Musk 'tried to keep lid on issues' at Texas mansion

TECHNOLOGY

- KIRSTEN GRIND

Few people want beefs with their neighbours to become public. That includes Elon Musk.

In March, Mr Musk’s team lobbied officials in the upscale city of West Lake Hills, Texas, to keep quiet the details of one of his mansions and security operations, according to emails to city employees obtained by The New York Times through public records requests.

In those emails, the tech billionaire’s employees asked West Lake Hills officials to make private a public meeting in April — where neighbours might speak about his $6 million house. They pointed to Mr Musk’s work with the Trump administration as reason that his property records and communications with the city be exempted from state and federal public records laws, the emails showed.

The homeowner should be exempt because he is a “federal public official,” one of Mr Musk’s employees wrote in an email sent to the city March 3, adding, “We can provide federal clearance documentation if needed.”