Musk replies 'I see' after Epstein's SpaceX tour
- From:
- Elon Musk
- Date:
- February 26, 2013
- To:
- Jeffrey Epstein
Excerpt. Only this much of the email has been made public.
About this email
The day after Epstein and three assistants toured SpaceX, Epstein thanked Musk and said he 'would have had fun at xmas'; Musk replied 'I see' with a smiley face.
Notes
Released by the U.S. Department of Justice on 2026-01-30 as part of the Epstein files (about 3 million pages). The text here is only what news outlets quoted from the DOJ PDF; the DOJ file itself sits behind an age-verification page and could not be retrieved, and '=' characters are encoding artifacts in the released files. Being named in the files is not evidence of wrongdoing, and no record of Musk actually visiting the island appears in the reporting. Musk's public response on X (31 Jan 2026, as quoted by TIME): "No one pushed harder than me to have the Epstein files released and I'm glad that has finally happened" and "I had very little correspondence with Epstein and declined repeated invitations to go to his island or fly on his 'Lolita Express'"; NBC also quotes him: "I have never been to any Epstein parties ever and have many times call for the prosecution of those who committed crimes." Musk's reply is reported as 'I see' followed by a smiley-face emoticon. Epstein's email of 26 Feb 2013, as quoted: "thanks for the tour" and "You would have had fun at xmas." Fortune also reports a 22 Feb 2013 email from Epstein's assistant to Musk sending passport copies for the visit, and a 25 Feb note that 'Jeffrey Epstein and 3 of his assistants' would visit SpaceX at 1:00.
Where it came from
Government release; attribution widely reported.
Personal, outside & personal. Tags: epstein-files, spacex-tour