It's been quite a while since Elon Musk was a married man for the first time. And since he made so many headlines with his marriage, then divorce, then second marriage to Talulah Riley afterward, not to mention his three-year now-defunct relationship with Grimes, the public sort of forgot about his first ex.
Though Justine Musk hasn't really been in the headlines since she and Elon split in 2008, she had a lot to say shortly after their breakup. In fact, she penned an entire essay on their troubled relationship and had some very specific thoughts on Elon Musk's girlfriends and his "type."
Justine Musk Says Elon Has A 'Type'
In Justine Musk's essay -- she happens to be a published writer -- she called herself a "starter wife." By that, she seems to mean that she was Elon's first attempt at a wife, and he apparently realized that Justine wasn't what he wanted.
Justine's observations include the fact that Elon always wanted her to dye her hair blonde and more and more platinum.
So his ex-wife was surprised, she claimed, when Elon began dating his second wife because she wasn't blonde. Yet not long after she married Elon, Talulah became blonder than Justine says she ever was.
It's not exactly a criticism of Riley; Justine's thoughts include the fact that Elon simply had a type that he realized he wanted, and any woman he was with needed to fit that type. Versus, one would assume, him finding that type to begin with.
Elon Musk's Ex Didn't Hate His Girlfriend
But Elon also apparently told Justine he was the "alpha" in their relationship, even back before he was a billionaire, so it stands to reason that he wanted control over just about everything when it came to his relationship with Justine and his subsequent partners.
Besides, even though Justine Musk claimed that her marriage to Elon wasn't that great and that he may have duped her into signing an unethical prenup, it seems that he didn't step out on their marriage. He just gave up when things got tough.
Before Elon married Talulah, Justine admitted she had no hard feelings against the new woman. She even stated that Talulah was "a lovely, bright, and very young person, and better fitted to my ex-husband's lifestyle and personality than I ever was."
If that sounds like a bit of a dig, it may be. At the time Justine penned her essay for Marie Claire, her divorce had been settled, but the cash hadn't been figured out just yet.
At the time, in 2010, Justine said that the court case could take up to two years to settle. Her attorney thought there was a way to prove Elon had intentionally hidden some of his existing fortune so that their 'not a prenup' agreement was more palatable to his bride.
Did Justine Musk Ever Get A Settlement?
While Elon Musk moved on and more into the spotlight after the divorce from Justine, people tend to wonder what happened to the ex-wife. Interestingly, it's challenging to find information on just how things went down with the cash side of their divorce.
Another interesting point? In a July 2010 piece about his personal life, which he felt pressured to pen because of "a creepy fixation" by journalists, Elon Musk wrote that his ex-wife was a prolific blogger and therefore he felt the need to defend himself against untruths.
What's interesting is that Justine's piece was published later that year, so it's sort of unclear what Elon's big worry was, unless it was that Justine would speak out when he didn't want her to.
Anyway, Elon's piece specified that he'd been paying Justine's legal expenses since he was, of course, the wealthier of the former couple. But he went on to outline that he paid not only "all of her household expenses and anything related to the children," but also sent Justine $20K per month, after taxes.
Elon said he offered Justine $80M, which she refused, instead asking for a stake in SpaceX and Tesla. But the court apparently agreed that their marriage agreement was enforceable, meaning Justine would "only" be eligible to receive $20M, part of which is counted in the value of the family home and child support payments.
What About Grimes? Was This Girlfriend Elon Musk's 'Type'?
Speaking of child support, a lot of fans are curious about how things will play out with Elon and Grimes since Elon recently moved to a state that would enforce limits on the child support he's forced to pay (not that he wouldn't pay more anyway).
The two are, for now, apparently on good terms, per Elon. Interestingly, while people have always said how much Grimes is not Elon's "type," Justine Musk might be interested to see that Grimes has only gone blonde and blonder (among other colors) since she connected with Elon.
Maybe Grimes morphed into Elon Musk's "type" of girlfriend after all.