Tesla CEO and the world’s richest person, Elon Musk has revealed that he does not own a home of his own.
During a recent video interview, Musk responded to comments on criticisms billionaires receive as a result of their wealth when he made the revelation.
“I don’t even own a place right now, I’m literally staying at friends’ places.
“If I travel to the Bay Area, which is where most of Tesla’s engineering is, I basically rotate through friends’ spare bedrooms,” he said.
Musk agreed that his wealth was massive, adding that he also agreed it would be problematic if he was spending excessively on personal luxuries.
“For sure, it would be very problematic if I was spending billions of dollars a year in personal consumption, but that is not the case,” he said.
The billionaire said he did not have a yacht or really take vacations but he does have a personal plane.
“It’s not as though my personal consumption is high. I mean, the one exception is the plane, but if I don’t use the plane then I have less hours to work,” he explained.
Friends and associates of his have acknowledged his frugal ways over the years.
During an interview with Vanity Fair last month, Musk’s current partner, Grimes, revealed that he doesn’t live like a billionaire at all.“Musk does not live like a billionaire. He lives at times below the poverty line. To the point where I was like, can we not live in a very insecure $40,000 house? Where the neighbours, like, film us, and there’s no security, and I’m eating peanut butter for eight days in a row?” she said.
Grimes, who is a musician and mother to Musk’s two youngest children, spoke about a time when he refused to replace the mattress when her side had a hole in it.
When she raised the issue, he suggested they replace his mattress with the one at her house.
Back in 2015, Google co-founder, Larry Page said Musk used to reach out to him to stay over at his place when he was in the city.
“He’ll e-mail and say, ‘I don’t know where to stay tonight. Can I come over?’” Page said.
Musk is currently trying to buy the microblogging app, Twitter, and turn it into a private company.
He offered to acquire the company for $41 billion at $54.20 per share which the board of directors for the company is attempting to thwart.
During another interview, Musk revealed that he had a backup plan in the event that Twitter rejects his offer.
Musk accepted that it is possible he might not be able to acquire the company but that he could “technically afford it.”
“I have sufficient assets,” he said, without giving further details.
