Elon Musk and Grimes

And why we’re overly invested in multi-billion dollar relationships

By: Carter Starkey

Yet another of the landmark billionaire relationships has recently fallen apart. Elon Musk and Grimes, aka Claire Elise Boucher, have split. What does this mean for our lives? After an extremely deep breath, it becomes clear that it means very little. Regardless, there is a noticeable trend of billion-plus dollar relationships falling apart, and we would be remiss not to take note. One of the first ultra-rich relationships to end was Warren and Susan Buffet in the 1970s (though they never divorced). Then we had Jeff Bezos and McKenzie Scott break up in 2019, Bill and Melinda Gates this year, and now Elon Musk and the mother of his child, Grimes. What a sad world we live in.

Here’s the deal. There are hundreds if not thousands of articles pontificating over these people and their relationships. Many are asking why these powerful couples broke up or what it means for the world. I believe that these articles say a lot more about the people writing them than it does about the billionaires themselves. So is our interest as a society just an empathetic reaction to the pain that we’re seeing? I would argue that it depends. For some, there may be genuine sadness that people they idolize (rightfully or not) are struggling. For others, it could be taken as a statement on their own relationships: “If a billionaire can’t maintain their relationship, how can I?” In either case, it’s important to remember that money does not equal happiness. I’d urge our society to pay less attention to the love lives of these people and more to holding them accountable. Let the uber-rich process their feelings when they’re done feeding the hungry.