Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, says he’s living in an Airstream trailer to oversee xAI’s biggest expansion yet

Elon Musk, the world's richest man with a net worth of $917 billion, is currently residing in an Airstream trailer in Memphis, Tennessee while overseeing xAI's largest expansion project to date. The trailer is situated just steps away from xAI's ambitious Colossus supercomputer center, which Musk is working to expand.

xAI's Colossus, a massive data center that began construction in 2024, has provided the company with immense computing power. This powerful resource has led to deals where xAI can supply excess capacity to Google and Anthropic for billions. The initial build of Colossus was completed in just 122 days.

In addition to the Colossus expansion, Musk has announced plans for a fourth data center called Minihard, which will join the existing facilities. Musk did not specify the model of his Airstream trailer, but they typically include a sleeping area, kitchen, and bathroom within a compact 16-foot space.

Known for his commitment to projects he believes in, Musk has a history of fully immersing himself in his work. Throughout his career, he has taken on extreme conditions to ensure the success of his ventures. For instance, while building Zip2 in the 1990s, Musk and his brother slept in a small office for six months, showering at the YMCA. In 1999, as he prepared to launch X.com (later PayPal), Musk slept under his desk. Even at his peak wealth, Musk often stayed at colleagues' homes while traveling in Silicon Valley.

Musk's dedication to his work was evident during Tesla's rapid production of the Model 3 in 2017 and 2018, when he frequently slept on the factory floor. When he acquired Twitter in 2022, he slept in a couch in the company's library, claiming it was necessary due to the "code-red situation."

Though Musk had previously owned several lavish properties, including a Bel Air mansion in Los Angeles and a $32 million estate in Silicon Valley, he sold most of them in 2020 to move to Texas, where he currently lives in a small rented house near SpaceX's Starbase facility in Boca Chica. Now, as xAI's Memphis expansion intensifies, Musk has chosen to trade in the factory floor for the comfort of his own trailer, ensuring he remains close to the action.