The King’s Women: Elon Musk through the eyes of his 7 predecessors

Abstract:

On the evening of October 2, Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis rarely posted a long article of nearly 300 English words on X, announcing in a high profile that he had broken up with Musk. The first sentence of this woman who gave birth to four children for Musk was, "It only took a week from being passionately in love to letting go. There was no warning, but sometimes things are like that."

This post also prompted Lao Wa to rediscover the words of women who have stood by Musk in the past three decades. The descriptions they left in magazine essays, biographical interviews, documentaries and social platforms outline a more personal Musk than business reports, with passion and warmth, but also helplessness and quite sharp criticism.

Musk’s love and childbirth history

First love——Jennifer Gwynne

Jennifer Gwen was Musk's girlfriend when he was a student at the University of Pennsylvania. The two dated for about a year around 1994.

In August 2022, she was interviewed by the Independent when she was auctioning photos and keepsakes from that year. She recalled that Musk was "shy and quiet at first, just the type I like." He brought her food one night, and the two got together. At that time, he was "talented and visionary" and was already talking about electric cars and solar energy.

When he graduated and went to California, the long-distance relationship became unsustainable. She wanted to make more phone calls, but the answer she received was, "I don't like making phone calls. It's a waste of time."

The advice she gave to her ex-boyfriend was that Musk's determination in business, technology and grand plans "cannot be transplanted well into relationships". If he wants to find a partner, "he has to give in a little bit, and he cannot always have the final say."

Musk and Jennifer Gwen in college, the photo comes from her old photos that will be auctioned by RR Auction House in 2022

Original wife - Justine Musk

Canadian writer Justin Wilson is Musk's first wife. The two met at Queen's University. They married in 2000 and divorced in 2008. They had six children, of which the eldest son, Nevada, died when he was ten weeks old.

In September 2010, she published a long article "I am an "entry-level wife"" in "Marie Claire", which is still the most direct material for the outside world to understand this marriage.

The beginning of the article is not bitter. Her former boyfriend thought she was "competitive", but Musk said she had "a fire in her soul." The turning point came at the wedding, when Musk told her "I have the final say in this relationship" as the two danced. After that, she repeatedly reminded, "I am your wife, not your employee." But helplessly, the response she received was insistent: "If you were my employee, I would fire you."

After Nevada's death, Musk was reluctant to talk about it, viewing her public expression of grief as "emotional manipulation." She described herself as a "thin, blond" vase, "and I did a terrible job." Even so, she wrote at the end of the article that she "will always respect him as a talented and visionary man."

Young Musk and Justin, there is Justin Musk’s copyright signature in the lower left corner of the picture

In 2015, she answered on the question-and-answer website Quora how to achieve Musk-like success, leaving behind a widely reprinted quote:

“Extreme success comes from extreme personality, at the expense of many other things.”

In an interview with "Vogue" in the same year, she said that Musk "is not a person who is good at expressing emotions" and is "certainly not an ordinary father", but he is very concerned about his children. "He doesn't take them to watch football games, he takes them to Shanghai."

In Isaacson's "The Biography of Elon Musk" published in 2023, she said more bluntly: "I think it is impossible to be with Elon without quarreling." According to the book compiled by Business Insider, she also said: "He is a great person in many ways, but it is that lack of empathy that always makes me hesitate."

Two times together - Talulah Riley

British actress Dalullah Riley is Musk’s second wife. The two married in 2010, divorced in 2012, remarried in 2013, and divorced again in 2016.

In the 2022 BBC documentary series "The Elon Musk Show", she said: "From the moment I arrived in Los Angeles, I found it difficult to adapt there. It was a huge culture shock and I just wanted to go home. I always wanted to go back to the UK, but I also really loved Elon, and we spent several He was able to see where the world was going, which I couldn't understand at the time. I love having that perspective and I'm grateful for every part of it, because I think that's his raison d'être more than anything else."

Talulah Riley interview video

These words are consistent with her previous statements. The two met at the London nightclub Whiskey Mist in July 2008. She recalled to the London Evening Standard in 2010 that Musk kept smiling brightly that night, talking about colonizing Mars, and he pulled out the photos on his phone and showed her one by one, "This is my rocket" and "This is my electric car." "On the first night, I did think he was a little crazy, but it was a wonderful kind of crazy."

On "The Elon Musk Show," she also talked about the famous "look at the big rocket" joke. She said that Musk was "very cute and seemed quite shy" when they first met, and the next day they made appointments from breakfast to lunch and dinner. "Then one night, he asked me if I wanted to go back to his hotel room and watch rocket videos together. I thought, um, okay, let's go. But when we entered his hotel room, he really just showed me rocket videos."

In 2022, she accepted an interview with the Independent for her new book, calling Musk a "perfect ex-husband" and "he is a very good friend and will take care of me." She also specifically said that following Musk to see rockets and go to factories was "not like being trapped in a mansion in Bel Air as a vase." "Of course I have seen others do that, but fortunately, that is not my fate."

In 2024, she confessed to The Times: "I loved and still love this person, so my opinion is extremely subjective and cannot be impartial." Isaacson's biography also recorded a detail: When her best friend passed away in 2021, Musk flew to the UK to be with her. "We just watched some silly TV, laughed together, and stayed together. He made me laugh instead of cry."

Musk and Talulah Riley attended the Vanity Fair Oscar Party

Interlude——Amber Heard

American actor Amber Heard dated Musk on and off from 2016 to early 2018. She herself rarely talks about this relationship publicly.

In Isaacson's biography, she confirmed that the two had a fierce argument during a trip, but later reconciled, leaving a comment: "I love him very much. Elon loves fire, and sometimes the fire will burn him." Musk told the author that the relationship was "cruel."

During their relationship, Amber Heard and Musk were photographed walking together at night in news photos

Casual——Grimes

Canadian musician Grimes has been dating Musk since 2018, and the two have three children.

When she appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair in March 2022, she said that "there is no suitable word" for their relationship. "I would probably call him my boyfriend, but our relationship is very casual. We live in different houses and are best friends." "This is the best state."

She also defended Musk's lifestyle: "This man does not live like a billionaire at all, and sometimes even lives below the poverty line."

She complained about living in a "very unsafe $40,000 house" and "eating peanut butter for eight days straight." On the day the magazine was published, she added on Twitter that the two "broke up again" after the article was written, but that he remained "my best friend and the love of my life."

In May 2018, Musk and Grimes were together for the first time publicly at the Metropolitan Museum of Art charity dinner in New York

In a biography of Isaacson published a year and a half later, her description was more complex. She called one of Musk's "demonic modes" and said, "When we're together, I make sure I'm dealing with the right Elon" because "there are a few guys in that head who don't like me, and I don't like them."

She also thinks Musk "associates love with meanness and even abuse." After her son was born, Musk sent photos of her C-section to her father and brother. She said it was "Elon's Asperger syndrome fully revealed" and "he had no idea why I was angry."

At this time, the two had already filed a lawsuit over the child's custody. In February 2025, she publicly shouted on X: "Please respond to our child's medical crisis. I'm sorry to do this publicly, but it is no longer acceptable to continue to ignore this matter." "NME" reported the next day that she subsequently deleted these posts on the grounds that the posts were restricted and she did not want her children to become a "media farce."

Opposite - Ashley St. Clair

Ashley St. Clair, a conservative Internet celebrity and children's book author, publicly announced in February 2025 that the father of the child she gave birth to the previous year was Musk.

In an exclusive interview with the New York Post that month, she said that Musk’s first impression of her was that he was “very funny, very smart, and very down-to-earth.” The two began interacting on

At the Venice Film Festival on September 8,

Ashley St. Clair

She said that she refused a reportedly $40 million confidentiality agreement to speak on camera, and accused Musk of "deliberately creating confrontation and incitement that does not exist in reality" through the X platform. This kind of division "if not restrained, may have catastrophic consequences." Musk himself denied ever providing a confidentiality agreement for that amount, saying the relevant claims were untrue and that his lawyers had issued a legal warning regarding election-related content.

In September 2026, Ashley St. Clair and reporter Zoe Schiffer attended the 83rd Venice Film Festival

High-profile breakup - Shivon Zilis

Shivon Zilis, director of operations and special projects at Neuralink, has four children with Musk. She has almost never talked about their relationship in the past few years, until this weird long article on October 2 (who would post a breakup with the world's richest man online in a high-profile way!).

She wrote that she was happy to "make Elon feel what it feels like to be deeply understood, cared for, and loved securely and tenderly." "Given his tumultuous early years, his often tortured soul, and the extent to which he fought for humanity, I hope he feels the deepest, most stable love this world has to offer."

She described her and her children as Musk's "safe place," "full of joy and love, not war." She said that she "loves him more than life itself" and fortunately "we have four lovely little lives together". "I sincerely hope and pray that he and I can become very good friends and bring up our children together."

The last sentence of the long article is: "I am sad, but I care about Elon deeply and will always cheer for his happiness. Have a safe journey, Elon, and the world is lucky to have you."

The screenshot of the chat attached to her post showed that the two were still saying "love you" to each other on September 24.

Musk and Shivon Zilis attended Dan Scavino’s wedding

Here comes the point

Ahem, ladies, the world’s richest man is single again!

Picture: X user JeebsTX