Elon Musk Says He Will Not Leave His Fortune to His 14 Children, Calls Inherited Wealth a Mistake

Elon Musk, recently valued as a trillionaire following SpaceX's market valuation surge, has stated he will not transfer his wealth directly to his 14 children, describing the practice as a fundamental mistake. In remarks to the Wall Street Journal's CEO Council, the tech entrepreneur rejected the notion that company shares or control should pass automatically through family lines. Instead, he contends that leadership positions must be earned through demonstrated capability rather than inherited through parentage.

Musk made his position explicit when discussing the future of his business empire. "I am definitely not of the school of automatically giving my kids some shares of the companies, even if they have no interest or inclination or ability to manage the company," he said. "I think that's a mistake." The billionaire has previously argued that placing incompetent individuals in leadership roles—regardless of their family connection—poses a genuine risk to the organizations he has built.

The entrepreneur has fathered children with four different women. His family includes six children with first wife Justine Wilson, three with musician Grimes, four with Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis, and one with conservative influencer Ashley St Clair. If distributed equally among all 14 children, each would hypothetically receive tens of billions of dollars, though Musk has made no public announcement of such an arrangement. The extent to which his fortune will be placed in trusts, donated to charitable causes, or distributed through other mechanisms remains undisclosed.

Musk has indicated that he has identified individuals he trusts to manage his business operations in the event of his absence, though he has not publicly named these successors. This approach reflects his broader philosophy that organizational continuity depends on competence rather than bloodline. One of his adult children, Vivian Jenna Wilson, legally changed her name and gender in 2022 and has been estranged from her father since then, having sought to sever ties with him through court filings.