralink’s top executive
This was a much clandestine affair that was brought to light in July 2022 with the news that Elon Musk and Shivon Zilis, a top executive at Musk’s Neuralink company, quietly welcomed twins in November 2021.
Business Insider obtained Texas court documents that revealed the couple requested that their newborns “have their father’s last name and contain their mother’s last name as part of their middle name,” which a judge reportedly approved in May 2022. However, the names of the babies were not immediately revealed.
Musk confirmed the report one day later with a cheeky tweet, “Doing my best to help the underpopulation crisis. A collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilization faces by far.”
Zillis later confirmed the nature of her relationship with Musk, claiming they were never romantically involved and that the twins were conceived with IVF, according to Reuters, which cited multiple people familiar with the situation.
The twins were born just weeks before Musk welcomed his baby girl Y with Grimes.
Well, we told you Musk has a dating history that’s one for the books.
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(Header and feature image courtesy: Instagram/Amber Heard/Grimes)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
– Who is Elon Musk dating currently?
There is no information available on who Elon Musk is currently dating, the last woman he was officially together with was musician Grimes (until 2022).
– Is Elon Musk married to Grimes?
The two never married but share two children, a son named X Æ A-12, or X for short and a girl named Exa ‘Y’ Dark Sideræl.
– How many times did Elon Musk get divorced?
Musk has been divorced thrice, once with his first wife Justine Wilson and twice with his second wife Talulah Riley.
