{"id":102392,"date":"2025-11-07T18:44:28","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T18:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=102392"},"modified":"2025-11-07T18:44:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T18:44:28","slug":"what-does-elon-musk-do-with-all-his-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=102392","title":{"rendered":"What does Elon Musk do with all his money?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>5 Minute, 27 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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Tesla boss Elon Musk has been one of the world\u2019s richest people for several years now, and that wealth recently went stratospheric when he became the first half-trillionaire.<\/p>\n

Despite this, Musk has insisted he leads a largely unglamorous lifestyle. He said in 2021 that he lived in a Texas home valued at $50,000 (\u00a338,000).<\/p>\n

His former partner Grimes, with whom he has two children, told\u00a0Vanity Fair in 2022\u00a0that he does not live the extravagant life of excess luxury many assume.<\/p>\n

\u201cBro does not live like a billionaire. Bro lives at times below the poverty line,\u201d she told the magazine. Once, she said, he refused to buy a new mattress, despite her side having a hole in it.<\/p>\n

While his day-to-day living quarters may not be as lavish as one might expect, he is known to have a love of unique cars, including one that can morph into a submarine. He also has a private jet collection, worth many millions of dollars.<\/p>\n

And then there was that small splurge back in 2022,\u00a0when he bought Twitter\u00a0for a casual $44bn.<\/p>\n

The luxury mansions \u2013 that he sold<\/h2>\n

Musk once had an impressive real-estate portfolio.\u00a0The Wall Street Journal\u00a0reported in 2019 that he had spent $100m on seven houses in about seven years \u2013 most of them a stone\u2019s throw from each other in the prestigious neighbourhood of Bel-Air, California.<\/p>\n

Collectively, the properties boasted swimming pools, a tennis court, wine cellar, private library and a ballroom. One was a ranch house once owned by legendary Willy Wonka actor Gene Wilder.<\/p>\n

But in 2020, Musk had a change of heart \u2013\u00a0tweeting that he would be\u00a0\u201cselling almost all physical possessions\u201d and \u201cwill own no house\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t need the cash. Devoting myself to Mars and Earth. Possession just weigh you down,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

There was one stipulation \u2013 that Gene Wilder\u2019s house, \u201ccannot be torn down or lose any [of] its soul\u201d.<\/p>\n

He did indeed sell the three-bedroom property \u2013 to Wilder\u2019s nephew, Jordan Walker-Pearlman, after giving him a multi-million dollar loan to buy it. But in June 2025, Musk reclaimed ownership, after Mr Walker-Pearlman reportedly fell behind on the repayments.<\/p>\n

In 2021, Musk tweeted that his \u201cprimary home\u201d was a modest prefabricated house that cost him about $50,000 on the southern tip of Texas, where his aerospace company SpaceX operates \u2013 an area that has officially become a city called Starbase.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kinda awesome,\u201d Musk said about the humble dwelling.<\/p>\n

The following year, Musk said he did not own a home at all, using it as an example of how low his consumption is, despite his enormous wealth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m literally staying at friends\u2019 places,\u201d he told head of media organisation TED, Chris Anderson. \u201cIf I travel to the Bay Area, which is where most of Tesla engineering is, I basically rotate through friends\u2019 spare bedrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is nothing new \u2013 in 2015, then-Google CEO Larry Page told author Ashlee Vance that Musk was \u201ckind of homeless\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll e-mail and say, \u2018I don\u2019t know where to stay tonight. Can I come over?’\u201d<\/p>\n

There has been various speculation over the years that Musk is buying up properties around the US, however the home in Texas appears to be the only official house he personally owns.<\/p>\n

\"What<\/figure>\n

Cars that are out of this world<\/h2>\n

While Musk does not spend big on property, cars are a different matter.<\/p>\n

As the owner of Tesla, it\u2019s not surprising that he has a large collection of unusual, and in some cases extraordinary, vehicles.<\/p>\n

They have included a Ford Model T, the 20th Century car credited with being the first affordable vehicle, revolutionising the motor industry.<\/p>\n

\"What<\/figure>\n

Others were a 1967 Jaguar E-Type Roadster, which Musk is said to have coveted since he was a child; a 1997 McLaren F1, which he crashed and spent a lot of money repairing before selling; and a Tesla Roadster, which was the first Tesla model to go on sale and was\u00a0famously fired into space by Musk\u00a0in 2018.<\/p>\n

The most unusual, however, is the 1976 Lotus Esprit driven by James Bond in the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me.<\/p>\n

In the film, the car, nicknamed Wet Nellie, could transform into a submarine. Musk bought the car in an auction in 2013 for almost $1m with the aim of making its submarine transformation capabilities a reality once more.<\/p>\n

\"What<\/figure>\n

Flying to work<\/h2>\n

Musk has admitted that planes are another thing he is happy to splurge on, but insists it is to do with his dedication to his work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I don\u2019t use the plane, then I have less hours to work,\u201d he said in the 2022 TED interview.<\/p>\n

Among the private jets in his collection are a number of Gulfstream models, which cost tens of millions of dollars each.<\/p>\n

He uses them to travel between SpaceX and Tesla sites in the US, as well as for international travel.<\/p>\n

Unconventional philanthropy?<\/h2>\n

Musk has\u00a0donated billions of dollars in shares to charities, according to US regulatory documents, and has pledged many millions to various causes. But his philanthropy has been criticised.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0New York Times\u00a0last year called it \u201chaphazard and largely self-serving \u2013 making him eligible for enormous tax breaks and helping his businesses\u201d.<\/p>\n

His charitable organisation, the Musk Foundation, says on its website that it is \u201cdedicated to advancing humanity\u2019s progress through ground-breaking scientific research, technological innovation, and ambitious endeavours that push the boundaries of what is possible\u201d.<\/p>\n

But the New York Times reported that the foundation\u00a0fell short of the amount it was required to give away\u00a0for three years in a row. The paper, which saw the foundation\u2019s tax filings, also found that many of its donations went to organisations with links to Musk.<\/p>\n

Elon Musk, and the Musk Foundation have been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

When asked about philanthropy and charitable causes in the past, Musk appeared to be sceptical of traditional charitable gifts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if you care about the reality of goodness instead of the perception of it, philanthropy is extremely difficult,\u201d he told Chris Anderson in 2022.<\/p>\n

To Musk, the very existence of his business ventures is philanthropic: \u201cIf you say philanthropy is love of humanity, they are philanthropy,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n

Tesla is \u201caccelerating sustainable energy\u201d, he said, while Space X \u201cis trying to ensure the long-term survival of humanity\u201d and Neuralink \u201cis trying to help solve brain injuries and existential risk with AI\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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