How Elon Musk Really Lost So Much Weight

Over the years, Elon Musk put on some weight he wasn't happy with. He wasn't the only one bothered by it. Elon's father also wasn't proud of his famous son's physique. "Elon is very strongly built, but he's been eating badly," Errol Musk said on Australia's "Kyle and Jackie O" radio show in 2022. The South African businessman went so far as to suggest his billionaire son should take the supplement garcinia cambogia, which the Food and Drug Administration considers unsafe, to help him shed some pounds. Elon listened to the advice — sort of.

Elon lost a considerable amount of weight in late 2024 and became one of the many stars who have admitted to using a weight-loss drug. It wasn't the supplement his father suggested, but he got the overall message. Errol expressed his views a couple of weeks after pictures of a shirtless Elon on a yacht in Greece went viral. Elon wasn't offended by his father's remarks, revealing that he actually agreed with his take. "I got to work out and be in better shape," he said on the "Full Send" podcast shortly after. "I actually don't really like working out, but I got to do it."

One bad habit that got in the way was checking his phone immediately after waking up. That usually sent him straight into work mode, preventing him from engaging in healthy activities before starting his day. Elon's weight loss came after he tried several drugs and lifestyle changes to help him achieve his goal.

Elon Musk owes his transformation to Mounjaro, the brand name of the antidiabetic medication tirzepatide that has been approved for weight management. He revealed his secret on Christmas 2024, when he posted a picture that showed a much slimmer version of himself dressed as Santa Claus to X, previously known as Twitter, with the caption "Ozempic Santa." However, he clarified his choice of medication in a follow-up comment. "Technically, Mounjaro, but that doesn't have the same ring to it," he wrote.

Musk further explained that he had previously tried Ozempic but disliked how he felt while taking it. "High doses of Ozempic made me fart & burp like Barney from the Simpsons," he said in an X post. "Mounjaro seems to have fewer side effects and be more effective." It's unclear when he tried Ozempic, but he also gave Wegovy a shot in 2023, showing he shopped around for the perfect medication. In response to an X user who asked what he was doing to lose weight, he responded that he paired the Novo Nordisk drug with fasting.

Musk gave the lifestyle change a shot in 2022 and seemingly embraced it. "On advice of a good friend, I've been fasting periodically & feel healthier," he tweeted that year, adding that he had been using the Zero fasting app , which focuses on intermittent fasting, to help him stay on track. "[I am] over 20 lbs down from my (unhealthy) peak weight," he shared with his followers.