With Elon Musk recently speaking out amidst the ongoing trial between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp, people are just realising, or at least remembering, that he and Amber dated briefly in 2016. Not just that, but the Tesla CEO has also been hitting headlines recently for his newest relationship with Elvis star Natasha Bassett, following his split from singer Grimes in September of last year. Oh, and did we mention he and Grimes have just welcomed a second child together following their split?
If it all seems a little complicated that’s because, well, it is. But never fear, here’s a comprehensive history of Elon Musk’s relationships, from the late nineties to today.
Justine Musk, 1998
Elon and Justine (née Wilson) met in the late 90s at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada. According to a story she wrote for Marie Claire back in 2009 he asked her out for ice cream, but after initially saying yes she changed her mind and stuck a note on his dorm room door explaining that she couldn’t come.
However, according to the piece Elon appeared at her door later that night with “two chocolate-chip ice cream cones dripping down his hands,” adding, “He’s not a man who takes no for an answer.”
After a fairly on-off relationship for two years the pair got married in 2000 and went onto have five sons together: one set of twins and one set of triplets. The couple eventually split in 2008.
Talulah Riley, 2008
Musk first met Westworld star Talulah Riley in a London bar in 2008, with the pair quickly hitting it off. The relationship moved quickly, and the couple got married in 2010 two years after meeting.
However, two years later in 2012 the couple divorced and Musk tweeted, “It was an amazing four years. I will love you forever. You will make someone very happy one day.”
But, the split didn’t last long and the pair remarried in July 2013 before divorcing for good in 2016.
Amber Heard, 2016
While there’s a bit of confusion around when these two officially got together, it’s generally thought that they were together for about a year from 2016 to 2017, following his split from Riley and hers from Johnny Depp.
They reportedly met on the set of the film Machete Kills back in 2013 and sparked up a friendship before things became romantic three years later. They split in 2017 reportedly due to their demanding work schedules, with Elon explaining in an Instagram comment, “Btw, just to clear up some of the press storms this weekend, although Amber and I did break up, we are still friends, remain close and love one another.”
Grimes, 2018
In classic Grimes fashion these two got together when he slid into her DMs after she made a joke about artificial intelligence. While the rumours were only just getting started the pair made their red carpet couple debut At the Met Gala just a few weeks later.
The pair were rumoured to have split in March 2020 after he unfollowed her on Instagram for a few days. However, they proved everyone wrong when they announced they had welcomed their first child together in May of that year.
As you will definitely remember the while thing caused a bit of a fuss due to the fact that nobody could actually pronounce their baby’s name, X Æ A-12. And, in the end they had to change it to X AE A-XII to comply with Californian law, anyway.
Despite the fact the pair split in September 2021, they welcomed their second baby together in December of that year. The daughter, nicknamed Y, was born via a surrogate which enabled them to keep the pregnancy a secret right up until March 2022.
Natasha Bassett, present
Bassett, who you might recognise from Austin Butler’s upcoming Elvis biopic, has been linked to Musk since she was first spotted leaving his private jet and heading off in a chauffeured Tesla earlier this year.
According to a HollywoodLife source the pair have been “dating for several months and are in a monogamous relationship right now.” And while that might seem like a random pairing, another source said that they’ve actually been on-off for years.
“Elon and Natasha have been in an on-again, off-again relationship for a few years,” the source explained to The Daily Telegraph. “I think their relationship is quite tumultuous, especially with him having the same sort of on-again, off-again type of relationship with Grimes.”