The biography, titled simply Elon Musk, was released on September 12 and is filled with intimate details about the billionaire’s life, from his early life in South Africa to his relationships and his desire for “smart people” to have kids.

So what are the book’s biggest revelations?

Elon Musk’s “secret” twins with Shivon Zilis

Shivon Zilis is a Neuralink exec who had twins with Elon Musk. Photo: @shivon/Twitter
Shivon Zilis, the Neuralink executive who has twins with Musk, revealed in the book that she and the billionaire never actually dated. Zilis told Isaacson that Musk donated his sperm so that her children would be genetically his. She explained that “he really wants smart people to have kids, so he encouraged me to”.

She added that she assumed Musk would not be a big part of the children’s lives, but has been surprised to see him bonding with the twins – a boy named Strider Sekhar Sirius and a girl named Azure.

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What makes the situation even more complicated though is that when Zilis was pregnant, Musk was still in a relationship with Grimes – and she was completely unaware of her then-boyfriend’s birth plan. The former couple had also just decided to have another child via surrogate after the birth of their son X. As if that isn’t enough, Grimes and Zilis were even at the same Austin hospital at one point.
Grimes and Elon Musk share three children together, all with futuristic-sounding names. Photo: AP

The biography also revealed for the first time that Musk and Grimes have had a third child together named Techno Mechanicus or Tau. The age of the child and other details were not provided.

His “brutal” love affair with Amber Heard

Amber Heard and Tesla billionaire Elon Musk had an on-and-off relationship. Photo: @amberheard/Instagram

In April 2017, Musk and actress Amber Heard went public with their relationship. For the next year they were on-again and off-again, finally ending it in 2018, reports People magazine.

Musk and Heard spoke to Isaacson about their romance and even detailed intimate moments, including how the Aquaman star donned a costume in order to role-play for Musk after he said she reminded him of Mercy, a character from the Overwatch video game.

Heard added that she still loves Musk “very much” but cautioned, “Elon loves fire and sometimes it burns him.” Musk, meanwhile, said the relationship was “brutal”. When asked about his love life in general, Musk admitted, “I’m just a fool for love. I am often a fool, but especially for love.”

No ring, no problem

Elon Musk (right) and his ex-wife Talulah Riley (left). Photo: @elonmuskslife/Instagram
The book also details how Musk met one of his ex-wives, British actress Talulah Riley. After splitting from his wife Justine Wilson in July 2008, Musk was in London to speak at the Royal Aeronautical Society. He saw Riley come into the nightclub he was in and asked if he could put his hand on her knee, then asked for her number.
Elon Musk and Talulah Riley were married twice. Photo: @Who_is_Famous/Twitter

They saw each other for the next three days, with Riley visiting Musk in LA afterwards. At the end of that trip, Musk proposed. But he didn’t have an engagement ring, so the couple “shook” on it instead. They got married in 2010 and split two years later. They tied the knot for a second time in July 2013, but Musk filed for divorce in 2014, with that petition being withdrawn soon afterwards. Riley then filed for divorce in 2016, which was finalised in November that year. Talk about a romantic roller-coaster.

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Advertising his company … on Grimes’ Met Gala dress

Elon Musk and Grimes arriving at the 2018 Met Gala. Photo: Reuters

In 2018, his relationship with Claire Boucher, better known as Grimes, became public knowledge after the pair appeared together at the Met Gala. The book explains how Musk played an influential role in the design of the dress that Grimes wore to event.

He suggested a “medieval-punk black-and-white ensemble with a hard glass corset and a necklace made of spikes to resemble the Tesla logo”. He was so invested in the look, he even tasked a Tesla design employee to work on it.

Childhood details

Errol Musk, the father of tech billionaire Elon Musk, poses for a portrait at his house in South Africa, in May 2022. Photo: AFP

Elon’s estrangement from his father Errol has been well-documented. Isaacson describes Errol as a “charismatic fantasist who to this day bedevils Elon”.

The biography details how Elon felt tormented by his father until he left his childhood home in Pretoria, South Africa. He moved to Canada when he was 17. Errol, 77, is in a relationship with his stepdaughter Jana Bezuidenhout, 35, and the two share two children – which Elon has struggled with.

Elon Musk and his mum Maye, and siblings Kimbal and Tosca. Photo: @ilon_mask_1000/Instagram

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But while the Musk men might have their difficulties, Isaacson wrote that Elon has similar mood swings to his father. His first wife Wilson said that it is “difficult not to be shaped by what we grew up with, even when that’s not what we want”.

Wilson also took time to highlight the differences between the two men, colourfully stating: “With Errol, there was a sense that really bad things could happen around him. Whereas if the zombie apocalypse happened, you’d want to be on Elon’s team, because he would figure out a way to get those zombies in line.”