A rumor that users circulated online in March and April 2025 claimed tech billionaire Elon Musk decided to become a guardian to an abandoned newborn baby. According to People.com, Musk, who also serves as an adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, previously fathered 14 children with four different women.
In a prominent example of the rumor, on March 31, a Facebook user named "Elnora Harper" — whose profile bore red flags of potential illegitimacy — posted, in part, "A newborn baby was abandoned just five hours ago. In the face of this heartbreaking situation, Elon Musk has stepped in to become her guardian, committing to covering all expenses for her upbringing."
The post received over 30,000 reactions and 26,000 comments. The same user posted a link to an article on videoviral2.greensmartmobility.com displaying the headline, "Elon Musk Becomes Guardian of Abandoned Newborn: A Bold Act of Compassion or a Surprising Twist?"
("Elnora Harper"/Facebook)
Many other Facebook users and at least one X user also reposted the rumor.
However, we located no evidence to confirm this rumor about Musk stepping in to help an abandoned newborn baby. Searches of Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo yielded no credible reporting about the matter from news media outlets.
SpaceX and Tesla, two companies for which Musk serves as CEO, had not yet responded to our requests for comment at the time of publication.
A closer look at Musk/abandoned baby rumor
The rest of the full post's text called into question its first two sentences, including mentioning the possibility of the rumor being fiction or satire:
A newborn baby was abandoned just five hours ago. In the face of this heartbreaking situation, Elon Musk has stepped in to become her guardian, committing to covering all expenses for her upbringing.
Elon Musk, as a high-profile entrepreneur, has often been involved in various charitable efforts, though this specific scenario of him adopting a newborn abandoned baby and committing to her upbringing seems to be a fictional or exaggerated example. Musk has made headlines for his involvement in causes like space exploration, renewable energy, and even projects like the Boring Company, but adopting a baby in such a dramatic fashion would be quite a shift in his public persona. If this is part of a larger satirical commentary, it could reflect the way celebrities are sometimes thrust into roles where they are expected to handle larger-than-life situations.
Whoever originated the rumor — whether "Elnora Harper" or someone else — created the image of Musk holding the newborn baby, and possibly the text, too, with artificial-intelligence (AI) tools. Musk's face in the image appeared different from his real-life appearance and shared similarities with other posts featuring AI-generated pictures of him.
If the Musk image were a genuine photo, news media outlets would have widely reported the news. Again, no reports substantiating the rumor appeared in any credible reporting.
Scans of the full text with the AI-detection websites Copyleaks, GPTZero and QuillBot all determined a 100% likelihood of AI generation. (These websites don't provide definitive results. Instead, they offer another data point toward helping to establish the truth.)
The profile for "Elnora Harper" may have been created under a fake name. The profile claimed "Harper" was a fashion model, but online searches produced no evidence to confirm that claim. The profile also offered sexually suggestive photos and links, and hosted other false rumors about Musk, as well — all possibly efforts to turn such content into revenue. The user's account automatically responded to our request on Messenger asking if they created the rumor by displaying a link to the user's supposed private photos.
For further reading, a previous fact-check collection examined 25 rumors about Musk.