An investigation revealed multiple intimate relationships of Elon Musk with his employees: a horse in exchange for sex and a womb for his babies
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X. (REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/file)Invitations to his house, unsolicited attentions, insinuations. Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, faces accusations of inappropriate behavior with former employees, according to an investigation by the Wall Street Journal published on Wednesday.
The article details the alleged encounters of Musk with several women who worked for him or for his rocket company SpaceX. The relationships often ended with the dismissal of the women followed by lucrative settlements. The investigation by the American newspaper is based on conversations with about 50 people, including former employees, people close to Musk, friends, and family members of the women involved. Emails, messages, and other documents from the women’s lawyers, reviewed by the Journal, were also examined.
One case involves an engineer who had a relationship with Musk during her internship at SpaceX, while she was still in college. According to the former employee, her initial closeness with Musk during the internship, when she proposed ideas to improve SpaceX, led to a date that led to kissing and even having sex. A year after the internship ended, the billionaire, 20 years older than her, invited the recent graduate to a resort in Sicily before they ended that relationship, according to documents reviewed by the WSJ. At that time, Musk was married to actress Talulah Riley. They divorced in 2016.
Despite the breakup, Musk tried to resume his relationship with the former employee when he hired her in 2017 for a position in his executive staff. Musk invited her for drinks and made advances, touching her chest. One of the woman’s friends recalled Musk saying, «Oh, I’m so bad. I shouldn’t be doing this.»
The woman rejected Musk’s proposal to resume the relationship, although she accepted the job, according to the WSJ. Former employees told the newspaper that, although she was a talented engineer, it seemed strange to them that such a young person was given a high-level position so close to the boss.
Later on, they remained close as she tried to settle into her new position at SpaceX. Musk frequently sent her text messages inviting her to his mansion in Los Angeles at night, invitations that she sometimes accepted but made her feel uncomfortable at work, her friends told the Journal.
Over time, she no longer held an executive position and reported to another engineer. She left SpaceX in 2019 after an executive she reported to was included in a mass layoff, she said in one of the sworn statements.
In sworn statements provided by her lawyers, who also represent Musk, the former employee confirmed having had a romantic relationship with Musk in the past but denied that there was a «romantic relationship» during her employment at SpaceX from 2017 to 2019.
«Nothing that Elon Musk did to me during any of my employment periods at SpaceX was predatory or illegal in any way,» the woman said according to the Journal.
In one of the sworn statements, the woman said that on the few occasions she went to Musk’s house, they watched TV and talked about the production ramp of the Tesla Model 3 and the «technical future of humanity.»
The article, citing anonymous sources, also details other alleged cases of inappropriate conduct by Musk towards other former employees.
A SpaceX flight attendant alleged that in 2016 Musk showed her his erect penis and offered her a horse in exchange for sexual acts while she massaged him during a flight, according to people familiar with the accusations. SpaceX reduced her shifts after she rejected his advances, the woman claimed. The company later agreed to pay her $250,000. Musk called the flight attendant’s accusations «completely false.» On social media, he joked that the scandal should be called «Elongate» and denied using a flight attendant on his plane.
Another former employee who left SpaceX in 2013 alleged that Musk «had repeatedly asked her to have his babies» during the negotiations of her departure. Musk, who has at least 10 children, said the world is facing a population crisis and that people with a high IQ should procreate.
But the SpaceX woman declined Musk’s offer. She had continued to work for Musk after he asked her to have his children, but their relationship deteriorated. In addition to the accusations about the babies, Musk had denied the woman a raise and complained about her performance, according to people familiar with the matter. The woman received a cash and stock exit package valued at over a million dollars, according to a person familiar with the agreement.
In 2021, Musk had twins with Shivon Zilis (he also mentioned it in his biography published in September 2023), an executive at the brain implant company Neuralink, also owned by the billionaire.
A fourth woman had a one-month sexual relationship with Musk in 2014 while working directly for him, which led to «recriminations by text and email» when she left the company.
As tensions escalated, Musk assigned Sam Teller, his chief of staff, to handle the woman’s departure, according to people familiar with the matter and the emails the woman shared with others. Musk refused to pay the woman directly in Tesla stock. In a December 29, 2014 email, Teller offered her $35,400 in cash for her unpaid work, saying she could use it to buy the stock instead. She negotiated the offer up to $85,000, citing taxes and her extensive report for the billionaire.
To get the money, she had to sign an agreement that required her to release Musk from possible legal claims «known and unknown» and to keep information about him «in the strictest confidence,» including the document itself. She shared the agreement with people in her circle before signing it.
The Journal cited former and dismissed SpaceX employees who complained of what they described as a culture of sexism and harassment around the founder, who can act with impunity.
«Elon is SpaceX, and SpaceX is Elon,» a former engineer recalled an executive saying in a meeting after some critical employees were fired.
However, Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX, rejected the accusations described in the article as «lies» and «a completely misleading narrative» that does not reflect the company’s culture.
«I continue to be amazed by what this extraordinary group of people achieves every day, even in the face of all the forces acting against us. And Elon is one of the best human beings I know,» Shotwell said to the Journal.
SpaceX, she added, thoroughly investigates all harassment allegations and takes appropriate action in cases.
Musk did not respond to the newspaper’s requests for comment. Alex Spiro, one of his lawyers, had previously dismissed reports of Musk’s drug use, saying that he is regularly and randomly drug tested at SpaceX and has never failed a test.
The stories recounted by the WSJ did not result in formal complaints (although the flight attendant’s was made public by Business Insider in 2022), but since 2017, the conduct of executives in the workplace has been subject to increased scrutiny, in part due to the emergence of the #MeToo movement.
Clear prohibitions on sexual relationships between «bosses» and employees, for fear of creating power imbalances and conflicts of interest, for example, are already part of the American business culture, just as there are federal and state laws that prevent executives from sexually harassing employees.
Some courts have also recognized «sexual favoritism» as a form of harassment, upholding complaints filed by workers who alleged preferential treatment by colleagues with whom they had consensual relationships. And SpaceX itself formally discourages internal relationships between employees.