Elon Musk Is the Richest Man in the World. He Also Chooses to Live in a Trailer.

With a net worthy of $930 billion and a spot astatine the very apical of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Elon Musk tin unrecorded wherever he pleases. However, the world’s richest man presently chooses to unrecorded successful a trailer, not a mansion. 

Musk said earlier this week that he is domiciled successful an Airstream trailer arsenic he supervises the latest SpaceX information halfway buildout successful Memphis, Tennessee. Speaking astatine the All-In Summit event, Musk called the trailer his “palace,” eliciting laughter from attendees for illustration SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell. 

“This is Elon, by the way, doing what group don’t judge he does,” Shotwell responded. “He sleeps connected the mill floor. He’s successful Memphis helping build buildings.”

Musk has spent clip successful Memphis precocious arsenic SpaceX expands its AI computing operations there. SpaceX absorbed Musk’s AI startup, xAI, earlier this year, putting the information halfway buildout astatine the halfway of its broader AI strategy. 

Living successful an Airstream trailer is convenient for Musk, who prefers domiciled adjacent the worksite alternatively than commuting. The trailer allows him to enactment adjacent to the servers and building activity — just steps away. 

Musk has antecedently gone arsenic acold arsenic to slumber connected the mill floor

Musk has many times said that he slept astatine Tesla factories during periods of aggravated accumulation pressure. The best-known illustration came successful 2018 erstwhile Tesla struggled to summation output of its Model 3 sedan astatine its Fremont, California, plant.

Musk said past that he worked agelong hours connected the accumulation line, slept connected the mill level and sometimes utilized a sofa aliases a table arsenic a furniture because he did not person clip to spell home. He framed the practice of sleeping connected the floor arsenic a measurement to enactment adjacent to operational problems and to show labor that he was sharing the strain during Tesla’s push for production. 

Musk pledged to ‘own nary house’

Musk has antecedently asserted that owning costly homes tin beryllium a distraction from his work. 

In May 2020, Musk said successful a station connected X that he would waste “almost each beingness possessions” and “own nary house,” adding that he wanted to give himself to “Mars and Earth.”

He subsequently sold each seven of the California homes he owned, including properties successful Bel Air and the San Francisco Bay Area. Those sales, completed betwixt June 2020 and November 2021, brought successful astir $127.9 million, according to spot records cited by The Wall Street Journal successful 2022. 

Musk later said he rented a humble location successful Texas adjacent SpaceX’s Starbase operation. Reports person besides indicated that he has retained entree to, aliases acquired, different residences, including a cluster of homes successful Austin, Texas. 

Inside the Airstream trailer

Airstream is simply a recognizable sanction successful American recreation trailers. The institution traces its commencement to 1931, erstwhile founder Wally Byam opened a mini trailer mill successful Culver City, California.

Airstream’s creation has besides earned nickname beyond the RV industry. The Museum of Modern Art’s collection includes an Airstream recreation trailer made successful 1963. The depository describes the trailer arsenic a “cultural icon” that represents the “convenience and comfortableness of a location connected wheels.”

Airstream trailers scope from 16 to 33 feet successful length.