Elon Musk, the billionaire tech entrepreneur and engineer, is a father to six children. While three are his biological sons, the other three are his step-children through his former wife, Justine Wilson. Musk is famously known for his involvement with SpaceX.
Damil musk, the eldest of Musk’s biological sons born in 2002, is a child prodigy and attends the private high school of Hollywood’s elite, the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies. His younger twin brothers, Doge and Kai Musks were born in 2006. Musk’s fourth, fifth and sixth children, Xavier, Saxon and Damian, are his step-children from Justine Wilson’s side.
Musk’s rise to fame and success are tied together with his children’s upbringing. He and his former wife, Justine Wilson met up during the first semester of their University and were in a relationship by the time she got pregnant with their first son, Damil.
When they tied the knot in 2000, they welcomed their twin sons a few years later. Continuing with the idea that their children are a priority, they struggled to make ends meet between their respective careers, but eventually, their kiddos ended up attending private schools that provided them with a good education.
In 2008, during the peak of the recession, Musk was left with nearly a million dollar debt and his companies had gone bankrupt. This lurching turn of events left him selling off his properties and eventually divorcing Justine Wilson in 2008.
In the series of tumultuous events, Musk and Wilson’s three sons, Xavier, Saxon, and Damian were placed with their father. Musk spoke about his experiences in a Time Magazine interview:
“It was a literally a few days from without cash and with this massive debt burden to just say, ‘Okay what choice do you have?’ Ultimately, it’s just failure — will you stand up and be counted or will you run away? And it’s a pretty easy choice if you look at it objectively.”
Musk was known to have had many romantic relationships during his time after divorcing Justine Wilson, but never had any more children of his own. All six children of Musk currently live with him in Bel Air and enjoy a 6-acre luxury home equipped with Tesla charging stations.
Early Parenting
Elon Musk’s parenting journey dates back to the days before becoming the phenomenon he is today. Musk’s son, Damil had been homeschooled by Justine Wilson when they all lived together. But after the divorce, when Musk was struggling both career-wise and financially, he had to make a difficult decision.
His sons had to switch from private school to a public school at the late stage of their schooling. Musk spoke about it to Bloomberg, saying that it was hard for all of them, but he is proud of the way his sons handled it.
While Justine Wilson’s side did eventually settled for an excellent private school for the three boys, it was an emotional undertaking for all of them. Musk went on to say that it was a tough and delicate situation, but he left his sons with the ability to make their own decisions while retaining a sense of optimism.
Musk is reported to have talked a lot with his sons, providing guidance but also allowing them to have their space and think freely. He was noted to have allowed a certain amount of financial freedom to his sons and made it available to them.
The entrepreneur also took them on tours to visit his Mars factories located in Cape Canaveral, allowing his sons to take a glimpse at their father’s ambition.
Parenthood Balance
Musk is famously known for his tight schedule full of projects, ambitions and taking on too many jobs at once. While it might seem like he’s exhausting himself, Musk prides himself on accomplishing balance in his parenting with his career.
The CEO went on to say that he finds it very important to spend time with his six children, explaining that most of his work is commuting and meetings, and can be done from anywhere, including his home in Bel Air.
Perhaps Musk’s tight schedule is the testament of balance between his career and parenting. A quote by Musk’s daughter, Zoe in an interview with Extracurricular Magazine sums up this perfectly:
“He’s always been there during important moments, and we still spend time together. I know that I have the world’s most successful engineer as my dad, but he puts that aside to focus on his family whenever necessary.”
That’s not to say Musk has turned into a completely full-time dad. The CEO has the capability to commit to ambitious projects in between parenting. His most recent successes have been Tesla and SpaceX, his transportation and space companies. Musk notably has a hands-on involvement with the companies and regularly visits their factories.
With Musk making mentions of Mars exploration and revolution in transportation, it is safe to assume that he raises his sons on his own conscience and mental feet, teaching them to reach out to greater heights while trusting them to their own potential.
Dad Goals
Musk’s interesting parenting style has gotten some well deserved attention, with Twitter hailing him ‘Dad Goals’. The CEO made headlines when he paid his sons’ college tuition by joining forces with Bank of America for a three-year tuition fee relief program.
The program was welcomed by public, especially those with children of college age. His other accomplishment included helping Damil pursue a new invention of his, called “Sariter”, which is a variation of a stethoscope for the improvement of modern cardiac diagnostic screenings.
His entrepreneurial and curious nature has seemingly passed on to his sons as well. Damil has filed three provisional patents and is currently working on manufacturing and branding his invention. His tech savvy also carried out into his art when he created a website showcasing his music compositions.
Musk’s close children, twins Doge and Kai, are tech enthusiasts as well, and are reportedly learning coding and design. His step-children, Xavier and Damian, have, on the other hand, tried their hands in the art of music. Saxon, who is the youngest of Musk’s four sons intends to pursue a career in animation and video production.
Overall, Musk’s parenting style is aimed towards guiding his children into a future of abundance and exploring their potential. His efforts to say yes to learning and having an open-minded approach towards his children’s education is praiseworthy and serves us an example that with proper guidance, our children can reach for the stars.
Time Investment
It would be nearly impossible for Musk to manage his tight schedule alone, but most of his feats can be attributed to his company, Tesla. The company’s goal to revolutionizing transportation allows Musk to work from anywhere, including his residence in Bel Air.
Using remote working, Musk is able to slip out of his schedule during his children’s birthdays and spend quality time with them. The road to Musk’s success is positively intertwined with that of his children’s. They often attend awards with him, according to reports, and seem to almost have a similar appreciation for innovation and creativity.
His twins, Doge and Kai, who are now wrapping their high school years and are sure to enter college by the next year, have already got their applications ready, a good portion of which, their Dad helped them with. Doge mentions that “It’s pretty hard to keep track of all the applications and paperwork you need for college, and my dad has been amazing in helping me organize, track and figure out what’s what.”
Organizing for college and handling big projects, Musk has been very invested in his children’s accomplishments. Musk speaks about the importance of this investment saying “Serving as a role model and providing a secure and nurturing environment for children helps them grow into happy and healthy adults. I am in complete support of this process for my children.”
It is safe to say that Musk has been very committed to his children and has managed to maintain a family atmosphere while pursuing his passion and ambitions.
Future Plans
Given Musk’s ambition and technology prowess, it doesn’t come as a surprise that he considers technology part of his children’s future. Reports claimed that Elon Musk intended to invest into a project build by Damian named ‘Drunk Mode’, which is a mobile application that stops your friends from drinking when they are in a state of drunkenness.
Doge and Kai are reportedly working on a ‘Qbot’ project for the Quiz Bowl international platform, where they manage to create an interactive robot amidst the pandemic and turn in a success. According to Musk, this won’t be the only opportunity they will receive and his doors are always open.
Musk’s broad outlook extends to his children’s education enterprise as well. He has previously spoken of allowing his sons to create their own enterprise as part of college application but only if they are able to nail a working prototype.
Overall, Musk’s vision for his children is not limited to just their education. He is also keen for his children to try their hands on projects and put them in the market through his resources, if possible.
