Elon Musk has opened up about his difficult relationship with his transgender daughter, calling her a "communist" and blaming her political views on the exclusive private high school she attended. Musk claimed that his transgender daughter was brainwashed into "thinking that anyone rich is evil" at the ritzy California school he sent her to.
Last year, Musk's child, now 19 years old, legally changed her gender to female and her name to Vivian Jenna Wilson. She made this change official in court documents, where she expressed her desire to sever any familial ties with the billionaire Tesla CEO, saying that she "no longer wishes to be related" to him "in any way."
Putting the Blame on Her School
The CEO of X, formerly known as Twitter, has distanced himself from any responsibility for the recent estrangement between himself and Wilson. Instead, he blames the change in her beliefs and values on the Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences in Santa Monica, which he claims infected her with the "woke mind virus."
Wilson's transition was part of a series of events that eventually led to Musk acquiring the social media platform as part of his mission to counteract what he perceives as "wokeness" according to an excerpt from his upcoming biography "Elon Musk," which was published in the Wall Street Journal.
Musk revealed to author Walter Isaacson that initially, he was "genuinely sanguine" with his child's decision. However, in April 2022, Wilson "became a fervent Marxist and broke off all relations with him," the excerpt from the book reveals.
In that same year, Wilson successfully obtained a legal petition to change both her gender and her name. Her intention behind these changes was to sever any remaining ties or connections between herself and her biological father.
"She went beyond socialism to being a full communist and thinking that anyone rich is evil," said Musk, whose net worth is estimated at $257.5 billion.
Just Out of Pain
Musk further said that the estrangement was even more emotionally distressing to him than the tragic loss of his firstborn child, Nevada, in infancy. "I've made many overtures, but she doesn't want to spend time with me."
The tech magnate said that he "partly" attributes Wilson's transformation to the influence of Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences. This institution has an alumni roster that includes several A-list personalities such as Jack Black, Maya Rudolph, and Zooey Deschanel.
Ironically, the supposed "communist" K–12 school's annual tuition fee can reach $50,000 per kid.
"Twitter, he felt, had become infected by a similar mindset that suppressed right-wing and anti-establishment voices," Isaacson wrote.
He described himself as the "fire-breathing dragon" the channel required in his April 2022 pitch to purchase Twitter for $44 billion, which was interspersed with tales of the family breakup.
Musk proceeded to purchase the social media company six months later, citing his motivation as a commitment to safeguarding free speech.
While this wasn't the first time Musk has blamed higher education institutions for the rift with his daughter, it is the first time he has specifically singled out a particular school as a factor in their differences.
In October, the CEO of Tesla stated that "neo-Marxists" had gained control of prestigious schools and liberal universities, using these platforms to instill in students a disdain for wealthy individuals.
