The world’s richest man can launch rockets, run car companies and reshape entire industries. Apparently, none of that makes an empty side of the bed any less empty.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been married three times and has repeatedly said romantic companionship is a major part of what makes him happy. He married author Justine Wilson in 2000 and divorced her in 2008. He later married actress Talulah Riley in 2010, divorced her in 2012, remarried her in 2013 and divorced her again in 2016.
Musk Put the Empty Side of the Bed in Perspective
After his breakup with actress Amber Heard, Musk spoke openly about what he wanted from a relationship.
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“If I’m not in love, if I’m not with a long-term companion, I cannot be happy,” Musk told Rolling Stone in 2017.
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“I will never be happy without having someone. Going to sleep alone kills me,” he said.
Musk described being alone in a large house, hearing footsteps echo through the hallway with nobody there and nobody on the pillow beside him. For a billionaire whose professional life revolves around some of the biggest projects on Earth, it was a remarkably ordinary complaint.
Money can buy a lot. Apparently, it can’t buy someone to argue over the thermostat with.
Even Starship Work Didn’t Keep Loneliness Away
Musk returned to the subject years later while speaking with Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner in 2022.
“I think most people are not happy being alone,” Musk said.
When asked whether he felt lonely himself, Musk acknowledged that there were times when he did. He described staying alone in a small house in South Texas while working on Starship and said the isolation felt particularly strong when his dog wasn’t there.
The contrast is hard to miss. Musk was describing loneliness while working on a rocket program designed to send humanity farther into space.
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Three Marriages Don’t Change What He Says He Needs
Musk’s relationship history makes his comments more notable, but the point he’s made over the years has remained fairly consistent. Professional achievement doesn’t replace romantic companionship for him.
His first marriage lasted about eight years. His relationship with Riley produced two marriages and two divorces. He later had high-profile relationships with Heard and musician Grimes. His personal life has continued to attract attention partly because it sits in sharp contrast with his public image as an intensely driven entrepreneur.
For Musk, being surrounded by employees, engineers, investors and family isn’t necessarily the same as having a partner waiting at home.
And his own housing history adds another interesting wrinkle. Despite his enormous fortune, Musk has famously described a roughly $50,000 house near SpaceX’s Starbase in Texas as his primary home, saying he rented it from SpaceX. He later purchased a much larger Austin-area property, so the small rented house shouldn’t be treated as his only residence or current full-time arrangement.
A Home Can Be a Place to Live — or an Investment
That distinction matters in real estate, too. A person doesn’t have to own the home they live in to participate in the housing market as an investor.
Arrived lets investors buy fractional shares of rental properties starting at $100. Investors can own interests in individual rental homes or diversified real-estate funds and potentially earn rental income and benefit from property appreciation, while Arrived handles the operating responsibilities.
It’s a different concept from buying a primary residence. There’s no need to purchase an entire house, take on a traditional mortgage or become the landlord dealing with a broken water heater at midnight.
For people who want real-estate exposure without making their entire financial life revolve around one property, fractional ownership can offer another route.
Musk’s comments ultimately have little to do with square footage. A person can have a tiny rental, a mansion or several homes and still want the same thing he has described for years — someone beside him when the day is over.
For all the billions, rockets and grand plans, that may be the most relatable thing Musk has ever said.
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Arrived
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FarmTogether
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Fundrise
Private real estate and private credit can add income and stability to a stock-heavy portfolio. Fundrise offers access to diversified private real estate and credit strategies through an easy-to-use platform, with professionally managed portfolios designed to generate passive income and long-term growth.
Qnetic
As electricity demand rises alongside AI, data centers, and renewable energy, long-duration energy storage is becoming increasingly important. Qnetic is developing a kinetic energy storage system designed to provide long-lasting, chemical-free electricity storage, offering investors exposure to the infrastructure supporting a more resilient and reliable power grid.
Mode Mobile
Mode Mobile is changing the way people interact with their phones by letting users earn money from the same apps and activities they already use every day. Instead of platforms keeping all the advertising revenue, Mode Mobile shares a portion back with users who engage with content, play games, and scroll on their devices. Named one of Deloitte’s fastest-growing software companies in North America, the company has built a large beta user base and is scaling a model that turns everyday smartphone usage into a potential income stream.
EquityMultiple
For accredited investors looking beyond stocks and bonds, EquityMultiple provides access to vetted commercial real estate deals starting at $5,000, with only ~5% of opportunities passing their due diligence process.
BluSky AI
As artificial intelligence drives unprecedented demand for computing power, the infrastructure behind it is becoming just as important as the software itself. BluSky AI is developing modular, prefabricated data centers designed to bring AI compute capacity online faster than traditional builds, giving investors exposure to a critical layer of the rapidly expanding AI ecosystem through its Regulation A offering.
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