'A fool for love': a look back at Elon Musk's storied relationship history

Another day, different bizarre header featuring tech billionaire Elon Musk.

This week, the X proprietor and world’s richest antheral is successful the spotlight after denying being successful a relationship with Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s far-right premier minister, aft a photograph of the brace gazing into each other’s eyes sparked romance rumours online.

Musk, 53, was pictured locking eyes with Meloni, 47, connected Monday astatine the prestigious Atlantic Council thinktank’s Global Citizen Awards dinner, a glitzy black-tie lawsuit which has go a centrepiece of the United Nations General Assembly's yearly gathering of satellite leaders.

While introducing the Brothers of Italy person to the stage, Musk described her arsenic “someone who is adjacent much beauteous connected the wrong than she is connected the outside”.

“That can’t ever beryllium said astir politicians,” helium added, earlier presenting her with the thinktank’s highest yearly award. The brace embraced, and Meloni responded by praising Musk's “precious genius", Politico reported.

But the Tesla brag aboriginal denied determination was immoderate romance betwixt the pair. Responding to a station astir the brace connected X, the societal media level helium owns, Musk wrote: “I was determination with my Mom. There is nary romanticist narration whatsoever with PM Meloni.”

Musk is surely nary alien to high-profile relationships, though. He has a litany of past lovers, famously including Canadian vocalist Grimes, and histrion Amber Heard. It is besides not conscionable Musk’s sprawling concern empire that helium seeks to rapidly, and often recklessly, expand. Musk is simply a pro-natalist – idiosyncratic who believes a declining commencement complaint is simply a menace to civilisation. With his trademark vigour, helium is doing his portion to antagonistic that threat, truthful acold by fathering astatine slightest 12 children.

“I’m conscionable a fool for love,” Musk told Walter Isaacson, who wrote his 2022 biography. “I americium often a fool, but particularly for love.”

Here’s a look backmost astatine Musk’s storied narration history.

Musk met his archetypal girlfriend, Jennifer Gwynne, successful the autumn of 1994 erstwhile some were students astatine the University of Pennsylvania. Gwynne, past a junior, was moving arsenic a nonmigratory advisor successful the accommodation wherever Musk besides lived. She has described Musk arsenic a reserved intellectual, and focused, often staying up precocious into the nighttime studying oregon moving connected his projects.

Their narration developed arsenic they spent much clip unneurotic and, by 1995, Gwynne and Musk were dating. After astir a year, the brace split. Gwynne, who had been studying abroad, explained Musk was "not precise bully astatine a long-distance relationship” and talking connected the telephone "seemed similar a discarded of clip to him”.

In 2022, Gwynne made headlines erstwhile she auctioned disconnected assorted pieces of memorabilia from her narration with Musk, including photos, emotion notes, and a golden necklace that Musk talented her.

Musk met his archetypal wife, Canadian writer Justine Wilson, portion they were some studying astatine Queen's University successful Ontario, Canada, successful the aboriginal Nineties. After noticing her crossed the communal room, Musk approached her.

"He invited maine retired for crystal cream. I said yes, but past blew him disconnected with a enactment connected my dorm-room door," she wrote successful a candid 2010 Marie Claire essay. "Several hours later, my caput bent implicit my Spanish substance successful an overheated country successful the pupil center, I heard a polite cough down me. Musk was smiling awkwardly, 2 chocolate-chip crystal pick cones dripping down his hands. He's not a antheral who takes nary for an answer."

Although Musk aboriginal changed universities, helium continued to prosecute Justine. However, they divided earlier Justine moved to Japan for a twelvemonth to thatch English arsenic a 2nd language. A week aft she returned location to Canada, helium happened to telephone her. Justine moved to California to beryllium with Musk, and they soon became engaged.

The brace joined successful 2000, and had their archetypal child, a lad named Nevada, 2 years later, who passed distant conscionable 10 weeks aft helium was calved of abrupt decease babe syndrome (SIDS). After his death, the mates utilized IVF to conceive again, and Justine gave commencement to twins (one of whom they named Xavier, successful portion aft Professor Xavier from X-Men) and past to triplets.

Wilson has said that the mates had a "dream lifestyle" filled with glamorous events, multimillion-dollar homes, and a cadre of unit catering to them. However, she besides felt a deficiency of "intimacy and empathy" from Musk.

She wrote that a car mishap successful 2008 was a "wake-up call" for her. "I hardly recognised myself," she said. "I had turned into a trophy wife." The mishap prompted the mates to effort therapy but, aft conscionable a month, Musk allegedly gave her an ultimatum: to proceed surviving their aged beingness oregon to get a divorce. The adjacent day, aft 8 years of marriage, Musk reportedly filed for divorce.

In her essay, Wilson besides described Musk arsenic “alpha successful the relationship”, recounting the challenges of their matrimony and divorce. His business-like attack to his companies and his fatherhood besides trickled into the couple’s relationship. She claimed: "In the months pursuing our wedding, a definite dynamic began to instrumentality hold. Musk's judgement overruled mine, and helium was perpetually remarking connected the ways helium recovered maine lacking. 'I americium your wife,' I told him repeatedly, 'not your employee.' 'If you were my employee,' helium said conscionable arsenic often, 'I would occurrence you.' "

The couple’s divided resulted with shared custody of their 5 children. Wilson besides kept the couple's LA home, and received spousal and kid enactment from Musk, helium wrote successful 2010 for Business Insider.

Six weeks aft helium filed for divorcement from Wilson, Musk was already engaged to Talulah Riley, a 22-year-old British histrion who had been surviving with her parents.

The brace met astatine a barroom successful London, according to Business Insider. Riley aboriginal recalled that she didn't cognize who helium was astatine the time. "I retrieve reasoning that this feline astir apt didn't get to speech to young actresses a batch and that helium seemed rather nervous," she told biographer Ashlee Vance. "I decided to beryllium truly bully to him and springiness him a bully evening. Little did I cognize that he'd spoken to a batch of beauteous girls successful his life."

Riley moved to LA, and the brace tied the knot astatine Dornoch Cathedral successful Scotland successful 2010. Riley, champion known for her roles successful films similar Pride & Prejudice and Inception, rapidly became a cardinal fig successful Musk’s life. However, their matrimony seemed to reflector Musk’s volatile lifestyle. They divorced successful 2012, with Musk famously tweeting, “It was an astonishing 4 years. I volition emotion you forever. You volition marque idiosyncratic precise blessed 1 day.”

Less than a twelvemonth later, the mates rekindled their relationship, remarrying successful 2013. But the 2nd effort didn’t past either. They divided erstwhile much successful 2014 and, by 2016, the mates had officially divorced for a 2nd time. Their on-again, off-again romance captivated tabloids, and Musk has spoken fondly of Riley successful interviews, adjacent aft their last split, calling her “a large person”.

In 2022, Riley told the Independent that she knew it was "strange" to wed and divorcement Musk twice. "I accidental the crushed to get remarried was conscionable due to the fact that it felt silly to beryllium unneurotic unmarried aft having been married,” she said. “You know, it's similar a habit. We were saying, 'This is my husband.' 'This is my wife.' 'Oh, wait, no, we're not that immoderate more. We amended beryllium that again.' "

While Musk and Riley were separated successful 2012, Musk reached retired to manager Robert Rodriguez, requesting an instauration to histrion Amber Heard, arsenic some Musk and Heard had appeared successful Rodriguez's movie Machete Kills. A meal was arranged, but Heard, who was successful a narration with Johnny Depp astatine the time, didn’t crook up.

It wasn’t until respective years aboriginal that Musk and Heard connected, but the nonstop timing of erstwhile their narration turned romanticist is unclear. During Depp’s 2022 defamation proceedings against Heard, the histrion alleged that Musk and Heard began secretly dating successful 2015, portion Heard testified that she didn’t go acquainted with Musk until the 2016 Met Gala, aft Depp failed to travel her connected the reddish carpet.

"I didn't recognise [Musk] until we started talking and helium reminded maine we had met erstwhile before," Heard recalled during the trial. "He seemed similar a existent gentleman. He was truly nice. He sat astatine a adjacent array and we got to speaking that nighttime and yet became friends."

Romantic rumours began to swirl betwixt Musk and Heard successful 2016, soon aft she filed for divorcement from Depp. In April 2017, they were spotted successful Australia unneurotic and, the pursuing month, insiders shared that the mates were "very superior astir each other”.

By August, the mates had split, citing conflicting schedules and the demands of their careers. Musk aboriginal admitted successful an interrogation that helium was heartbroken, revealing his heavy affectional concern successful the relationship. Heard and Musk concisely reunited but divided again successful aboriginal 2018.

Elon Musk’s astir caller high-profile narration has been with the instrumentalist Claire Boucher, amended known arsenic Grimes. The 2 amazed the satellite erstwhile they appeared unneurotic astatine the 2018 Met Gala, with Grimes, known for her eclectic euphony and avant-garde persona, an improbable spouse for the tech mogul.

In January 2020, Grimes announced she was large with Musk’s child. ​​"It's sacrificing your assemblage and your freedom. It's a beauteous brainsick sacrifice and lone fractional of the colonisation has to bash it," she said successful an interview. "It was truly profound to maine erstwhile I decided I was going to bash it, to really spell done the enactment of unprotected sex... I bash really conscionable truly emotion my boyfriend. So I was like, 'You know, sure.' "

Their archetypal kid was calved successful May 2020, famously named X Æ A-12, past changed to X Æ A-Xii successful bid not to breach California naming regulations.

By September 2021, though, the mates revealed they had "semi-separated". "It's mostly that my enactment astatine SpaceX and Tesla requires maine to beryllium chiefly successful Texas oregon traveling overseas and her enactment is chiefly successful LA,” Musk told Page Six. "She's staying with maine present and Baby X is successful the adjacent room."

Despite their separation, Elon Musk and Grimes welcomed their 2nd kid via surrogate successful December 2021. In a March 2022 Vanity Fair interview, Grimes revealed the commencement of their daughter, Exa "Y" Dark Sideræl Musk. During the interview, she besides disclosed that, contempt earlier reports of their split, she and Musk had reconciled and were backmost unneurotic astatine the time.

"There's nary existent connection for it. I would astir apt notation to him arsenic my boyfriend, but we're precise fluid," she said. "We unrecorded successful abstracted houses. We're champion friends. We spot each different each the time... We conscionable person our ain happening going on, and I don't expect different radical to recognize it."

However, connected the aforesaid time Vanity Fair published the story, Grimes shared that the mates were successful information breached up again.

"Me and E person breached up *again* since the penning of this article," she tweeted. "But he's my champion person and the emotion of my life, and my beingness and creation are everlastingly dedicated to The Mission now, I deliberation Devin [Gordon of Vanity Fair] wrote that portion of the communicative rly well. Sique - bid out."

In 2022, it emerged that Musk had fathered twins with Shivon Zilis, a 35-year-old enforcement astatine Neuralink, successful November 2021, conscionable weeks earlier welcoming his 2nd kid with instrumentalist Grimes via surrogate successful December of the aforesaid year.

Shivon Zilis, a high-ranking enforcement astatine Neuralink – 1 of Musk’s astir ambitious ventures aimed astatine creating brain-machine interfaces – softly gave commencement to twins successful precocious 2021.

Zilis, a salient fig successful artificial intelligence, has agelong been a adjacent nonrecreational subordinate of Musk. According to Walter Isaacson’s biography of Musk, their transportation grew some personally and professionally, culminating successful the commencement of the twins, conceived via IVF.

This revelation remained backstage until July 2022, erstwhile tribunal documents surfaced showing that Musk and Zilis sought to alteration the twins' past sanction to "Musk”, linking them straight to their father.

“He truly wants astute radical to person kids, truthful helium encouraged maine to,” Zilis said. At the aforesaid time, Musk was fathering different kid via surrogate with his present ex-wife, Grimes. Grimes did not cognize that Zilis, who was a person of hers, was large by Musk.