Elon Musk had a sexual relationship with a SpaceX employee who started at the company as an intern and then was hired not long after she graduated from college before ending things, according to a report.
Musk, who has a fortune estimated by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index at $198 billion as of Wednesday, also pursued relationships with other female subordinates at his rocket company, including a woman who had been courted by the mogul to give birth to his children, The Wall Street Journal reported. Tuesday.
The mogul also had a month-long affair with a third woman who reported directly to him at SpaceX before the two cut ties, according to the report.
The third woman and Musk became romantically involved after she was accused of having an affair with the husband of another SpaceX executive, it was reported.
The Post has sought comment from SpaceX and Musk.
Musk first met the then-intern in the early 2010s when she was a college student studying engineering.
According to the Journal, Musk and the woman went out for a meal after she sent him ideas on how to improve the company.
Musk and the woman kissed after the two bonded over their love of “Star Wars,” according to the report.
A year later, Musk arranged for the woman to be flown to a resort in Sicily where the two met, the Journal claimed. Musk was in Sicily attending a conference sponsored by Google.
The woman’s passport was in another city, so Musk arranged for a friend of the woman to bring it to him on an early morning domestic flight, according to the Journal.
The woman was then booked on a first class flight to London and then a private jet to Italy, it was reported.
In 2017, Musk offered the woman a role on his executive staff.
Former SpaceX employees thought it was strange that someone so young was offered a high-profile position next to the boss, according to the report.
After moving to Los Angeles from New York, the woman accepted an invitation from Musk for a drink.
Her friends told the Journal that Musk approached her and touched her breast.
One of her friends said the woman recalled Musk telling her, “Oh, I’m so bad. I shouldn’t do this.”
“Elon tried to rekindle our relationship prior to my hiring, and I declined the advance. While there was some initial concern, it was nothing unusual after a rejection,” the woman said in a sworn statement provided to the Journal by a law firm that also represents Musk and Tesla.
According to the Journal, the woman, who denied ever having a “romantic relationship” with Musk, said she was unhappy at SpaceX because she had no authority and also had trouble getting other executives to take her ideas seriously. .
The situation got so bad that on several occasions she hid in the bathroom for company reasons, the Journal reported.
In a statement to the Journal, the woman said her feelings about working at SpaceX “were completely unrelated to any romantic or personal interaction with Elon Musk.”
“I came into a very difficult role as a newcomer to an established company,” she said in the affidavit.
As she tried to settle in at the company, she would visit Musk at his home as the boss texted her frequently, according to a friend.
“Come on!” Musk wrote to her. When she didn’t respond, he kept texting.
“Look, it’s either me or 6 o’clock in the morning [exercise] :)”, he wrote on one occasion.
On another occasion, Musk wrote a message: “Just finished the Model 3 production call. It’s definitely going to be hell for a few more months.”
“Are you coming? If not, maybe I’ll calm down. Too stressed to sleep naturally,” Musk wrote to her.
When Musk’s texts went unanswered, he wrote: “Maybe better if we don’t see each other.”
The next morning, the woman texted him back, writing: “Oh man. I’m sorry, I fell asleep already. I’ve been a late night person most of my life, but I’ve been trying to change because it seems responsible. Tbh. Sorry I crashed last night.”
Later that day, the girl told a friend that she had “tender [social] the anxiety that comes from imposter syndrome” which “definitely makes this job more difficult”.
“And that’s definitely made worse by Elon’s behavior,” her friend replied. The woman replied, “Too bad.”
She said Musk showed a lack of interest in her work, which made it more difficult for her, according to the Journal.
The situation with Musk eventually led to his departure from Musk’s executive staff. She was reassigned to a different role in which she reported to a different engineer, according to the Journal.
In 2019, when her manager was part of mass layoffs, she left the company.
In 2013, a woman who worked at SpaceX left the company and then resurfaced with a lawyer.
She claimed Musk had asked her on several occasions to have his babies, according to the Journal.
Musk, the father of 10 children, including twins, who he shared with fellow SpaceX employee Shivon Zilis, has often spoken about the need to increase birth rates in order to save the human population.
After the woman rejected Musk’s offer to have his children, the relationship between the two soured, according to the Journal.
Musk often complained about her performance at work. He also reportedly denied her a raise.
The woman eventually left the company with a severance package worth more than $1 million in stock and cash, the Journal reported.
A year later, Musk began a sexual relationship with another woman, who often spent 17-hour days working alongside the boss.
Before the affair with Musk, Gwynne Shotwell, the president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, accused him of having an affair with her husband. She denied the charge.
The woman alleged that when she went to human resources with Shotwell’s allegation, Shotwell retaliated against her by trying to remove her from her position.
People close to the woman told the Journal that as Shotwell worked to fire her, Musk drew her closer to him.
The relationship began while Musk was in the midst of divorce talks with British actress Talulah Riley.
But it ended a few weeks later when she told friends she felt used and that Musk didn’t want to be seen in public with her.
She left the company and was forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement. In return, she was reportedly paid $85,000 for unpaid work she previously did for Tesla.
“The falsehoods, mischaracterizations and revisionist history in your email paint a completely misleading narrative,” Shotwell told the Journal.
“I continue to be amazed by what this incredible group of people is achieving every day in the midst of all the forces working against us. And Elon is one of the nicest people I know.”
In 2022, a SpaceX flight attendant accused Musk of exposing himself to her aboard one of his private jets in 2016.
The woman was later paid $250,000 to settle the claim.
News of the lawsuit and subsequent settlement was first reported by Business Insider.