Grimes calls Elon Musk ‘a leader’ and praises his ‘old world discipline’

Grimes has described her relationship with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk as “the best internship ever.”

Speaking with Wired, the 35-year-old artist candidly opened up about her career, children, and former relationship with the South African-born billionaire.

Not only does she have Musk to thank for her son, X Æ A-Xii (nicknamed “X”), and daughter, Exa Dark Sideræl (nicknamed “Y”), but she credited her extensive technological knowledge to him.

“I learned from him, like, the best internship ever. People don’t like talking about Elon, but it was incredible to be right there watching all that SpaceX stuff happen,” she said. “That’s a master class in leadership and engineering and makes you understand how rare it is to have a leader of that quality.”

Grimes further reflected on Musk’s management and his 2022 acquisition of X, formerly known as Twitter. She expressed an appreciation for his dedication to and the undertaking of “something of that magnitude.” Additionally, she praised his “old world discipline,” noting how quick people are to criticize it when it’s beneficial.

“He’s challenged me a lot,” Grimes remarked. “I learned a lot about running my own team and my own life. I’m now way tougher and smarter than I used to be.”

The Canadian musician isn’t the only that benefitted from being in the relationship. Grimes thought Musk may have learned how to have more fun from being with her since reports circulated in 2018.

“I try to soften him up, to build family culture. And he steals a lot of my memes,” she noted.

Five years ago, the couple debuted their relationship at the Met Gala in May. Their relationship left fans speculating whether it had fizzled out or was still very much going on for two years. Then, in 2020, Grimes confirmed they were pregnant with their first child, leaving people to assume they were together.

Shortly after she declared Musk as the father, Grimes spoke to Rolling Stone about how being with her “boyfriend” had affected her career more than she thought it would.

She said: “No one believes me about this, but I just did not understand what I was getting into at all. Not that I’m mad about it. I just didn’t think it would be a thing. The s**t that’s happened with my boyfriend this year has overwritten so much of my life’s work.”

Musk told PageSix that he and Grimes were “semi-separated” in 2021, but then they announced the birth of their daughter in March of 2022. However, hours after, Grimes tweeted: “Me and E have broken up *again* since the writing of this article haha, but he’s my best friend and the love of my life, and my life and art are forever dedicated to The Mission now.”