Vivian Wilson

Early life and gender identity Vivian Jenna Wilson was born on April 17, 2004, in Los Angeles, California, to South African businessman Elon Musk and his first wife, Canadian author Justine Wilson. Through her mother, Wilson is a Canadian citizen. She was conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF); her father reportedly used sex-selective IVF to ensure she would be a boy. Wilson stated that her father was often absent, "cold", "quick to anger", "uncaring", and "narcissistic". She also said he often harassed her for displaying "femininity and queerness". Musk, separately, shared anecdotes of her as a child, stating that Wilson was "born gay and slightly autistic" and used to "pick out clothes for me to wear like a jacket and tell me it was 'fabulous! Wilson rejects her father's anecdotes, describing them as an untrue attempt to characterize her as a camp gay man. Wilson's parents divorced in 2008, and agreed to share custody of her and her siblings. She attended the Crossroads School in Santa Monica.

Coming out Wilson came out as transgender via a publicly posted Instagram story in 2020. In an interview with Teen Vogue in 2025, she expressed regret for not telling her mother first. Reportedly, her mother was very supportive of her transition and was not surprised when Wilson came out. Her father was not as supportive, and according to Wilson, she had not spoken to him in months, but required his permission for her to begin testosterone blockers and hormone replacement therapy. Wilson began her treatment for gender dysphoria in 2020, which she states her father did not initially support. However, she was already distancing herself from him at this time. In her petition, Wilson stated that she no longer wished to be related to Musk "in any way, shape, or form". Wilson has also stated she is bisexual.

Public image alt=Wilson is standing in a dimly lit street in Tokyo, wearing dark clothing and with her hair down covering her face and torso. The photo overall has an omninous feeling.

In 2025, Wilson was featured on the cover of Teen Vogue. Teen Vogue described Wilson as "extremely online" and "really good at it"; she is outspoken about transgender issues, which she has noted she feels "obligated to talk about", and has described the state of American politics in 2025 as "terrifying". Following the result of the 2024 United States presidential election, Wilson said she intended to emigrate from the United States in the future. After Musk's salute controversy at Donald Trump's inauguration, she said "let's call a spade a fucking spade". In September 2025, Wilson made her New York Fashion Week debut as a runway model. In 2026, she created a line of merchandise featuring the phrase "evil woke mind virus", referencing past comments by Musk, with a portion of the profits being donated to the Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth charity.

Personal life Wilson studied for a year and a half at the Temple University campus in Tokyo, Japan, before dropping out and returning to Los Angeles for modeling in May 2025. By September she had signed with CAA. Prior to her public prominence, Wilson had hoped to work as a translator, and had been studying French, Spanish, and Japanese to that end. Since then she has considered other possibilities, including Twitch streaming. She and her mother are on good terms. and at least nine half-siblings from her father's side.

Criticism of Walter Isaacson's Musk biography Wilson has criticized the biography Elon Musk'' by Walter Isaacson as inaccurate and unfair to her. Her portrayal has been described as that of "an angry, rebellious child, blinded by radical anti-capitalist ideology and hurting her father with her rash decisions". Wilson alleged that "[Isaacson] had an agenda when writing his book, which was to make Elon look good, or look more complex than he is. In order to do that, he needed to villainize the trans teenager and make it seem like there were two reasonable sides to the story". In October 2022, Musk blamed his estranged relationship with Wilson on "neo-Marxist" influences due to the unspecified "elite university" she attended. In a July 2024 interview conducted by Jordan Peterson, Musk spoke negatively of Wilson's transition and deadnamed her. He said he was "tricked" into granting her request for gender-affirming treatment, as California law required both parents' permission since Wilson was under 18 at the time. Musk ultimately described her as having been "killed by the woke mind virus" in conjunction with her transition. Isaacson's biography of Musk argued that his shift towards more right-wing politics was "partly triggered by [Wilson]'s transition, her embrace of radical socialist politics, and her decision to break off relations with him". Wilson disputes this account and has described it as "a convenient narrative".