Business magnate Elon Musk has had something of a colourful career to date. Musk shocked the world with his controversial $44 billion (£35bn) takeover of Twitter, now known as 'X', in 2022, while his intergalactic endeavours with SpaceX, including his goal to establish a colony on Mars by 2050, continue to make headlines, and his real estate journey is just as surprising as his business trajectory. In 2021, he sold every single one of his homes to focus on his ambitions for conquering outer space but recently Musk seems to be backtracking on his real estate purge, as rumours that he is building a new glass house have emerged in recent months. Now, the Tesla boss is under investigation for allegedly misusing company resources to fund its construction. Click or scroll on for more...
In spite of his pledge to “own no house”, Elon Musk now appears to be building a mysterious glass structure in Austin, according to reports published in July by The Wall Street Journal. Known as Project 42, the 'secret' plans have been described within the company as a house for Musk. Tesla employees are said to have been discretely working on the development for over a year, though the project's financing has recently been placed under scrutiny by the US government...
An order for millions of dollars worth of specialised glass sparked an internal investigation by Tesla lawyers and board members earlier in the summer. While the outcome is unknown, Manhattan federal prosecutors have now launched a probe into whether the company's funds were misused, The Washington Post reported at the end of August. According to the publication's sources, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York wants to know the purpose of the structure, how much was spent on it and details of any personal benefits paid to Musk. The Securities and Exchange Commission, a government watchdog, has also reportedly opened a civil investigation into the project. Both probes are in the early stages of information gathering. No allegations of wrongdoing have been made at this time.
It's unclear if the shipment of glass that triggered the subsequent investigations was ever delivered to Tesla, and the status of the project is currently unknown. However, according to The Wall Street Journal, the structure was to be built in Austin near Tesla's headquarters. Renderings of the building do indeed show swathes of glass, with different design iterations offered: one a twisted hexagon perched on the waterfront, and another a large glass cube, similar to the Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York, pictured here.
While it is not conclusive that the proposed structure is intended for Musk’s personal use, plans of the building indicate a layout including bedrooms, bathrooms and a kitchen. The renderings also reportedly show landscaping details, such as a waterfall, and even a sci-fi-esque pickup truck in the style of Tesla’s anticipated Cybertruck approaching the home's driveway. Let's see how the investigation unfurls...
Pulling focus from Austin to San Francisco, Musk's business moves have also caused controversy on the West Coast, where X marks the spot, quite literally. The business mogul's sign for the rebrand of Twitter, mounted on a building in the Californian city, caused quite a stir when it drew the ire of locals. The company erected an illuminated X logo on the roof of its Market Street headquarters on 28 July but neighbours complained about intrusive lights, according to The Guardian. San Francisco’s building inspection department began an investigation...
Musk responded to a tweet alleging that authorities were trying to force him to remove the "X" sign with a laughing-crying emoji. But by the following Monday, the sign was indeed dismantled after numerous recorded videos of the giant X glowing, pulsing and strobing appeared on the platform formerly known as Twitter. One user, @itsmefrenchy123 said: "I would be f*****g LIVID. Imagine this X sign right across from your bedroom." Another user, @realchrisjbeale who posted a video said: "Imagine no more. This is my life now."
The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection reported 24 complaints, including "concerns about its structural safety and illumination." A building permit is technically required to dismantle the sign too, but the removal was allowed "due to safety concerns", Patrick Hannan, a spokesperson for the department told NPR.
Controversy appears to be a big part of Musk's persona, but let's head back to where it all started for the tech billionaire. Read on to retrace Elon Musk's fascinating property journey so far...
Born on 28 June 1971, Elon Reeve Musk spent his formative years in the upscale suburb of Waterkloof in Pretoria, South Africa in one of the largest homes in the neighbourhood. Musk’s father, Errol, was an engineer and supposedly the partial owner of a Zambian emerald mine, while his mother, Maye, worked as a model and dietician. Musk and his two younger siblings enjoyed a comfortable childhood, which may well have helped to lay the foundations for his future success.
Musk was precocious from an early age. His father gave him a computer and at just 10 years old, he taught himself how to program it. Aged 12, he wrote the code for his first video game and sold it to a computer magazine. However, Musk struggled to find a peer group at school and is said to have been bullied relentlessly by other boys in his class. The young engineer at least had the support of a loving family, as this snap from his mother Maye’s private album illustrates, showing the family enjoying some time together outside their chic mid-century home.
After graduating high school, Elon waved goodbye to South Africa and upped sticks to the US to attend college in Philadelphia. Musk is pictured here in the mid-1990s during his time at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied physics and economics. An impressive student, he was accepted onto Stanford University's physics PhD programme. However, lured by the glittering new world of internet start-ups, the budding entrepreneur left the prestigious course after just two days to pursue his own business interests.
Getting his big break was not easy, and Musk has spoken openly about sleeping in his office in the early days when he couldn't afford a house. But the sweet taste of success wasn't far away. The young mogul sold his first business, software firm Zip2, in 1999 for $307 million (£239m), earning him $22 million (£17.5m) for his stake in the company. More successes followed; Musk founded an online financial services company that later became PayPal. eBay went on to buy PayPal in 2002 for a staggering $1.5 billion (£1.2bn), a deal that personally made Musk $165 million (£132m) and kick-started his heady trajectory – one that would lead him to the stars...
Outer space had long been a fascination of Musk's, and in 2002, he founded engineering and communications company SpaceX with $100 million (£79.7m) of his growing wealth. The pioneering business was the first private company to put a person into orbit, and Musk harbours ambitions of building a colony on Mars in the not-so-distant future. But the investor didn't stop there. In 2004, Musk became the largest shareholder of Tesla, a clean energy company specialising in electric cars and solar power. By 2012, at the age of 41, Musk had officially become a billionaire. The entrepreneur continued to reinvest his earnings, founding tunnelling venture Boring Co. and neurotechnology business Neuralink in 2016, as well as controversially acquiring Twitter in 2022.
To date, Musk's vast portfolio of businesses has netted him an eye-watering $189.7 billion (£151bn) at the time of writing, according to Forbes. With all that wealth, it's hardly surprising that the business mogul has owned his fair share of luxury homes over the years. Musk snapped up this impressive Los Angeles estate back in 2012 for $17 million (£13.6m), after renting the property for two years and living there with two of his sons. The entire estate occupies a lush 1.7 acres, encircled by rolling hills and picturesque views.
The 16,251-square-foot home is located in Bel Air and boasts six bedrooms and 11 bathrooms, as well as numerous entertaining spaces, including a two-storey library and a home theatre. The home dates back to the early 1900s but has been extensively remodelled to include high ceilings, elegant finishes and several luxurious bonus spaces.
In addition to the standard living and dining areas, the lavish home also includes a wine cellar, home gym, a two-room guest suite, an enormous master suite with separate dual baths and closets and a separate ‘family wing.’ Outside, meanwhile, the property offers a large pool, an illuminated championship tennis court, grass yard, fruit orchard and numerous patios for lounging and dining.
In May 2020, Musk declared on Twitter that he was renouncing his property collection in order to focus on Tesla's sustainable energy plight and his ambition to take humankind to Mars. He tweeted: "I am selling almost all physical possessions. Will own no house." Following through on his word, the entrepreneur listed all of his homes for sale. He successfully offloaded the Bel Air mansion in June of 2020 for $29 million (£23m) to Chinese billionaire William Ding, the founder and CEO of online gaming firm NetEase.
The next property that Musk bid farewell to in his 2020 real estate exodus was this characterful five-bedroom residence, which Musk listed for $9.5 million (£7.6m). Once owned by actor Gene Wilder, the storied home prompted more impassioned tweets from Musk, who stated: "It cannot be torn down or lose any of its soul."
Hollywood legend Gene Wilder called the 2,756-square-foot ranch home for 30 years until 2007, according to Insider. A relatively modest property for such a successful performer, the single-storey home offers five bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms. It was purchased by Musk in 2013 for $6.8 million (£5.4m).
Musk reportedly used the property as a private school for his children, describing it in a 2015 interview with Vogue as akin to "a little schoolhouse on the prairie, except in Bel Air on a golf course". The property certainly does boast spectacular views of the golf course below, as well as a large pool Musk’s children must have enjoyed once the ‘school day’ was over.
According to Variety, Musk sold the house in October of 2020 for $7 million (£5.6m) to an LLC managed by the screenwriter and producer Elizabeth Hunter, who is married to Wilder's nephew, ensuring that the home's legacy lives on. It has even been rumoured that Musk lent the couple $6.7 million (£5.3m) to help pay for the home.
As his property purge continued, the billionaire also listed four properties for sale in a package deal. The offer included a bundle of homes, all in the Bel Air area of Los Angeles, for a combined asking price of $62.5 million (£49.8m). It's no surprise that the high-profile offering drew plenty of attention from potential property investors. Pictured here is one of the homes that was up for grabs. Musk originally bought the four-bedroom property back in 2015 for around $20 million (£15.9m).
All within walking distance of one another but too far apart to create an estate, the homes were described on the listing as "a project for the big thinker". Benefitting from some of the best views in Los Angeles, the unusual buy was the perfect venture for an ambitious developer with deep pockets. Also reportedly included in the combined listing was a contemporary new build, which Musk snapped up for around $24 million (£19m) in 2016, and a bungalow, purchased in 2015 for $4.3 million (£3.4m), which is pictured here.
The final residence in the four-home bundle, though far from your typical billionaire buy, was this small two-storey home with just under 3,400 square feet of space that Musk bought back in January 2019 for $6.4 million (£5m). Musk reportedly ended up selling the entire bundle to Los Angeles developer Ardie Tavangarian for an undisclosed sum.
This next remarkable estate in San Francisco was a short-lived jewel in Musk's property portfolio. Reaffirming his commitment to "own no house", he again took to Twitter (now 'X') in June 2021 to reveal the property as the final sale in his real estate collection: “Decided to sell my last remaining house. Just needs to go to a large family who will live there. It’s a special place.” The tech CEO originally purchased the stately residence back in 2017 for $23.3 million (£18.6m).
Musk offloaded the final house to his name in December of 2021 for $30 million (£23.9m), according to the now inactive listing. The luxurious home is located on one of the biggest parcels of land on the desirable San Francisco Peninsula and boasts grand proportions and a dramatic entrance, complete with ornate stained glass and a black and white chequerboard floor.
Originally on the market for $37.5 million (£29.9m), the magnificent mansion, which is over 100 years old, was relisted with Compass for just under $32 million (£25.5m) in October of 2021 in a bid to find a buyer, a ploy that clearly worked. The exceptional floor plan includes accommodation spread over 16,000 square feet, plus no shortage of elegant living areas for entertaining.
A palatial property fit for a billionaire, the home would have offered Musk unobstructed views across the bay from this stunning living room. At the time of writing, Musk is ranked as the second-richest man in the world. Despite this, he has previously come under scrutiny for his tax contributions, having reportedly paid only $455 million (£362m) in taxes between 2014 to 2018, despite growing his wealth by just under $14 billion (£11.2bn).
Beautifully updated for modern living while remaining true to its period roots, the mansion's main kitchen has been sensitively renovated. White wooden cabinetry, Art Deco-style floor tiles, sash windows and vintage pendant lights hark back to the mansion's heyday. Fit for a chef, the commercial-grade kitchen features contemporary fixtures, including marble countertops, a large range cooker and an array of state-of-the-art appliances. It's the ideal preparation space to cater for high-society events and A-list soirées.
With access to a huge swimming pool, hiking trails, canyons and a reservoir, the home occupies one of the most enviable lots in the San Francisco Bay Area. The amazing estate encompasses 47 acres of land and is also home to a custom-made pond, an eight-car carport, a three-car garage and a motor court, which no doubt came in handy for the Tesla co-founder.
Prior to selling the property, Musk had been renting the house out for events while he himself was living in Texas. His ex-partner, musician Grimes, has a home in Austin and the former couple co-parent their one-year-old son, X Æ A-XII, known as X. Musk has also relocated many of his businesses to the state, and has established a new 2,000-acre Tesla factory there.
With the sale of his final property, Musk decided to make Texas his permanent home. However, in keeping with his anti-materialistic stance, he opted for far more modest lodgings than most billionaire CEOs. In June 2021, he confirmed via Twitter (X) that his primary home was a humble $50,000 (£40k) house in Boca Chica that he rents from his company SpaceX.
When he made the announcement, the rumour mill speculated that Musk was residing in a prefab tiny house made by construction technology company Boxabl. Fuel was added to the fire when Boxabl revealed in late 2021 that it had installed one of its Casita models (pictured) in Boca Chica, the location of SpaceX's launch site, for a "top secret customer". However, Musk later set the record straight in July 2022 and revealed that while he owns a Boxabl unit, he does not use it as his main residence.
Instead, he says that he uses the company's 375-square-foot Casita model as a guest house, and even hosted a birthday party at the pocket-sized property in 2021. This particular floor plan may be compact, but it packs plenty into its snug square footage, including a bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen. According to Boxabl, the unit's energy bill is just $28 (£22) per month on average. Quite the change from Musk's previous mega-mansions!
However, for all his evident desire to reduce his real estate holdings, Elon Musk is reportedly in the process of building his own town in Texas. According to Architectural Digest, entities connected to Musk and his companies have already amassed at least 3,500 acres of land outside of Austin, although some sources have told the publication that the accumulated parcel spans closer to 6,000 acres. These images, from the real estate listing of a neighbouring plot of land, show the town infrastructure already in place at the site.
Why does Musk want his own town, you may be asking? Well, constructing a community for his workers may be the next step in streamlining his business affairs. The billionaire moved most of his business operations from California to Texas a few years ago, a step that critics say was designed to capitalise on the state’s looser laws around labour, the environment and zoning, not to mention the lack of corporate income tax. Overseeing his own incorporated town would allow Musk to create his own regulations and dodge bureaucratic red tape.
The town is already known as Snailbrook, a nod to the mascot of Musk’s tunnelling company, Boring Co., and is designed to serve as a live-work community for employees of Musk’s businesses. Situated along the banks of the Colorado River, the site chosen for Musk’s futuristic utopia is conveniently located near both the Boring Co. and SpaceX facilities.
According to an advertisement for Boring Co. employees back in 2021, Musk’s workers also stand to benefit from Snailbrook’s development. The town’s residents will enjoy lower-than-market-rate housing, with two- and three-bedroom homes for rent supposedly starting at $800 (£638) a month, while the median rent in the area is about $2,200 (£1.8k) a month, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
Construction on the new town, or ‘Project Amazing’, as the development has been dubbed by Musk, has begun. Photos reveal that Snailbrook already has several modular homes, a public pool, gym and an outdoor sports area. However, critics have noted that the plans bear more than a passing resemblance to an updated version of the controversial ‘company town’ model, which has been critiqued in the past for being a means through which businesses can exploit their workers.
Indeed, Snailbrook is located on the same land as Musk’s SpaceX and Boring Co. warehouses, further emphasising the ‘company town’ comparison. Moreover, if Musk follows through on his plans to incorporate the land into Bastrop County, he will have the power to make his own regulations over the municipality, meaning he will control not only his employees’ work lives, but significant portions of their home lives as well.
However, according to Texas state law, for a town to be labelled ‘incorporated’ it requires a minimum of 201 residents, and, according to The New York Post, the Bastrop County Commissioner’s office has yet to receive a submission from Musk in that regard. This map submitted as part of an application to the Bastrop County Commissioners Court shows Snailbrook would have 110 residences on what will be known as Boring Boulevard, WaterJet Way, Porpoise Place and Cutterhead Crossing, indicating plans to house more than the minimum population required for incorporation.
While his property portfolio may be sparse, surprising new developments are on the horizon for Musk. As well as breaking ground on a controversial new home, the business mogul is looking ahead and putting some of the funds from his real estate purge towards his goal of creating a Mars colony to support multi-planetary life. Musk may even reach Mars this decade, aiming to complete his first crewed mission by 2026, before establishing a self-sufficient base on the red planet by 2050. Moreover, The New York Times recently revealed that Musk has become the dominant power in satellite internet technology, with unparalleled global influence. The sky really does appear to be the limit for this tech tycoon.
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