Elon Musk has opened up about his relationship with his estranged daughter Vivian.
In addition to being the mastermind behind Paypal, Tesla, The Boring Company and SpaceX, Mr Musk, 51, is also famous for having fathered ten children, including one who died as an infant. But in an interview with The Financial Times published on Friday, Mr Musk conceded that he “can’t win [them] all.”
Speaking about his transgender teen daughter, Vivian, Mr Musk alleged that their father-daughter relationship had been negatively impacted after she was influenced by people with a “neo-Marxist” mentality at the unspecified elite university she attends.
“It’s full-on communism . . . and a general sentiment that if you’re rich, you’re evil,” Mr Musk told the Times. “It [the relationship] may change, but I have very good relationships with all the others [children]. Can’t win them all.”
Earlier this year, Vivian, 18, decided to cut ties with Mr Musk in a court filing, saying she “no longer live[d] with or wish[ed] to be related to [her] biological father in any way, shape or form.” Vivian filed the request to change her name in accordance with her new gender identity at the Los Angeles County superior court in Santa Monica in April.
According to a TMZ report, she wants her name to be Vivian Jenna Wilson, in line with her gender identity and using her mother’s maiden name.
While Mr Musk has blamed disagreements with his daughter on radical ideals, he has also made ambiguous remarks on transgender issues.
“I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an aesthetic nightmare,” Mr Musk said in a Tweet in 2020.
Mr Musk hinted to The FinancialTimes that he found solace in his relationships with his other children. However, at least two of those children remained out of the public’s spotlight until recently, when documents obtained by Business Insider revealed Mr Musk fathered twins with Musk-led Neuralink executive Shivon Zillis.
Mr Musk and Ms Zillis’ children were born in November 2021 – weeks before Mr Musk and on-again, off-again partner Grimes welcomed their second-born, daughter Exa “Y.”
The SpaceX founder also shares a boy, “X” with Grimes.
Mr Musk met his first wife, Canadian author Justine Thomas while the pair were studying at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada. They tied the knot in 2000 and welcomed their first child Nevada Alexander Musk two years later. Tragically, their firstborn died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) when he was 10 weeks old.
Ms Thomas and Mr Musk went on to have a set of twins — Griffin and Xavier Musk — in 2004 and triplets — Kai, Saxon, and Damian Musk — in 2006.
In his interview with The Financial Times, Mr Musk predicted that civilisation “will not die with a bang, it will die with a whimper in adult diapers,” and said that he may have more children in the future.
His comments to the outlet are reminiscent of remarks he made last year at a business conference.
“There are not enough people,” Mr Musk said at the event, sponsored by The Wall Street Journal. “‘If people don’t have more children, civilisation is going to crumble — mark my words.’
