Weird Things About Elon Musk's Failed Marriages We All Missed

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When it comes to Elon Musk's love life, his most recent on-and-off relationship with Grimes tends to be the first one to come to mind. However, prior to Grimes, he was married twice before — and let's just say there were a few strange details we noticed after the fact. 

We'll start with Elon's first ex-wife, author Justine Musk, who referred to herself in a Marie Claire piece as Elon's "starter wife." Elon and Justine met while they were both in university, and the latter wrote that he'd been taken with her dreams for the future at the start of their relationship. Writing off the time she told him of her plans to become a published author, she reminisced, "Elon not only took me seriously, he seemed impressed. It was the first time that a boy found my sense of ambition — instead of my long hair or narrow waist — attractive. Previous boyfriends complained that I was 'competitive,' but Elon said I had 'a fire in my soul.'"

Sadly, what was to follow hinted at Elon having a change of heart, and she hinted at him quashing her own ambitions on their wedding day. "As we danced at our wedding reception, Elon told me, 'I am the alpha in this relationship.' I shrugged it off ... but as time went on, I learned that he was serious," she wrote. Speaking exclusively to Nicki Swift, relationship expert and bestselling author of "Breakup Triage: The Cure for Heartache," Susan Winter noted that Elon and Justine's dual ambition was likely a recipe for disaster right from the start. "Both are strong minded and strong willed. That leaves just two possible positions on the game board — acquiesce with resentment or battling for dominance," she said. Sure enough, things took a turn for the worse. 

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Justine Musk wasn't exaggerating when she said Elon Musk was determined to be the alpha in their marriage. Soon after tying the knot, she wrote in Marie Claire that he began taking charge of all aspects of their lives together. "Elon's judgment overruled mine, and he was constantly remarking on the ways he found me lacking," she recounted. Justine shared that she would counter his criticisms by pointing out that she wasn't one of his employees. However, that backfired. "'If you were my employee,' he said just as often, 'I would fire you,'" she wrote. Yikes.

That wasn't all, though. Justine also wrote that she started noticing a massive double standard. While Elon's focus on his work made him distant, he became incredibly flippant about her own work. "Elon started to say that I 'read too much,' shrugging off my book deadlines. This felt like a dismissal, and a stark reversal from the days when he was so supportive," she wrote. 

However, by far, the hardest detail for Justine was his emotional unavailability, and she pointed out in her Marie Claire article that they went to couples therapy in an attempt to restore their relationship. Unfortunately, though, with all of Elon's career commitments, that was impossible. "He was running two companies and carrying a planet of stress. One month and three sessions later, he gave me an ultimatum: Either we fix this marriage today or I will divorce you tomorrow," she wrote. The latter happened. And, as Susan Winter pointed out in her exclusive conversation with us, that wasn't exactly surprising. "Running multiple major companies hardly makes Elon the kind of guy who comes home at 6 p.m. to relax on the sofa, cuddling with his wife and watching Netflix," she said.

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Within weeks of filing for divorce from Justine Musk, Elon Musk had moved on with his second (and much younger) wife, Talulah Riley — and let's just say, the irony wasn't lost on the first Mrs. Musk. "My life with this man had devolved to a cliché," she wrote in Marie Claire. Having said that, in the very same article, Justine also joked that wasn't exactly true. "Throughout the divorce proceedings, his fiancée and I discovered we liked each other," Justine revealed, adding that she and Riley ended up joking about their situation being akin to a French film. Justine also conceded that Riley was a better match for Elon than she'd been. 

That Elon and Riley were genuinely well-suited to one another is something Susan Winter remarked on in her exclusive conversation with us as well. "From all accounts, she added a sense of stability and calm to his otherwise stressful and chaotic life," Winter told us while again Riley's friendly dynamic with Justine. 

As for the notable age gap (something we've long seen as a sign Elon and Riley's marriage wouldn't last), Winter wasn't convinced that had played all that big a role, either. "Do men in general seek a younger second wife? Certainly. It's considered a perk of empowerment. If they have enough money and prestige, an older man can attract a much younger wife who's keen to trade in her youth for a luxurious lifestyle. In Talulah's case, however, that was not her aim," she said. All that said, even though the relationship might not have been as stereotypical as it looked, Elon's second marriage didn't go the distance, either — and that's true of both attempts. 

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Sticking with Susan Winter's comments about Talulah Riley not intentionally swapping her youth for a luxurious lifestyle, it bears mentioning that her reality with Elon Musk wasn't always the most luxurious, anyway. Sure, there were perks — even Justine Musk wrote in Marie Claire that while married to Elon, "It was a dream lifestyle, privileged and surreal." However, just as Justine pointed to a lack of real emotional connection during that time, Riley was pretty open about the challenges that came with being an instant stepmother to Justine and Elon's children.

On the BBC's "The Elon Musk Show," Riley revealed that right after her whirlwind engagement to Elon, she "moved straight into the house with the children, and it became a very real thing immediately." Riley added that she wasn't too fazed at first, attributing her laidback attitude at the time to her age. However, she also pointed out that their home wasn't exactly romance central. "Essentially our home life was work. We were focused on the companies and the children."

That wasn't something Riley only spoke about after the divorce, but more on that particular detail later. She also addressed just how stressful the relationship was in an interview while they were still married and joked about having thoughts of moving back to England. On top of that, Riley added that the amount of stress Elon endured was terrifying to witness. "You would not wish that kind of pain on your worst enemy," she said.

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Elon Musk and Talulah Riley may have made a good match early on, but as we said, they certainly had their share of problems. As we've alluded to, Musk and Riley were married twice — and between those two marriages, they filed for divorce multiple times. With their tally coming to three altogether, that was certainly a red flag. 

Even with the red flag, though, speaking to Nicki Swift about what may have been behind all the on-and-off, Susan Winter pointed out that it certainly didn't mean there was any lack of love. In fact, she noted that the opposite was true. "It shows there's enough good in the relationship to give it a second shot, but also enough unresolved issues to make it unsustainable," she explained. 

Riley pretty much confirmed that was the case on "The Elon Musk Show." Explaining the reason for the split, she admitted, "I just wanted to come home. Yeah, and I kept trying to come home, but then also, I do really love Elon as well ... It took quite a few years of us figuring that out," she said. It bears mentioning that some of that "figuring that out" took place during their first divorce. After all, she did tell The Times of their reconciliation, "I think we got back together at the divorce filing." Musk was also notably gushy over her on X — then still known as Twitter and not yet owned by him — using the platform to share, "It was an amazing four years. I will love you forever" (via Daily Mail). Yep, there was definitely a lot of love between the two. Even so, unfortunately, the second time wasn't the charm, and the two ended up divorcing once again. 

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Even though the second time wasn't exactly a charm for Elon Musk and Talulah Riley, it is worth mentioning that the two have remained very friendly in the years since their two divorces. In her 2022 interview with The Times, Riley made that very clear. "I love Elon fiercely and always will, not necessarily in an intense, romantic way but in a broad, 'He's my family' way." Similarly, when Riley announced her engagement to actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster on X, Elon didn't hold back his congratulations. 

Unfortunately, Elon doesn't have quite the same dynamic in his relationship with Justine Musk. Au contraire, at the time of her Marie Claire article, Justine shared that she and her ex-husband weren't on speaking terms. In fact, she shared that even when it came to the shared custody of their kids, she only ever communicated with Elon's assistant. It's possible that the major disparity stems from the fact that, as Justine herself said, her and Elon's marriage was of the starter variety. Speaking exclusively with Nicki Swift, Susan Winter pointed out that while every marriage was essentially a practice round, in the case where a first marriage dissolved and a second, more amicable one took place, that first one could be considered "the warm-up for a second marriage that offers the chance for growth and a better outcome."

Of course, it's also possible that it's easier for Elon to be amicable with Riley because they don't have any kids together. After all, Justine isn't the only ex with whom he has a contentious dynamic. Just look at Elon's messy custody battle with Grimes. That said, today, Elon's (admittedly bizarre) relationship with Shivon Zilis seems to prove he is capable of friendly co-parenting. Case-by-case basis, we guess.