[imagesource: RR Auction]

That Elon, hey?

He’s just a regular guy – loves a meme and a joke, is somewhat embarrassed by his parents, and has experienced his fair share of breakup drama.

He also happens to be the world’s richest person ($257,3 billion net worth, according to Forbes), and once allegedly exposed his erect penis to a flight attendant, rubbed her leg without consent, and then offered to buy her a horse in exchange for an erotic massage. It’s funny how quickly everybody seems to have moved on from that.

Anyway, let’s cast our minds back to 1994 and Jennifer Gwynne meeting Elon at the University of Pennsylvania. Take it away, Tatler:

 ‘I was a junior and he was a senior… we were in the same dorm and we worked together,’ she [said].

A romance of sorts blossomed – although, she griped, it was lacking in PDA. They were in their twenties, and she was attracted by his shy nature; he by her cascades of curly blonde hair. She was just his type. They went out for a year and, until he ran off to Palo Alto, where he attended Stanford University for two days before dropping out to shoot for the stars.

There, she visited him once. And he dumped her. ‘It’s a waste of time,’ he said. ‘If we weren’t physically together, it was a problem because he’s not good on the phone,’ she said.

The relationship may have fizzled out but Gwynne did hang on to her photos from that period, perhaps in part because she knew there was a high chance Musk would go on to achieve great success.

Her stash of photos, along with some personal items, are now set to go on auction via RR Auction. We’ll start with some snaps:

Image: RR Auction

Your boy looks blazed. No judgement here.

Image: RR Auction

Image: RR Auction

Image: RR Auction

Preempting the understandable response that Gwynne is profiting off what should remain personal and private moments, she said:

“I’ve had these pictures and the notes for a long, long time. But now I’m like, “well the man cannot stay out of the headlines… so…”

There are a few photos, on display on the auction site, that really are unflattering. Exhibits A and B, your honour.

You’ll also find these items:

The necklace was given by Musk to Gwynne for Christmas.

In the signed birthday card, Musk refers to his then-girlfriend as “boo-boo”.

Gwynne says she knows an “Elon Musk fan would enjoy them even more than me” and says the funds raised will be used to pay for her stepson’s college education.

I wonder if she reached out to her former boyfriend and asked if he wanted them in exchange for covering those costs.

[sources:tatler&rrauction]