- A collection of photos and mementos from Elon Musk's ex-girlfriend sold for over $165,000.
- Jennifer Gwynne and the billionaire dated from 1994 to 1995 when they were in college.
A collection of photos and mementos from Elon Musk's ex-girlfriend sold for over $165,000 at auctions that closed Thursday.
Jennifer Gwynne and Musk dated the fall semester of 1994 to 1995 at the University of Pennsylvania. They broke up when Musk graduated and moved to California, Gwynne told Fox 29. "He was not good on the phone. He was not good long distance," she told the TV station, describing the split as a "mutual" one.
Gwynne described Musk, who is now the CEO of Tesla, as being passionate about the future of electric vehicles when they were dating. "He talked about it even back then," she told Fox 29.
Among the items sold was a 14-karat gold necklace with a small green emerald, which went for $51,008. A signed birthday card from Musk to Gwynne, in which he called her "Boo-Boo," sold for $16,643. She also sold photos she took of Musk at the time.
—RR Auction (@RRAuction) September 15, 2022
Gwynne said she was selling the items to fund her stepson's college education.
"Elon Musk is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of the 21st century," said Bobby Livingston, executive at Boston-based RR Auction, which handled Gwynne's sale. "There is very little Musk-related material that has come up for auction, and we will no doubt be seeing more soon with the success of this sale."
"We are always thrilled and honored when one of our auctions can impact the lives of our consignors as this sale has done," added Livingston in a statement.
RR Auction previously sold college assignments Musk had graded back in 1995. The lot of two assignments went for over $7,700 in December.
The auction house has also sold items from other well-known personalities. Last month, RR Auction sold Steve Jobs' Apple-1 computer prototype for over $677,000. It also sold a box of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's personal cigars for nearly $20,000 last month.
Musk hasn't publicly commented on the auction but appeared to be aware of the sale, as he changed his Twitter account profile picture to one of the photos sold at auction.
—RR Auction (@RRAuction) September 14, 2022
Musk did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment sent outside regular business hours.