Former Teen Vogue cover star, model, and content creator Vivian Wilson is living like any other 21-year-old, just trying to get by with roommates and worrying about the future — despite being the daughter of one of the richest men on Earth.
Initially going viral for her social media commentary, Wilson's public persona skyrocketed in March 2025 following the publication of her wide-ranging conversation with Teen Vogue contributor Ella Yurman, her first cover story and second-ever interview. Wilson provided a rare glimpse into the estrangement from her billionaire father, Elon Musk, and what it's like to grow up with comments and threats from his rabid fanbase of right-wing internet trolls. (Wilson will also be a featured guest at Teen Vogue's Summit in Los Angeles on September 20 — get tickets here.)
Despite Wilson's “untraditional” upbringing, she's grown into any other 21-year-old woman trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life and how to make her own money. In a recent interview with The Cut, Wilson said she was considering enrolling in community college in her home of Los Angeles.
“College is expensive," Wilson said. “I don’t have that inheritance.”
Wilson may have gone to high school with nepo babies like Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin's daughter, Apple, but she's in a different place financially. As she told Teen Vogue in March 2025, Wilson has been financially independent from Musk since 2020, after she came out as trans. At the time, Wilson said she hadn't spoken to Musk “in months,” and he was not supportive. She filed a petition in 2022 to legally change her name and take on her mother, author Justin Wilson's, last name instead. In the filing, Wilson wrote that she doesn't “wish to be related to [her] biological father in any way, shape or form.” Wilson has since been open about her non-existent relationship with her father.
“People assume I have a lot of money," Wilson continued. "I don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars at my disposal.”
Wilson notes that her mom Justine, a Canadian-born romance author, is “rich," but she tries not to ask much of her. Justine Wilson, Musk's first wife, told Teen Vogue that her daughter was “big, fierce, wild multi-layered magic.” They had six children together (the first died as an infant) before divorcing in 2008. According to Forbes, Justine Wilson is currently worth about $15 million, “about 1/24,000th” of Musk's net worth.
“Obviously, [Musk] is unimaginable degrees of wealthy,” Wilson told The Cut. Still, Wilson lives with three roommates in Los Angeles — much like any other twentysomething — because “it's cheaper.”
While the subject of her father is sensitive, Wilson insists she is not “salty” about not having access to his abundant fortune. “I don’t have a desire to be superrich,” she continued. “I can afford food. I have friends, a shelter, and some expendable income, which is nice and much more fortunate than most people my age in Los Angeles.”
Through her new fame, Wilson has been able to make money through brand partnerships, modeling, and influencing. But the idea of fame is still new to her, and calls it a “skill” that she's not good at yet.
“I fought so hard for so long to be viewed as a regular person," Wilson said. "There was a moment literally right before I became famous where no one knew who I was. It was amazing. Everyone treated me as a regular person. I kind of miss that. But I also like being famous.”
She continued: “I guess I’m kind of indifferent to it. But I like the fact that it makes me money.”
Wilson's dream of being a translator has continued since she spoke with Teen Vogue earlier this year. She has studied Spanish, Korean, Japanese, French, and more, in hopes of developing the skill. In the meantime, Wilson said she's “still discovering who I am" outside of her famous father.
“I want people to know me as something other than just the obvious,” Wilson said.
