The truth about Musk’s relationship with Epstein
Musk has downplayed the relationship. Emails between the two men paint a different picture.
Elon Musk at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC on November 19, 2025. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Newly released emails from and to the late billionaire sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein show that he had a far more intimate relationship with Elon Musk than the SpaceX and Tesla chief has sought to portray.
In an exchange from 2012, Musk asked about visiting Epstein’s infamous Caribbean island for the “wildest party” possible. He also shared his desire to let “loose” and revel in Epstein’s “party scene,” while Epstein recommended that Musk try a new prescription stimulant. Other emails show that Musk arranged for Epstein to tour SpaceX’s facilities, where the two men shared a lunch.
The exchanges occurred years after Epstein first faced a criminal investigation stemming from his sexual abuse of underage girls. In 2008, he pled guilty to solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18 and was sentenced to 18 months in a minimum-security facility.
The emails show Musk bonded with Epstein well after his crimes were public. Nevertheless, in dozens of X posts over the weekend, Musk downplayed their relationship and depicted himself as an advocate for exploited children. “Epstein hounded me relentlessly to go to his pedo island and I always declined,” he wrote on Sunday.
Musk also used his self-proclaimed social naivety to suggest he was unaware that Epstein held parties where sex trafficking victims were exploited by powerful guests. “Admittedly, I was at first dumb enough to think he actually meant hanging out with UN diplomats,” he claimed. “However, even after he clarified that he meant a party with young women ‘under age 25’, I still chose working on rockets and cars.”
In another post, Musk insisted that he would not need “the help of a creepy loser like Epstein” if he wished to spend his “time partying with young women.”
The latest tranche of files released by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday, which covered 3 million pages of documents, included emails between Epstein, who died in 2019, and numerous billionaires. Among them were Google cofounder Sergey Brin, the third-richest person in the world, and Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, the 17th-richest.
‘What day/night will be the wildest party on [your] island?’According to emails and calendar entries made public by the DOJ, Musk made numerous efforts to connect with Epstein in person. On several occasions, Musk expressed interest in attending parties held on Little St. James, the private Caribbean island owned by Epstein.
“If you find some time, come visit me on my island,” Epstein wrote to Musk in September 2012, adding that he should “bring your friend or friends.” Musk was receptive. “Sounds good, will try to make it,” he replied.
The two men made more concrete plans not long after. In November 2012, Epstein asked Musk how many people he planned to ferry to the island aboard a helicopter. “Probably just Talulah and me. What day/night will be the wildest party on =our island?” Musk wrote in response, referring to his then partner, actress Talulah Riley.
That Christmas Eve, Epstein offered to “send” a helicopter to pick Musk up and wrote, “you are welcome to stay or just come for the day.”
In a response sent early Christmas morning, Musk asked Epstein to help him unwind. “Do you have any parties planned?” he wrote at 6:07 AM on December 25, 2012. “I’ve been working to the edge of sanity this year and so, once my kids head home after Christmas, I really want to hit the party scene in St Barts or elsewhere and let loose.”
Musk then mentioned an invitation Epstein had sent him for a “peaceful island experience” but indicated that he wanted them to have a more rousing vacation, to which Epstein replied, “Understood , I will see you on st Barth.” He also warned that the male-to-female ratio on his island could make Musk’s partner “uncomfortable.”
That January, Epstein and Musk planned to have lunch on the island of St. Barthélemy, a French overseas collectivity not far from Little St. James. While Musk appears to have cancelled that meeting due to an illness, documents released by the DOJ show that Musk scheduled a tour and lunch with Epstein at SpaceX’s offices on February 25, 2013.
“thanks for the tour,” Epstein wrote in an email to Musk on February 26, adding, “you would have had fun at xmas.”
“I see,” Musk wrote back, punctuating his response with a smiling emoji.
The exchange directly contradicts a claim that Musk made in 2020, when he said that Epstein “never toured SpaceX. Don’t know where that comes from.”
Their correspondence continued into March 2013, with Epstein congratulating Musk after SpaceX launched a rocket ferrying supplies to the International Space Station.
Musk, in turn, confided in Epstein about his sleep schedule and a trip he had planned to Switzerland. “I have found that my total daily productivity is optimal at around 6 to 6.5 hours of sleep,” he wrote.
“understood, have you tried nuvigil,” asked Epstein, referring to a prescription CNS stimulant that can treat narcolepsy and cause insomnia.
That Christmas, Musk again inquired about spending time with Epstein in the Caribbean. “Will be in the BVI/St Bart’s area over the holidays. Is there a good time to visit?” he asked on December 13, 2013. Epstein offered the first week of January before assuring Musk that there would “always [be] space for you” at Little St. James.
“Ok, probably the 1st then,” Musk wrote back. (On Saturday, Vivian Wilson, Musk’s 21-year-old daughter, confirmed on Threads that “we were in St Barth’s at the time specified in the emails, and therefore I believe they are authentic.”)
But Epstein seemingly cancelled that meeting. “Bad news- Unfortunately , my schedule will keep me in New York,” he wrote. “I was really looking forward to finally spending some time together with just fun as the agenda. so i am very disappointed. Hopefully we can schedule another time in the near future.”
The following December, in 2014, Epstein rescheduled Musk’s visit, with a calendar entry reading, “ELON MUSK TO ISLAND DEC. 6TH.” It’s unclear whether Musk made that appointment, although Epstein wrote to him on December 11, 2014, asking whether he would be in the Caribbean for Christmas or New Year’s.
Musk, for his part, claims that he never visited Epstein’s private island. Still, the newly released emails cast doubt on Musk’s efforts to downplay his relationship with Epstein.
In response, Musk has used the emails as a cudgel against perceived political enemies. “I have NOT been to any of Epstein’s party, his plane or his island. But many others have,” Musk wrote in a Saturday post on X. Then, on Sunday, he lashed out at LinkedIn cofounder and billionaire Reid Hoffman, asking him, “What ‘gifts’ did you bring to Epstein when you went to pedo island?”
Musk also insisted that he was not recorded in any of “Epstein’s videos… but many prominent people, especially on the left, are.”
Meanwhile, Epstein introduced a woman to at least one member of Musk’s inner circle. In October 2012, Musk’s brother, Kimbal, wrote an email thanking Epstein and his associate, Boris Nikolic, for “connecting” him with an unnamed woman. “Jeffrey goes crazy when someone mistreats his girls/friends. So better be very nice to her,” Nikolic wrote back.
“And Jeffrey and I better have a special treatment at your ceremony,” he continued, adding a winking face emoticon.
Other billionaires named in new documentsAmong the DOJ’s newly released files was an email draft in which Epstein claimed that he had helped Gates, the billionaire Microsoft cofounder, cheat on his then-wife, Melinda. He also alleged that Gates had asked him to obtain antibiotics that he could secretly dose his wife with “to deal with consequences of sex with Russian girls.” A representative for Gates has denied the claims, calling them “absolutely absurd and completely false.”
Brin, a Google cofounder whose net worth sits at around $290 billion, also wrote to Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell about visiting “you and Jeffrey” in 2003. “Also, our CEO Eric will be around and I’ll be happy to invite him a long if you want,” Brin added, a reference to Eric Schmidt, the 31st richest person in the world. Maxwell had written to Brin inviting him to a “fun” dinner “at Jeffrey’s house” in Manhattan.
One billionaire who directly expressed interest in the women and girls in Epstein’s orbit was Virgin Group founder Richard Branson. “It was really nice seeing you yesterday… Any time you’re in the area would love to see you. As long as you bring your harem!” Branson wrote in a 2013 email to Epstein. A representative for Branson told The New York Times, “Any contact Richard and Joan Branson had with Epstein took place on only a few occasions more than 12 years ago, and was limited to group or business settings. Richard believes that Epstein’s actions were abhorrent and supports the right to justice for his many victims.” |
