Elon Musk's ex-girlfriend Jennifer Gwynne is selling a series of personal photographs, gifts and jewellery to help raise funds for her step-son's university tuition fees.
Jennifer was Musks' girlfriend when a 23 year olf Elon was studying at The University of Pennsylvania where he received a bachelor's degree in phsyics and economics in 1997.
The collection includes birthday cards signed by Elon Musk, a 14kt gold necklace that Elon presented to Jennifer as a birthday gift in 1994, a dollar bill signed by Elon, and 18 individual photographs.
The photos all have starting bids of $100 and include a photoo of a 23 year old Elon wearing a Judge Dredd t-shirt.
The photo measures 5.75 inches by 4 inches and was taken by Musk's girlfriend Jennifer Gwynne when they both lived and worked at the Spruce Street dorm at the University of Pennsylvania.
Another 7 inch by 5 inch photo shows Musk seated with Jennifer at a staff meeting, despite having two scratches and tape on the bottom edge the photo is considered to be in very good condition.
One photo shows Musk messing around in Jennifer's dorm room at The University of Pennsylvania, upside down on the floor. This measures 5.75 inches by 4 inches.
Jennifer has said: 'This picture was taken in my dorm room in the Quad at Penn. Elon was usually very reserved, but occasionally he would just get very silly and just want me to laugh along with him. So I decided to document him actually smiling."
Another 5.75 inch by 4 inch photo shows Musk lazing about with Jennifer in early 1995.
"After we finished up the holidays in Toronto, we drove back to the U.S. in his BMW and stopped to visit my family in North Providence, Rhode Island, as we made our way back to Philadelphia for the start of the Spring 1995 semester. While we look drunk, this is just a picture of us being lazy and affectionate hanging out with my siblings. This was taken in my brother’s room and for some reason, Elon wanted to look at my Penn student ID which was in my wallet."
A 6 inch by 4 inch photo shows Musk and Jennifer sitting on a bench on the University Campus.
Jennifer has added "At the end of the 1994-1995 school year, before I headed to London for my study abroad program, Elon’s mother (Maye Musk) came to visit us in Philly. She took this picture of us on a bench in the lower portion of the Quadrangle—the big freshman dorm at the University of Pennsylvania. I must have received this print from Maye as her camera put the ‘old school’ orange date stamp in the corner. As I remember, the three of us were planning to drive to NYC to see the musical ‘Tommy’—the whole trip was a lovely gift from Maye—but as we were getting ready to leave, something on Elon’s car broke. So we ended up spending five or so hours at an auto parts store so Elon could fix the issue himself. He did. We made it to NYC and had a wonderful time. I really like this picture-Maye had us pose a couple of different ways to get the ‘perfect shot’—she knows how to make a camera work being a professional model".
The photos are an interesting background to Elon Musk's life but it's the signed dollar bill that is likely to be the star attraction of the auction, with 15 bids already taking the price to $2,420 with 28 days still left to run until bidding closes on the 22nd September.
Full details at RR Auction.