London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Jan 18, 2026

Elon Musk Is Cash Broke, Uses Burner Phones: Crazy Revelations From ‘Pedo Guy’ Lawsuit

Elon Musk Is Cash Broke, Uses Burner Phones: Crazy Revelations From ‘Pedo Guy’ Lawsuit

The Tesla CEO would regularly break his phones-like criminals in movies-for security reasons.
The ongoing defamation lawsuit between Elon Musk and British diver Vernon Unsworth, whom Musk called a “pedo guy” in an impromptu tweet last summer amid the widely publicized Thai cave rescue mission, has been a gold mine of surprising facts about the billionaire entrepreneur lately.

First, it was revealed that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO had no money (which we sort of already knew). In a court filing related to the defamation case last month, Musk told lawyers representing Unsworth that he was “financially illiquid” and had no cash pay the $75,000 in damages demanded by the plaintiff.

SEE ALSO: How Elon Musk’s Pot Smoking Cost Tax Payers Millions of Dollars

Then, this month another filing shows that Musk would sometimes destroy his cellphones on purpose—yes, like criminals breaking burner phones in movies. (Also, take note, Jeff Bezos!)

“For security purposes, Mr. Musk regularly changes his cellular device, at which time his old device is imaged, wiped clean, and stored or destroyed,” a SpaceX employee said in a statement to the court dated October 1.

“Mr. Musk updates his phone (like lots of other people) and Mr. Musk occasionally has to change his phone for reasons that have to do with security and sensitive information,” Alex Spiro, an attorney for Musk, told Business Insider this week.

In June and July of 2018, an international rescue effort was coordinated soon after a 12-person schoolboy soccer team was found trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand. Volunteering to help out, Musk reached out to the Thai government and ordered engineers at SpaceX and the Boring Company to design a kid-sized submarine to be used in the rescue mission.

Unsworth, who had been exploring the cave for years and served as an advisor to the rescue team at the time, said Musk’s plan had no chance of working because of the narrow passage inside that cave and alleged that the whole proposal was a PR stunt. Offended, Musk, who supposedly didn’t personally know Unsworth, called him a “pedo guy” in an angry tweet without providing any evidence.

Musk subsequently apologized and deleted the tweet. But two months later, after the boys were successfully rescued (without the use of Musk’s proposed submarine), Unsworth hit the American entrepreneur with a defamation lawsuit. The case went to trial earlier this month.

Aside from bizarre revelations about his financial situation and work habits, pre-trial court documents have also shown that Musk had hired a private investigator to dig up dirt on Unsworth and had pressured the Thai government to say nice things about his mini-submarine during the rescue mission.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
GDP Growth Remains the Most Telling Barometer of Britain’s Economic Health
Prince William and Kate Middleton Stay Away as Prince Harry Visits London Amid Lingering Rift
Britain Braces for Colder Weather and Snow Risk as Temperatures Set to Plunge
Mass Protests Erupt as UK Nears Decision on China’s ‘Mega Embassy’ in London
Prince Harry to Return to UK to Testify in High-Profile Media Trial Against Associated Newspapers
Keir Starmer Rejects Trump’s Greenland Tariff Threat as ‘Completely Wrong’
Trump to hit Europe with 10% tariffs until Greenland deal is agreed
Prince Harry Returns to UK High Court as Final Privacy Trial Against Daily Mail Publisher Begins
Britain Confronts a Billion-Pound Wind Energy Paradox Amid Grid Constraints
The graduate 'jobpocalypse': Entry-level jobs are not shrinking. They are disappearing.
Cybercrime, Inc.: When Crime Becomes an Economy. How the World Accidentally Built a Twenty-Trillion-Dollar Criminal Economy
The Return of the Hands: Why the AI Age Is Rewriting the Meaning of “Real Work”
UK PM Kier Scammer Ridicules Tories With "Kamasutra"
Strategic Restraint, Credible Force, and the Discipline of Power
United Kingdom and Norway Endorse NATO’s ‘Arctic Sentry’ Mission Including Greenland
Woman Claiming to Be Freddie Mercury’s Secret Daughter Dies at Forty-Eight After Rare Cancer Battle
UK Launches First-Ever ‘Town of Culture’ Competition to Celebrate Local Stories and Boost Communities
Planned Sale of Shell and Exxon’s UK Gas Assets to Viaro Energy Collapses Amid Regulatory and Market Hurdles
UK Intensifies Arctic Security Engagement as Trump’s Greenland Rhetoric Fuels Allied Concern
Meghan Markle Could Return to the UK for the First Time in Nearly Four Years If Security Is Secured
Meghan Markle Likely to Return to UK Only if Harry Secures Official Security Cover
UAE Restricts Funding for Emiratis to Study in UK Amid Fears Over Muslim Brotherhood Influence
EU Seeks ‘Farage Clause’ in Brexit Reset Talks to Safeguard Long-Term Agreement Stability
Starmer’s Push to Rally Support for Action Against Elon Musk’s X Faces Setback as Canada Shuns Ban
UK Free School Meals Expansion Faces Political and Budgetary Delays
EU Seeks ‘Farage Clause’ in Brexit Reset Talks With Britain
Germany Hit by Major Airport Strikes Disrupting European Travel
Prince Harry Seeks King Charles’ Support to Open Invictus Games on UK Return
Washington Holds Back as Britain and France Signal Willingness to Deploy Troops in Postwar Ukraine
Elon Musk Accuses UK Government of Suppressing Free Speech as X Faces Potential Ban Over AI-Generated Content
Russia Deploys Hypersonic Missile in Strike on Ukraine
OpenAI and SoftBank Commit One Billion Dollars to Energy and Data Centre Supplier
UK Prime Minister Starmer Reaffirms Support for Danish Sovereignty Over Greenland Amid U.S. Pressure
UK Support Bolsters U.S. Seizure of Russian-Flagged Tanker Marinera in Atlantic Strike on Sanctions Evasion
The Claim That Maduro’s Capture and Trial Violate International Law Is Either Legally Illiterate—or Deliberately Deceptive
UK Data Watchdog Probes Elon Musk’s X Over AI-Generated Grok Images Amid Surge in Non-Consensual Outputs
Prince Harry to Return to UK for Court Hearing Without Plans to Meet King Charles III
UK Confirms Support for US Seizure of Russian-Flagged Oil Tanker in North Atlantic
Béla Tarr, Visionary Hungarian Filmmaker, Dies at Seventy After Long Illness
UK and France Pledge Military Hubs Across Ukraine in Post-Ceasefire Security Plan
Prince Harry Poised to Regain UK Security Cover, Clearing Way for Family Visits
UK Junk Food Advertising Ban Faces Major Loophole Allowing Brand-Only Promotions
Maduro’s Arrest Without The Hague Tests International Law—and Trump’s Willingness to Break It
German Intelligence Secretly Intercepted Obama’s Air Force One Communications
The U.S. State Department’s account in Persian: “President Trump is a man of action. If you didn’t know it until now, now you do—do not play games with President Trump.”
Fake Mainstream Media Double Standard: Elon Musk Versus Mamdani
HSBC Leads 2026 Mortgage Rate Cuts as UK Lending Costs Ease
US Joint Chiefs Chairman Outlines How Operation Absolute Resolve Was Carried Out in Venezuela
Starmer Welcomes End of Maduro Era While Stressing International Law and UK Non-Involvement
Korean Beauty Turns Viral Skincare Into a Global Export Engine
×