Elon Musk's first marriage has been thoroughly deconstructed by Justine Musk, as she details exactly how it fell apart, but one shockingly brutal response from the billionaire sticks out as a damning indictment of the relationship.
While it's nearly been a decade since Elon Musk was last married, his three divorces - including two to the same woman - make him quite the expert in marital breakdowns.
Musk has refrained from marrying any of the women that he has had 8 of his last 14 children, including three in the past year from Shivon Zilis and MAGA influencer Ashley St. Clair - who is currently suing Musk for the sole custody of their child.
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It is his first and longest marriage to Justine Musk though that remains the most public, as two years on from their divorce she wrote an extensive essay in Marie Claire on how their relationship fell apart, including some unflattering comments from her ex-husband.
Although much of the opening of her essay paints Musk as a great man who she even illustrates as her "own private Alexander the Great," she soon reveals that warning signs became present even at their own wedding.
"As we danced at our wedding reception," Justine explains, "Elon told me 'I am the alpha in this relationship.' I shrugged it off, just as I would later shrug off signing the postnuptial agreement, but as time went on, I learned that he was serious."
This declaration from Musk became even clearer as she evaluated that he used the 'vast economic imbalance' between them to assert control.
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"Elon's judgement overruled mine, and he was constantly remarking on the ways he found me lacking," she outlines, and in particular one shocking brutal response from Musk stands out.
"'I am your wife,' I told him repeatedly, 'not your employee'," Justine revealed, to which Musk responded: "'If you were my employee,' he said just as often, 'I would fire you'."
Following an increased distance between the pair, a car accident, and the unfortunate death of their first child, the pair entered counseling upon Justine's request.
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However, just one month into the sessions she reveals that Musk presented her with an 'ultimatum': "Either we fix this marriage today or I will divorce you tomorrow, by which I understood he meant, Our status quo works for me, so it should work for you."
Musk then officially filed for divorce the next morning, and although their marriage didn't officially end until a few years later following a bitter legal battle, Elon certainly waited no time and was engaged to his next wife, actress Talulah Riley, within six weeks of breaking it off from Justine.