Chapter 72: Active Investor: Twitter, January–April 2022

This chapter shifts away from Twitter business to provide a biographical portrait of Elon Musk's relationship with Talulah Riley, spanning from their 2008 meeting through their 2010 wedding and early years together. It reveals Musk's emotional extremes—from childlike exuberance to deep vulnerability—as experienced by someone close to him, and illustrates how Riley's creative parties and willingness to engage with his intensity made their years together his longest period of relative stability.

The chapter opens with Musk proposing a long-term commitment to actress Talulah Riley weeks after meeting her in summer 2008, with both agreeing to wait two years before marriage. Riley observes that Musk's emotional range spans from callous to needy to exuberant, noting his "childlike" nature manifests both positively—becoming engrossed in movies to the point of rolling on the floor laughing—and negatively, as when he recounts his father's cruel words in trancelike states at night. Despite recognizing the relationship would be difficult, Riley decides to commit. They marry in September 2010 at Dornoch Cathedral in Scotland in a lavish ceremony where only one of his five sons successfully makes it down the aisle. The reception at nearby Skibo Castle features Musk's whimsical request for hovercraft and eels. Riley establishes a pattern of throwing elaborate theatrical parties to entertain Musk during his frequent periods of tension. The chapter details his fortieth birthday celebration in June 2011, when Riley, Musk, and friends rent the Orient Express from Paris to Venice, featuring formal dinners, late-night biking through Paris, and avant-garde performance art. The chapter concludes by characterizing Riley's years with Musk (2008–2016, ending in a second divorce) as his longest period of relative stability, though her preference for stability ultimately conflicted with his affinity for storm and drama.