- …Claims Romance Fizzled When He Moved For Career And Said, ‘I Don’t Like Talking On The Phone. It’s A Waste Of Time’
Elon Musk’s college girlfriend Jennifer Gwynne earned over $165,000 in 2022 by auctioning off a collection of personal items and photographs related to the tech billionaire, according to CBS News. The auction included intimate mementos from their time together at the University of Pennsylvania, where they met as resident advisers in the same freshman dorm.
Among the items sold was a birthday card Musk sent to Gwynne, which brought $16,643, and a dorm room picture of Musk that garnered $21,889. A highlight of the auction was a 14k-gold necklace with a green emerald charm, a gift from Musk in 1994, which sold for $51,008. The charm is believed to have come from a mine owned by Musk’s father in Africa.
Gwynne auctioned the items to help finance her stepson’s college tuition, according to Independent. She sold 18 photographs capturing moments of her and Musk eating and socializing with friends during their college days. In one memorable photo, taken by Musk’s mother, Maye, Gwynne and Musk are seen sitting on a bench outside the school’s freshman dorms, a shot that sold for $2,733.
Gwynne described her relationship with Musk as “short but sweet” and full of memories she had kept in storage until now. She said Musk was “shy and quiet” and won her over by bringing food to her room one night. Despite his quiet demeanor, Musk’s dreams were already grand, with visions of electric cars and solar power.
Their relationship, however, faced challenges because of distance. After Musk graduated in 1995 and moved to California while Gwynne was studying abroad in London, the strain of long distance took its toll. Gwynne remembered a crucial conversation that signaled the end of their relationship. “I was like, ‘We need to talk on the phone more if this long-distance thing’s going to work,'” she told the Independent. “And he was like, ‘I don’t like talking on the phone. It’s a waste of time.'”
This marked the end of their romance, with Musk focusing on his ambitions in Silicon Valley and Gwynne completing her senior year. Gwynne, reflecting on their breakup, said, “We broke up just before he started conquering the world.” The two have not been in contact since their split 27 years ago.
Musk, now CEO of Tesla Inc. and founder of SpaceX, has become one of the world’s richest men with a net worth of approximately $206.5 billion, according to Forbes. Gwynne’s auction of these personal items offers a unique glimpse into the early life of one of the world’s most influential figures, showcasing a time when he was just a college student with big dreams.
BENZINGA
