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Billionaire Sells Mansions in California, Adopts Tiny Home in Texas and Links Lifestyle Change to Total Focus on SpaceX Projects and Declared Ambition to Bring Humanity to Mars.
Elon Musk, owner of Tesla and SpaceX, put his collection of properties in California up for sale starting in 2020 and began publicly linking his lifestyle change to one goal: reducing distractions and concentrating energy on work related to space exploration.
In May of that year, he wrote on social media that he intended to get rid of “almost all physical possessions” and that he “would not have a house,” a statement that became a milestone in his minimalist turnaround and fueled curiosity about where the billionaire would live.
In the following months, Musk sold high-end properties, including addresses in sought-after areas of California, in a move that, according to records and real estate market reports, marked the end of years of acquisitions primarily focused in Los Angeles.
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The narrative gained another layer when he stated that he was living in Texas in a small house, linked to the SpaceX work environment, reinforcing the image of an executive who trades residential comfort for proximity to rockets.
Sale of Mansions in California and Million-Dollar Values
Part of the sold homes was associated with the Bel Air neighborhood in Los Angeles, and real estate coverage described deals involving multiple residences, some sold together, with values that summed up to over tens of millions of dollars.
Among the properties mentioned in reports is the former residence of actor Gene Wilder, whose sale had conditions for preserving the character of the property, in addition to other addresses that formed a set of neighboring properties used by Musk over the years.
Although the original text mentions “six mansions valued at nearly US$ 100 million,” journalistic surveys and registration databases indicated seven homes in the Californian portfolio attributed to Musk during that period, with global values varying according to the source.
Depending on the criteria used, the amount reported in the press was “over US$ 100 million” or well above that, because some sales involved figures larger than initial estimates, already with the market heated and deals closed.
Tiny House in Texas and the Relationship with Boxabl
At the same time, it began to circulate the version that Musk had chosen a prefabricated home from Boxabl, nicknamed Casita, set up in Boca Chica, at the southern tip of Texas, where SpaceX operates the Starbase project.
The most cited layout in these reports describes a compact studio with integrated kitchen and bathroom and a living area that can serve as a bedroom, in dimensions around several dozen square meters, focusing on functionality.
However, Musk himself contested part of this story in 2021, saying he lived in a house costing around US$ 50,000 in South Texas, but it was not a Boxabl unit, adding that he thought the product was “cool.”
In 2022, he returned to the topic and indicated that he had a Boxabl unit, but intended for use as a guest house, which maintained the confusion over what would be the primary residence, what would be support property, and what was merely rumor.
Meanwhile, Boxabl itself updated prices and commercial conditions over time, and the widely repeated value of “US$ 50,000” ceased to be the easiest benchmark to confirm in current public information from the company, which began to show other levels.
Boca Chica, SpaceX and Focus on the Mars Project
Boca Chica, often associated with the SpaceX launch and testing base, appears as a central scenario because Musk has already explained that he preferred to be close to the operation, reducing travel and maintaining direct access to teams and vehicle development.
This choice aligns with the phase in which SpaceX intensified rehearsals and prototypes of the Starship system, which the company presents as a key piece for long-range missions and, in Musk’s words, as a way to enable travel to Mars.
Despite the idea of “living next to the rockets” having a strong symbolic appeal, reports have also noted that the executive’s residential life in Texas isn’t limited to a single address, and there have been reports of rentals, moves, and searches for privacy.
One of these investigations mentioned the purchase of a house in Austin through a corporate structure, attributed to security and exposure concerns, in a move that contrasts with the phrase “I will not have a house,” but does not eliminate the strategy of reducing public ostentation.
Declared Minimalism and Business Strategy
When Musk says he is giving up mansions, he frames the decision as a choice of focus, without attributing the change to financial constraints, and uses his own routine as an argument that he prefers to channel resources and attention to his projects.
Still, the sequence of events suggests more nuance than the simplified version: there indeed was the sale of properties in California and the adoption of a smaller home in Texas, but the exact brand and model of the “tiny house” are not always substantiated.
It is also important to separate what Musk directly stated, such as the phrases about selling belongings and living in a cheap house in Texas, from what has been attributed to him by third parties, like specific details of decor and internal scenes without verifiable source.
In journalistic portrayals and recent biographies, the description of a spartan environment appears frequently, but the more picturesque elements circulating on social media, like items left on the bedside table, often lack in checkable public records.
Even with these limitations, the change in living standard remained a symbol of a period in which he sought to reaffirm operational priority, arguing that innovation and daily execution matter more than luxurious residences, especially under pressure of industrial deadlines.
If the image of the billionaire in a small house in Texas continues to be repeated as proof of “radical minimalism,” what still remains for the public to clearly distinguish between what is a confirmed statement, what is a documented record, and what is merely a viral narrative?
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