Elon Musk’s estranged transgender daughter Vivian Wilson recently opened up about her childhood in a new interview with Cosmopolitan. As kids who are born into billionaire families rarely have much experience outside of extraordinary privilege, Wilson described her upbringing as being both “isolating” and “strange,” Page Six reports.
Speaking with Cosmopolitan about growing up as the daughter of Elon Musk, Vivian Wilson, who was born Xavier Alexander Musk but recently changed her legal name and gender designation in Los Angeles last year, at age 18, reflected on her life before she split from her dad. Vivian was born in 2004 to Musk and his first wife, Justine Wilson.
Elon Musk’s estranged transgender son, Vivian Jenna Wilson, celebrates Mamdani’s win and the passing of Prop 50, saying that “wokeism is back.” pic.twitter.com/3gDW7cn875
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) November 9, 2025
“It was a very strange experience. Very isolating,” Elon Musk’s estranged daughter told the outlet. “The elite have their own private schools. They have their own areas they socialize and whatever.”
Vivian, who attended SpaceX affiliated school Ad Astra for middle school before transferring to Los Angeles private school Crossroads, implied that she distanced herself from elitist norms at an early age.
“I have unlearned so much but even as a child I was like, ‘This is a little bit gauche,’” she continued. She also recounted her first memory learning about homelessness by saying, “I remember being really young and seeing homelessness and feeling nauseous.”
Elon Musk’s estranged daughter, Vivian Wilson, moans about ‘isolating’ childhood of endless wealth https://t.co/VtLjTtpNZd pic.twitter.com/zKITOtaqnB
— Page Six (@PageSix) April 9, 2026
Vivian Wilson added that at the time people made her feel bad for feeling so strongly about the issue at a young age, but she stuck up for herself. “People would get on me for being like a dramatic little child. But no, I was right to be a dramatic little s–- about that,” she said, emphasizing that her discomfort with inequality was genuine and deeply felt.
Vivian Wilson went on to describe what she sees as a broader issue tied to extreme wealth, pointing to what she called a “level of detachment from reality itself.”
According to her, this mindset often prioritizes financial success over empathy, creating what she described as “the illusion that you deserve it while people are sleeping on the streets.”
At the same time, she acknowledged her own position within that system. “I was a rich kid,” she noted, adding that she “should not be lecturing anyone on materialism.” Her remarks suggest an awareness of the contradictions inherent in criticizing a lifestyle she once benefited from.
The relationship between Vivian Wilson and Elon Musk has been extremely strained for the past several years since Xavier came out as transgender and underwent the legal name change in 202. Since then, their public comments about one another have been highly critical.
In 2024, Elon Musk revealed he felt misled about aspects of his child’s transition. “I was tricked into doing this,” he said in an interview with the Daily Wire. “It wasn’t explained to me that puberty blockers are actually just sterilization drugs.” The comments garnered widespread attention and further highlighted tensions between father and daughter.
I assume you’re referring to my son, Xavier, who has a tragic mental illness caused by the evil woke mind virus you push on vulnerable children. I love Xavier very much and hope he recovers.
My daughters are Azure, Exa (she goes by Y) and Arcadia, and they do indeed love me…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 12, 2025
Elon Musk doubled down on his remarks at the time, saying, “I lost my son, essentially. The reason they call it ‘deadnaming’ is because your son is dead, so my son, Xavier, is dead, killed by the woke mind virus.”
A year later, Vivian Wilson pushed back during an interview with Teen Vogue, making it clear she has distanced herself emotionally from her father. “I don’t give a f— about him. I really don’t,” she said. “It’s annoying that people associate me with him. I just don’t have any room to care anymore.”
Elsewhere in her Cosmopolitan interview, Vivian Wilson commented on wealth and power changing people, noting she’s seen it happen before. She continued by describing what she views as a cycle driven by excess and ambition. “Achieving that and wanting more is a never-ending cycle of greed and gluttony, where nothing is enough and you kind of go insane,” Wilson said. “It turns you into someone different. Which is honestly one of my biggest fears.”
Wilson, who has often spoken candidly about her estrangement from Elon Musk, has stressed that she does not want to be defined by her famous billionaire father. “There’s not much I can do about it, so who cares?” she said. “It’s part of my story, but it’s not the future of my story.”
