Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.Reuters/Rebecca Cook/Tesla
- Elon Musk has built a host of products other than cars, rockets and holes underground.
- Just last year, the billionaire released Tesla Tequila and red satin short shorts.
- The Boring Company's flamethrower, from 2018, is still showing up at police hauls.
Elon Musk is known for building cars and rockets, and drilling holes underground. But maybe less well known for his tequila, surfboards and flamethrowers.
Three of the companies which he runs, Tesla, SpaceX and The Boring Company, have all sold whacky merchandise. Some products, such as the "Not-A-Flamethrower," have caused much controversy.
His electric vehicle company, Tesla, unveiled in 2018 a host of products that weren't just cars, including wireless chargers for smartphones, mini Teslas for kids and other lifestyle products.
Perhaps the most famous are Tesla's red satin short shorts that have taunted short-sellers betting against his stock.
Here's a list of all the weird and wild merchandise the billionaire has sold.
That one time Musk sold red satin Tesla short shorts with "S3XY" printed across the back - the website crashed within minutes.
Tesla's limited-edition red satin shorts.
Tesla
In his usual Musk style, the Tesla CEO posted on Twitter in July 2020 that his electric vehicle company was selling limited-edition branded red satin shorts.
The shorts were priced at $69.420 on Tesla's website — one of Musk's many references to marijuana. But three minutes after Musk's post about the shorts, he tweeted: "Dang we broke the website."
"S3XY" printed on the back of the shorts refers to Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, and Model Y vehicles. They were only being shipped in the US.
The billionaire's liking for short shorts has sometimes led him to taunt short-sellers who bet against Tesla's stock.
Then Tesla launched its own-brand bottles of tequila for $250. Musk dubbed it "Teslaquilla."
Tesla fans paid top dollar for the tequila, even just for an empty bottle.
Tesla
More than two years after its CEO Elon Musk first referred to "Teslaquilla" in an April Fools' Day tweet, Tesla released its own tequila. Hours after the product went on sale, it sold out.
The tequila comes in a bottle shaped like a lightning bolt and costs $250 for a 750ml bottle.
Those that got their hands on the drink even sold the empty bottle online with a hefty price tag. Some were sold for up to $800. Insider reported that one bottle even sold for $1,420.69.
Musk's The Boring Company sold thousands of the "Not-A-Flamethrower" in 2018 and they're still causing problems for law enforcement.
An attendee operates a Boring Co. flamethrower at the company's photo booth during an unveiling event for the Boring Co. Hawthorne test tunnel in Hawthorne, California.
Robyn Beck/Pool via REUTERS
The Boring Company, which builds underground transit tunnels, sold 20,000 limited-edition flamethrowers for $500 each in February 2018.
Three years down the line, the machines have been showing up in weapon seizures and drug busts across the world. TechCrunch first reported in January that flamethrowers have been present in at least three police weapon seizures since July 2020.
Musk told podcaster Joe Rogan in 2018 the company named it "Not-A-Flamethrower" to get past foreign laws and shipping bans of flamethrowers.
"It's dangerous, it's wrong. Don't buy it. Still, people bought it. I just couldn't stop them," Musk said on Rogan's podcast.
Forget cars. Tesla briefly put up 200 surfboards for sale at $1,500 each.
One of Tesla's 200 surfboard that were made to order.
Tesla
If red satin short shorts weren't enough, Tesla started selling surboards in 2018 for $1,500 each.
Only 200 were put up for sale and those that are being resold on sites like eBay have surged to $12,000.
The carbon-fiber surfboards were painted red and black in the same matte and gloss paints used on Tesla cars. The shipping took around 10 weeks because each one was made to order.
The website said that "Model S, X and 3 can comfortably accommodate this surfboard on either the inside or outside of the vehicle," Insider reported.
Thanks to Musk, your kids can drive around in their own mini battery-powered Tesla for kids at the price of $600.
Tesla
Tesla's Model S for kids can reach top speeds of 6 mph and comes with an MP3 sounds system, headlights and a horn.
The company also sells a Tesla for younger children between the ages of one and a half and four, called "My First Model Y."
If your kids aren't keen drivers, maybe they're keen astronauts? Musk is selling this onesie with the SpaceX logo on its shoulder.
SpaceX
The SpaceX onesie sizes range from newborn to 5 years.