Elon Musk celebrated his 53rd 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡day on June 28, according to foreign media reports. He is certainly a busy man, as the energetic tech mogul heads several leading tech companies. He is the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, the owner of X (formerly Twitter), and the father of at least 12 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren.
Musk has amassed a fortune of more than $200 billion and is ranked as the richest person in the world, according to Forbes. He has said that this achievement could not have been achieved by working 40 hours a week.Elon Musk has said that he used to work up to 20 hours a day. In a 2018 podcast, he shared that his busy work at Tesla and SpaceX sometimes required him to spend a night on the factory floor, working more than 120 hours a week. However, he also revealed that he has since diligently adjusted his workload to 80 to 90 hours a week.But despite his busy schedule, Musk’s life is still similar to that of the average person. Like many of us, he enjoys a sweet treat in the morning and scrolls through social media in his free time.Musk’s interviews and posts over the years offer a glimpse into the tech giant’s daily routine.
1. Wake up around 9am and eat donuts every morning
In an interview in 2023, Musk shared his daily routine. He usually goes to bed around 3 a.m. to ensure he gets 6 hours of sleep. So he usually wakes up around 9 a.m. every morning.Also in 2023, when answering a question from a doctor on the X platform, he admitted that he “eats donuts every morning.” While this may have been his way of joking, a quick look at Musk’s previous posts shows that he does have a soft spot for this sweet tooth. However,Musk also emphasizes that everything should be done in moderation. In October of last year, he posted: “I only eat 0.4 donuts at a time because the neural network in my brain can quantify that to 0 donuts (rounded up)!”Musk said in 2022 that he was trying to break the cycle of looking at his phone as soon as he woke up. Musk once called it a “terrible habit” that he wanted to break. However, according to people familiar with the matter, Musk has maintained the habit of checking his phone as soon as he wakes up since last year to make sure he hasn’t missed any important information.Judging from Musk’s behavior on X, this habit doesn’t seem to have changed. He was an active user of the platform before he officially acquired the social media platform in 2022.While it’s unclear whether Musk has time to post or respond to people on X every day, it’s clear that he almost never leaves the app.“Sometimes the first thing I do when I wake up is check to see if Twitter is up,” Musk told biographer Walter Isaacson in his book “The Biography of Elon Musk.”
3. Bathing is an important part of Musk’s daily life
Musk has previously credited showering with having the most positive impact on his daily life.
In 2015, during a Reddit Q&A, a user asked him what daily habit had the biggest impact on his life. Musk simply replied, “Take a shower.”
4. Decide which Tesla to drive to work every day
As CEO of a leading electric vehicle manufacturer, Musk naturally has many options for his daily commute. In a response to a user on X, he said it was a problem he faced “every day.”Since its official launch last November, the Cybertruck, a unique electric pickup truck, has become a frequent backdrop for street photos and celebrity Instagram posts.
5. It is unclear whether exercise is involved.
Like most people, Musk’s physical activity is sporadic. In a 2021 podcast interview, he told host Joe Rogan that he rarely does any physical activity if he can avoid it.But surprisingly, less than two months later, he claimed to be “lifting weights almost every day.” Around the same time, rumors were circulating online that Musk was about to go head-to-head with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, prompting his fitness routine to become even more active.
6. Musk sometimes works late or even stays up all night
Musk has repeatedly admitted that running multiple companies at once is a daunting task. In 2021, he said he would flex his time based on the “current crisis” to meet the needs of each company.An X user noted in January 2023 that Musk had a busy and full day: attending litigation testimony in the morning, attending events at the Tesla factory in Nevada in the afternoon, and working on artificial intelligence with the Tesla team in the evening — all in one day. Faced with such a schedule, Musk responded that he even “took half the night off at X headquarters.”In an interview in 2023, Musk said: “My life seems to be stuck in a cycle: sleep, wake up, work, sleep, wake up, work – I repeat this rhythm seven days a week. This will be my model for the future, because I have no choice, but I believe that once X gets going, it will be more manageable than SpaceX or Tesla.”On Tesla’s earnings conference call in April 2024, Musk again emphasized: “Tesla takes up the majority of my working time and I’m almost completely dedicated to it every day. Even on Sunday afternoons, I rarely find time to rest.”
7. Go to bed around 3am and sleep about 6 hours every night
Despite not getting a full eight hours of sleep a night, Musk has significantly improved his sleeping habits. He used to hardly ever sleep in. By May 2023, Musk said he no longer stays up late. Instead, he tries to get at least six hours of sleep a night.According to Isaacson’s biography of Musk, the billionaire often stays up late, contemplating the challenges his company faces. His ex-girlfriend Grimes also revealed to Isaacson that when the popular video game “Elden Ring” first came out, Musk used to stay up all night obsessing over it.Musk has a habit of taking breaks in his office and on the Tesla factory floor. Since acquiring X in 2022, he has almost made the San Francisco headquarters his second home. He has mentioned that there is a couch in the library that he sometimes naps on.
