In 2020, Elon Musk wrote on X that he was selling “almost all physical possessions” and would no longer own a house.
The South African-born billionaire and SpaceX CEO had amassed a sizable California real estate portfolio, at one point owning multiple homes in the same neighborhood. His properties included multimillion-dollar mansions with amenities such as pools and tennis courts.
Musk said the sales were not solely about money. He wrote on X that he was dedicating himself to Mars and Earth, adding that “Possessions just weigh you down.”
Sticking to his word, Musk has had a flurry of property sales, and, at one point, claimed to be couch-surfing.
Today, despite Musk’s estimated net worth of $932.2 billion as of September 2026, Musk’s living arrangements remain somewhat modest, relatively speaking.
After moving to Texas in 2020, Musk at one point lived in a tiny home near SpaceX’s launch site in Boca Chica and has since purchased several other properties in the Austin area. As his businesses expand, he is also putting down roots elsewhere in the South. In Tennessee, where his artificial intelligence startup xAI is building a data center, the billionaire is reportedly living in an Airstream trailer.
Take a look at some of the properties Musk has owned over the last few years.
After renting for two years, Musk bought a mansion in the Bel Air neighborhood of California.
Elon Musk’s first venture into the swanky California neighborhood of Bel Air was in 2012 when he bought a $17 million, 16,251-square-foot mansion.
Musk initially rented the seven-bedroom home in 2010 but decided to move in permanently. The house has a two-story library, a pool, and a tennis court in the backyard, and views overlooking the Bel-Air Country Club.
After he pledged to sell all of his properties, he listed the mansion for $30 million in 2020. The Wall Street Journal reported that it was sold to Chinese billionaire William Ding.
Musk bought a historic property on the same street as his other Bel Air mansion.
Just a year after his first Bel Air purchase, Musk bought his neighbor’s house for $6.75 million. That neighbor was the late Gene Wilder.
The four-bedroom, 2,750-square-foot home, built in 1951, features wood-beamed ceilings, several fireplaces, a pool, and gardens. It also overlooks a nearby country club and the ocean, Drew Meyers of Westside Estate Agency told BI.
Musk eventually sold the property in 2020 to screenwriter Elizabeth Hunter and her husband Jordan Walker-Pearlman, who is Wilder’s nephew, for $7 million.
An LLC linked to Musk repurchased the Wilder mansion after it was foreclosed on.
Not only did Musk sell the property to Walker-Pearlman and his wife, but the Journal reported that the SpaceX CEO also loaned the couple $6.7 million.
Musk originally listed the home at $9.5 million, but because he wanted the property preserved, he sold it to the couple at a discounted price — and provided financing.
The Journal reported that the couple fell behind on payments, and Musk’s representatives filed a notice of default in July to initiate foreclosure proceedings.
“There’s no tragedy here. Elon gave us a magical opportunity. I have no complaints,” Walker-Pearlman told the Journal, adding that he and Hunter “owe him such a spiritual debt.”
The home was listed by Meyers for $12.95 million before an LLC linked to the billionaire repurchased it in 2025, Realtor.com reported.
Musk then bought four additional properties in Los Angeles.
In 2015, Musk bought yet another Bel Air property for $20 million, a 7,000-square-foot house with six bedrooms.
That same year, he bought another mansion for $4.3 million but, according to the Journal, did not maintain it well.
A year later, he bought an unfinished mansion in Bel Air for $24.25 million. A few years later, he bought a colonial-style mansion estimated at $4.2 million.
Musk listed these four homes for a collective $62.5 million in 2020 and sold them about six months later.
The tech mogul also had a huge property in the Bay Area.
Being a tech titan means owning property in Silicon Valley — at least for a while.
Musk bought a 16,000-square-foot mansion in Hillsborough, California, a Bay Area suburb about 20 miles outside San Francisco, for $23.4 million in 2017.
The more than 100-year-old, Mediterranean-style mansion has 10 bedrooms, views of the San Francisco Bay, and sits on 47 acres.
He originally listed the property for $37.5 million and later reduced the price to $32 million, at which point it eventually found a buyer.
Musk’s Texas studio is less than 400 square feet.
During Musk’s journey to rid himself of his physical possessions, he made a pit stop and bought a tiny $50,000 home in Boca Chica, Texas, where SpaceX has a launch facility.
“In 2020, Musk decided to sell his five grand houses and to have as his primary residence this Spartan two-bedroom house in Boca Chica, TX, where we would meet, and he would sit at this wood table and make phone calls,” biographer Walter Isaacson wrote on X.
In 2021, Boxabl installed one of their 375-square-foot homes — a “Casita” — on SpaceX’s launch site and said it was for a “top secret customer.” After claims of couch surfing, Musk said on a podcast in July 2022 that he used a Boxabl as a guest house.
Musk has since purchased many more properties in Texas.
After moving to Texas in 2020, Tesla relocated its headquarters to Austin the following year.
Since then, several LLCs linked to Musk have acquired residential and commercial properties in Austin and other cities across Texas.
A Musk-linked LLC owns at least three homes in West Lake Hills, an affluent suburb just outside of Austin. One of the properties is a 6,900-square-foot home worth about $6 million, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Musk owned a “secret” house in Austin for years.
A BI review of court records in Musk’s custody dispute with former girlfriend Grimes revealed the billionaire purchased an Austin home in February 2022.
“In February 2022, I bought the home on [redacted] where [redacted] and I still live,” Musk said in the complaint at the time.
Although BI is withholding the address for privacy reasons, Zillow says the house is nearly 7,000 square feet and was built in 2017.
BI’s Grace Kay and Jack Newsham reported that a couple bought the house in 2018 after it was listed for $4.5 million. It was resold in 2022 but never listed publicly, records showed.
A camper in Memphis is now home to the world’s richest man.
Earlier this year, SpaceX acquired the Musk-founded artificial intelligence company xAI, which is building a data center in Memphis, Tennessee. Musk is now camping out in the state — literally.
At an event hosted by the ‘All-In podcast,’ Musk said he is living in an Airstream trailer near Memphis. He called it his “palace,” as BI’s Georgia Hennessy reported.
Airstream is known for its riveted aluminum “silver bullet” design. Its trailers come in several styles, including the World Traveler 17RB, which starts at about $64,400.
Read the original article on Business Insider
The post See Elon Musk’s properties over the years, from Bel Air mansions to his secret house in Texas appeared first on Business Insider.
