Elon Musk’s transgender daughter recalls ‘isolating’ childhood spent in extreme wealth: ‘Power corrupts people’

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The daughter of the world’s wealthiest person has described growing up with immense wealth as a lonely and unusual experience.

Vivian Wilson, the oldest child of Elon Musk and Justine Musk, publicly came out as transgender when she was sixteen years old. She also legally petitioned to remove Elon Musk’s name from her last name.

They have been estranged since 2020.

In a new interview with Cosmopolitan, Elon Musk’s son, Wilson, is sharing what it was like growing up with immense wealth. Wilson’s father, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, is a billionaire who has had a complicated history with President Trump.

Having so much available was both a gift and a problem, and she noticed that those driven by ambition couldn’t help but try to take advantage of it.

I’ve witnessed it myself, and it really changes a person. The pursuit of power can corrupt you from the inside out, and the whole thing feels almost absurd,” said 21-year-old Wilson.

Constantly striving for more, even after you’ve succeeded, can lead to a destructive pattern of wanting things you don’t need. It’s a cycle where you’re never satisfied, and it can really change who you are – honestly, that’s something I’m really afraid of.

Wilson, having turned away from a life of wealth and now dedicated to helping others, remembered how lonely and unusual her childhood had been.

You know, I’ve spoken to so many people who’ve described feeling really cut off, especially when navigating different social worlds. It’s interesting because it often comes down to how separate things can be – think about private schools or exclusive social groups. It creates this sense of ‘us’ and ‘them,’ and it can be incredibly isolating for anyone outside those circles. It really highlights how much our environments shape our experiences and connections.

Before attending the private school Crossroads in Los Angeles, Wilson went to a hidden school called ‘Ad Astra’ located on the Space X campus.

Even as a young girl, Wilson felt deeply upset by the struggles of those less fortunate, and some people thought her concern was overly sensitive.

Wilson explained that he’s realized a lot of what he once thought was true isn’t, and even when he was a child, he was sensitive to things that felt awkward or tasteless. He recalls feeling deeply upset and disturbed even at a young age when he encountered people experiencing homelessness.

People used to criticize me for overreacting, saying I acted like an immature child. But looking back, I was justified in being so upset about it.

According to Wilson, the rich were detached from ‘reality itself.’  

Wilson observed a disconnect from what’s actually happening, with people prioritizing money and believing they’re entitled to it, even while others struggle with homelessness. He also jokingly added that Santa Claus is real.

The actress has often publicly discussed her father, who is a well-known and often criticized figure.

Yet she has remained detached from the fact she will always be known as Elon’s child.  

She admitted there wasn’t much she could change about it, so she wasn’t going to dwell on it. She acknowledged it was a part of her past, but emphasized it wouldn’t define her future.

Musk has stated he was misled by what he calls ‘woke ideology’ into supporting his daughter Vivian’s gender transition.

In a 2024 interview with Jordan Peterson on The Daily Wire, Elon Musk claimed he was misled regarding his child Vivian’s decision to undergo treatment. He stated he wasn’t informed that puberty blockers could lead to permanent sterilization.

It feels like I’ve lost my son. People use the term ‘deadnaming’ because it’s like he’s gone – my son, Xavier, is no longer the person I knew, and I believe harmful ideologies contributed to this loss.

Deadnaming happens when someone is referred to by the name they used before they started their gender transition. It’s a term commonly used by transgender people to describe this experience.

She explained that after Elon Musk dismissed her as irrelevant on a podcast two years ago, she fired back with a post on Threads. That post quickly became incredibly popular, and her following began to grow rapidly.

Vivian briefly discussed her relationship with the tech executive in a recent interview with Teen Vogue.

I honestly don’t care about him at all. It bothers me that people connect me to him, and I simply don’t have the energy to worry about him anymore.

Vivian is popular on social media, with over a million followers on Instagram. She regularly shares glimpses into her life as a model, including behind-the-scenes looks at events she goes to.

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2026-04-09 22:06