Despite being the richest person in the world, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk might be one of the most frugal company leaders.
What Happened: Musk’s former partner Grimes, whose real name is Claire Boucher, shared details of how frugal Musk is with his money.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Grimes defended Musk for the hate that he gets despite his work to support Ukraine and clean energy. She also defended his ambitions for wanting to go to Mars.
“The Mars project is hard. There’s no income for it,” Grimes said. “There’s no way for it to make money.”
Grimes said that Musk is not hoarding money as some believe due to his massive wealth reported by the media. Much of that wealth is tied to equity in Tesla and SpaceX.
“It’s for the benefit of humanity, and it’s dangerous and it’s expensive, and people are like ‘he’s hoarding money.’ No he’s spending everything on R&D.”
Despite being worth $235 billion and being ranked as the richest person in the world by Bloomberg, Grimes said the majority of Musk’s money is helping fund operations like SpaceX and plans to colonize Mars.
“Bro does not live like a billionaire. Bro lives at times below the poverty line,” Grimes said of Musk, which has led to some intense backlash.
One item Grimes discussed was Musk’s decision to sell several homes and move to Texas and live in a less-than-$50,000 house.
“Can we not live in a very insecure $40,000 house?” Grimes recalls asking.
Grimes also recalled that Musk wouldn’t buy a new mattress when there was a hole in one, instead insisting on replacing it with one from Grimes’ house.
The couple announced a split in late 2021. Grimes described the relationship with Musk after their split as “very fluid.”
“We live in separate houses. We’re best friends. We see each other all the time,” Grimes said.
Related Link: 5 Things You Might Not Know About Elon Musk
Why It’s Important: The interview between Grimes and Vanity Fair revealed many things including the fact that Musk and Grimes had a second child via surrogacy.
The interview highlights Grimes’ ambitions musically, including promoting her upcoming “space opera” album “Book 1,” which will be released on Columbia Records, a unit of Sony Group Corp (NYSE:SONY).
A large portion of the talk centered on Musk and the life he leads while the head of two companies.
Last year, Musk was worth over $300 billion thanks to a surge in the price of Tesla shares and news that SpaceX was valued at $100 billion. The rise in value of Tesla and SpaceX didn’t help increase the income for Musk, only his paper wealth, something highlighted by his frugal spending.
Musk has always seemed to live on the frugal side and limit spending.
In a 2015 interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Musk recalled living on a budget of $1 a day for food as a 17-year-old college student.
“I figured I could be in some dingy apartment with my computer and be okay and not starve,” Musk said.
Musk even set a goal of living on this low food budget to prove he could do it and save money.
Musk made a promise to sell $130 million in real estate assets in 2020 and has been selling houses over the last two years while living in a small Texas home near the headquarters of SpaceX and Tesla.
Many would consider Musk a workaholic and as the leader of two companies, he likely doesn’t have a ton of free time or a chance to spend his money. With much of his wealth tied up in equity, he also is not as liquid as some other billionaires.
Perhaps when/if he retires someday, Musk can upgrade his house, mattress and food spending.
TSLA Price Action: Tesla shares gained 7.91% Tuesday, closing at $993.98.
