Before Elon Musk became the world's wealthiest man and the face of Tesla, SpaceX, and a dozen high-profile controversies, he was a young tech founder with a vision, a McLaren F1, and a brand-new marriage. His first wife, Justine Musk, painted a very different picture of their relationship in a 2010 Marie Claire essay titled "I Was a Starter Wife: Inside America's Messiest Divorce."

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Justine recalled how, two months before their January 2000 wedding, Elon scheduled a meeting with a lawyer. "It's not a prenup," she remembered him saying — but what followed was, in essence, a postnuptial agreement, presented under the guise of corporate necessity. She signed it. "I trusted my husband — why else had I married him?"

She also described the early days of Elon's fortune as surreal. "His wealth seemed abstract and unreal," she wrote, describing how he bought a condo, a million-dollar sports car, and a plane — all while she tried to adjust to their new financial reality. "I made uneasy jokes that he was about to dump me for a supermodel. Instead, he proposed."

Despite the tension that followed, Justine's 2014 TEDx Talk, "Visionaries Are People Who Can See in the Dark," offered a more measured reflection. She acknowledged Elon's intensity, citing his focus and fierce discipline as two key drivers of his success. He said no to anything that didn't align with his vision, she noted — and he worked far harder than most people ever see.

Elon also noted that the divorce came with unexpected financial strain: "What caught me by surprise… were the enormous legal fees I had to pay my ex-wife's divorce lawyers," he wrote, explaining that California law required him to cover both sides' legal costs.

Despite the drama, the two share five children and a long history that intersects with the rise of one of the most recognized names in business today. While Elon has famously said he'd rather "stick a fork in my hand than write about my personal life," Justine's account offers a rare glimpse into that world — one that was once built on ambition, idealism, and, eventually, a postnup.