Elon Musk has spent recent days on his social media site X trying to explain why he exchanged so many emails with Jeffrey Epstein. The billionaire Tesla CEO insists that Epstein was the one pursuing him. But the more Musk explains, and the more emails are surfaced from the gigantic cache of so-called Epstein files, the stranger his defense seems to get.
Musk has denied any wrongdoing and says he never went to Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean, known as Little St. James. And while there doesn’t seem to be any concrete evidence that Musk went to the island, it’s pretty clear from the emails that Musk was itching to party with Epstein. Musk was engaged in long back and forth chats in 2012, 2013, and 2014 about a visit to the island.
A series of emails from Dec. 2012 that talks about a “ratio” at Epstein’s parties is particularly concerning, if only because it’s not entirely clear what he means. Musk talked about bringing his then-wife Talulah Riley, the British actress who he was married to from 2010-2012 and then again from 2013-2016.
Epstein: you are welcome to stay or just come for the day, plenty of rroom i will=send heli to get you
Musk: Do you have any parties planned? I’ve been working to the edge of sanity th=s year and so, once my kids head home after Christmas, I really want to hi= the party scene in St Barts or elsewhere and let loose. The invitation is=much appreciated, but a peaceful island experience is the opposite of what=l’m looking for.
Epstein: Understood, , I will see you on st Barth, the ratio on my island might m=ke Talilah uncomfortable
Musk: Ratio is not a problem for Talulah
In other emails from Nov. 2012, Musk asks “What day/night will be the wildest party on =our island?”
Ever since the new Epstein files were released on Jan. 30, roughly 3.5 million pages in total, Musk has also been going back and forth with LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman online, each man accusing the other of being more implicated by the files.
“The big difference between you and me, Reid, is that you went and I did not. In fact, you went multiple times. First time was maybe a mistake, but not the second time you went,” Musk wrote.
“And, as the email shows, I obviously didn’t anticipate anything actually shady, as I was bringing my wife at the time (Talulah). Nonetheless, UNLIKE YOU, I came to my senses and declined to go. Epstein tried to get me to go to his island so many times that eventually I just blocked him,” Musk continued in another tweet.
The phrasing here is curious, obviously. What does Musk mean that he came to his senses?
Does it imply that Musk always knew Epstein was engaged in child sex trafficking, wanted to party with him, and then decided against it? Or does it mean that Musk only learned in the process of emailing back and forth in 2012, 2013, and 2014 that Epstein was a predator, which then changed Musk’s mind about hanging out with him?
So many things that Musk says can be confusing, largely because he’s not a reliable narrator of his own actions. The billionaire previously wrote in Sept. 2025 that he “refused” to go to Epstein’s island, though the emails we now have don’t suggest that at all. What the publicly available emails show is that Musk and Epstein were communicating about hanging out.
Even if you don’t count a potential visit to the island, there were other communications between the men about other meet-ups, including one from February 2013 that refers to a “facility,” where Epstein says he’ll bring four “assistants.”
Again, Musk denies any wrongdoing. But it seems like every time he decides to chime in on the controversy, things get a little more weird. And it’s not just about Epstein. Early Wednesday morning, Musk responded to a tweet from a user called @PubWanghaf.
“It breaks my heart to say but in order to save this country we are probably going to have to do things that make women sad :(” the X user wrote.
Musk responded with “true words,” without elaborating.
True words
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 4, 2026
What the hell are you talking about, man?
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