The planet's richest man has tried to save the world by fathering as many kids as he can. It hasn't gone as well as he would have liked.
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00:00The planet's richest man has tried to save the world by fathering as many kids as he can.
00:05It hasn't gone as well as he would have liked. Here's the background on a few of Elon Musk's
00:0912 children. Musk's very first experience as a father was tragic, but according to his ex-wife,
00:15his tweets about it weren't exactly truthful. Elon and his first wife, Justine Musk,
00:19welcomed a boy named Nevada back in 2002, but he died as an infant. Twenty years later,
00:24when discussing whether he was planning to restore the banned ex-account of conspiracy
00:28theorist Alex Jones, Elon opened up about losing his son. Jones had called the Sandy Hook shooting,
00:33in which a mass shooter killed 20 children and six adults, a hoax, drawing outrage from both
00:38sides of the political aisle. Although Elon ultimately reinstated Jones' ex-account,
00:42he told his followers at the time that he didn't sympathize with him, saying,
00:45"'My firstborn child died in my arms. I felt his last heartbeat. I have no mercy for anyone
00:51who would use the deaths of children for gain, politics, or fame.'"
00:54The Tesla CEO's ex-wife wasn't thrilled with his tweet. On her own ex-account,
00:58Justine wrote that their son died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
01:02"'Not that it matters to anyone except me, because it is one of the most sacred and
01:06defining moments of my life, but I was the one who was holding him. The details are just really
01:10important to me.'" Elon Musk has three children with Grimes, an alt-pop musician known for her
01:15unusual fashion and love of technology. Grimes and Musk originally named their first son,
01:20X-Ash-A-12. Within days, however, Grimes said on Instagram that they were changing it,
01:24as California does not allow numerals on birth certificates. Instead, their child was named X.
01:29The name of Musk and Grimes' second child, a girl born via surrogate, is also...uncommon.
01:34Grimes told Vanity Fair in 2022 that her full name was Exadark Sidereal.
01:39Musk and Grimes called the child Y. In 2023, biographer Walter Isaacson wrote about their
01:44third child in his book Elon Musk. That child was born on Father's Day weekend,
01:48again through a surrogate, and named Technomechanicus, nicknamed Tau.
01:52Critics took to social media to mock the children's names,
01:54posts the kids will likely see when they're older. On Tumblr, one person wrote,
01:58"'Can you imagine being an adult Nepo baby at a company your rich dad invested in and
02:02having to walk into the boardroom first day like, Hi everyone, my name is Technomechanicus.'"
02:07In 2024, Elon Musk threw millions at Donald Trump's campaign. He even campaigned with Trump,
02:13rallying before wild crowds to help secure Trump's re-election.
02:16As you can see, I'm not just MAGA, I'm dark MAGA."
02:19During this time, Musk brought his son Ex to numerous public events. After Trump won the
02:23election, Elon and Ex celebrated at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate on New Year's Eve.
02:28When videos of the child went viral online, Grimes posted on Ex about it, writing,
02:32"'I believe fame is something that should be consented to as an adult. I know his dad wants
02:36to bring him out and can't control people filming, I just like to make the situation
02:40slightly safer for his brain development in any small ways I can.'"
02:44Grimes also said that Ex had trouble sleeping after he witnessed an explosion at SpaceX.
02:48She told Wired,
02:49"'His obsession with space is bordering on,
02:51is this healthy? When Ex saw Starship blow up, he had like a three-day PTSD meltdown.
02:56Every hour, he was waking up and going, Starship, and I had to rub his back.'"
03:00Grimes' concerns aren't surprising, as the couple has been in a messy custody battle
03:05over their children. In 2024, Grimes' mother, Sandy Garasino, posted a thread on Ex begging Musk
03:10to let Grimes' dying grandmother see the children. According to Garasino, Musk took the three
03:15passports belonging to the children he shares with Grimes, whose real name is Claire, keeping
03:19his kids from traveling. Garasino wrote,
03:21"'As you know, my 93-year-old mother is now at end-of-life palliative care.
03:25She yearns to see and hold Claire's children one last time, especially the youngest,
03:29whom she has not yet met. I am alarmed to learn that the children cannot come as you
03:33are withholding them and their needed passport documents from Claire.'"
03:36In late November 2024, Grimes herself tweeted about their custody battle, writing,
03:41"'Spent a year locked in a battle in a state with terrible mother's rights,
03:44having my Instagram posts and modeling used as reasons I shouldn't have my kids.
03:48All the while I didn't see one of my babies for five months and this is only what can
03:52be said publicly, since most of my experience these last years should remain behind closed doors.'"
03:58Grimes might have issues with Musk over his care of their children,
04:00but there's another of Musk's kids who has her own beef with her dad.
04:04As Musk has leaned further to the right, he's spoken up about what he calls the
04:07woke mind virus. In an interview with right-wing provocateur Jordan Peterson for The Daily Wire,
04:12Musk said that his daughter Vivian Wilson was the reason behind his anti-diversity crusade.
04:17Vivian is transgender, and Musk isn't a fan.
04:20"'So my son Xavier is dead. Killed by the woke mind virus.'"
04:24Wilson is not in fact dead, as she has responded several times to her father's comments.
04:28She told NBC News that Musk was abusive to her, repeatedly berating her on a road trip
04:33for speaking with too high of a voice. She said,
04:36"'He was cold. He's very quick to anger. He is uncaring and narcissistic.'"
04:40She also said that she and Musk have been out of touch for years, saying,
04:44"'I would like to emphasize one thing. I am an adult.
04:46I am 20 years old. I am not a child. My life should be defined by my own choices.'"