'If You Were My Employee, I'd Fire You,' Elon Musk Told His Ex-Wife

Elon Musk's recently launched biography has again put his personal relationships under the scanner. An essay written by his ex-wife, Justine Musk, has again hit the headlines.

Justine had written the essay in 2010, in which she detailed the kind of relationship she shared with one of the most successful men on the planet.

The essay titled "I Was a Starter Wife" was published in Marie Claire magazine, two years after their split. It revealed how Elon would often tell her "If you were my employee, I'd fire you".

He was married to the Canadian author between 2000 and 2008. The couple had twins Griffin and Xavier Musk (now Vivian Jenna Wilson) in 2004 and triplets Kai, Saxon, and Damian Musk in 2006. Their first child, Nevada Alexander Musk, died from sudden infant death syndrome soon after birth.

It is not clear what led to the strained relationship between Musk and Wilson, but the essay does try to explain what may have led to the divorce.

"As we danced at our wedding reception, Elon told me, 'I am the alpha in this relationship,'" she wrote.

"I shrugged it off, just as I would later shrug off signing the postnuptial agreement, but as time went on, I learned that he was serious. He had grown up in the male-dominated culture of South Africa, and the will to compete and dominate that made him so successful in business did not magically shut off when he came home," she added.

In the essay, she goes on to highlight how Elon would impose his decisions on her. He once asked her to colour her hair even blonder.

"This, and the vast economic imbalance between us, meant that in the months following our wedding, a certain dynamic began to take hold. Elon's judgement overruled mine, and he was constantly remarking on the ways he found me lacking. 'I am your wife,' I told him repeatedly, 'not your employee,'" she further stated.

"'If you were my employee,' he said just as often, 'I would fire you'".

Musk: A troubled genius?

Walter Isaacson's Elon Musk biography sheds light on the tycoon's troubled childhood and the kind of relationship he shares with his family.

He is described as a man who has multiple personalities. Isaacson followed Musk for over three years for the book. He tried to understand the man behind the genius.

Isaacson claimed that the Tesla founder could be demon-like when dealing with people and had multiple personalities. He also spoke at length about the kind of relationship Musk shares with his father, Errol Musk.

"...he has so many personalities, almost like multiple personalities, and a bit like his father, whom he doesn't speak to now—but his father is a Jekyll and Hyde and sometimes goes very dark," he told MSNBC host Joe Scarborough.

"And the amazing thing is, after he's gone dark and been demon-like and really tough on people, he'll snap out of it. And then I'll ask him, 'What was that about?' and he hardly remembers it," he said.

The book also addresses Musk's relationship with his controversial ex-girlfriend, Amber Heard.

The author has described their relationship as a "dark vortex". He claims that it was one of the most painful relationships that Musk was involved in, and he adds that Musk's relationship with Heard was "brutal and toxic".

In the book, Musk says that the relationship was "18 months of unrelenting insanity" which was "mind-bogglingly painful". Isaacson said that Musk's "brother and friends hated [Heard] with a passion that made their distaste for Justine [Musk's first wife] pale".

Meanwhile, Heard told the author of the book: "Elon loves fire, and sometimes it burns him." She further claimed that she still loves Musk "very much".