Elon Musk is reportedly secretly living in a $12 million mansion in Austin, Texas, despite his requirement to reside in a spartan, $50,000 rental module at SpaceX’s Boca Chica launch site.

Last year, according to the Wall Street Journal, Musk spent at least part of his time at the luxury beachfront property owned by his PayPal colleague Ken Howery.

Howery disputed the report, telling the Journal in a text message: ‘Elon doesn’t live in my house, he lives in South Texas. He stayed at my house as an occasional guest when he went to Austin.’

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, said last year that he had “no home” and sold his nine California mansions for a total of $144 million.

“My primary home is a $50k house in Boca Chica/Starbase that I rent from SpaceX,” he wrote in a June tweet.

Secretly, according to the Journal, Musk spent a lot of time at Howery’s mansion.

The 740-square-foot mansion sits on the Colorado River in a gated community and features an oceanfront pool, hot tub and private boat ride.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Musk spent at least some of his time last year at this waterfront property owned by Ken Howery, another former PayPal employee.

The mansion last sold for more than $12 million in 2018, a record for Austin, but would now be worth several times that in the city’s booming real estate market, experts say.

It is unclear whether Musk compensated Howery for his excessive use of the mansion.

Musk, the world’s richest man, is worth about $240 billion on paper, but most of that is in his Tesla shares.

Some have speculated that he was pressured to sell his holdings to raise money to exercise stock options that expire in August of next year.

Last month he exercised those options and also sold shares at a rapid pace.

The Journal also reported that Musk is involved in a highly secretive internal project for a “prototype property” in Austin, where Tesla is now headquartered.

Musk personally visited several homes, two sources told the outlet.

Musk said Wednesday he was “almost done” with his stock sales after selling more than $14 billion in more than a month.

The billionaire has made confusing statements about whether he will ever reach his stated goal of selling 10% of his Tesla shares.

“I bought enough stock to be about 10% plus options exercise and tried to be extremely literal,” he said Tuesday in an interview with the conservative satirical website Babylon Bee.

But on Wednesday he hinted that he might not be done yet. “This assumes completion of 10b sale,” he tweeted, referring to his pre-arranged plan to sell his options.

“Still a few tranches to go, but it’s almost done,” he tweeted later.

According to Tesla filings, under a 10b5-1 trading plan he prepared in September, he exercised stock options expiring next year and sold some of the shares to pay taxes.

After a selloff, Musk still has more than 3 million stock options that expire in August of next year.

This comes amid claims that Musk “paid nothing” in federal income taxes in 2018 and less than $70,000 in 2015 and 2017.

Senator Elizabeth Warren called Musk “the world’s richest parasite” during a discussion about the billionaire’s taxes.

Musk responded to his critics by saying that he “will pay more taxes than any American in history this year.”

The dialogue between Musk and Warren began after news broke that Musk had been named Time magazine’s Person of the Year.

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, said last year that he would “not own any homes” and went on to sell his nine California mansions for a total of $144 million.

Howery disputed that Musk was living in his waterfront mansion in Austin, telling The Wall Street Journal in a text message: “Elon doesn’t live in my house, he lives in South Texas. He stayed at my house as my guest from time to time when he traveled to Austin.”

Musk, one of the world’s richest men, has reportedly been living in a tiny house made by the company Boxabl on the SpaceX site in Texas, according to reports (pictured: a Casita Boxabl similar to the one Musk is said to be renting)

Warren tweeted on Monday: “Let’s change the rigged tax code so Person of the Year actually pays taxes & stops taking advantage of everyone else.”

But Musk soon backtracked, writing, “Stop designing” and dubbing the politician and former law professor “Senator Karen.”

“You remind me of when I was a kid and my friend’s mom would yell at everyone for no reason,” Musk continued.

“Please, Senator Karen, don’t call the director for me.”

Here are the properties Musk sold last year to get rid of all his valuable residential real estate:

Musk paid $6.4 million for this white colonial home on a Bel Air cul-de-sac on Somera Road next to his other properties

891 Crystal Springs Rd in Hillsborough, California, sold in December 2021 for $30 million

The 16,000-square-foot property boasts a fully restored “five-star” kitchen and expanded space for a personal chef.

Musk paid $6.4 million for this white colonial home on a Bel Air cul-de-sac on Somera Road next to his other properties

958 Somera Road, sold December 2020 for $6,774,500

The California house had four bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms.

Musk also sold this Somera Road home for $4.4 million. It was built in the 1960s and apparently hasn’t been renovated since.

955 Somera Road, sold in December for $4,443,000

Situated on a cul-de-sac, the Bel Air home has four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms.

The home is listed with six bedrooms and seven bathrooms.

954 Somera Road, sold in December for $29,719,000

The house has six bedrooms and seven bathrooms.

This 16,251-square-foot villa features six bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a two-story library, pool, and tennis court

10911 Chalon Road, sold in June for $29,000,000

Located across the street from the golf course, the house has six bedrooms and eleven bathrooms.

The property features a swimming pool, tennis court and beautiful scenery.

Musk lived in this house with his children, which he rented for two years before buying it.

Musk purchased this house, which previously belonged to actor Gene Wilder

10930 Chalon Road, sold in October for $7,000,000

Both Musk and famous actor Gene Wilder lived in this house in Los Angeles.

Wilder, who died in 2016, lived in the home for more than three decades.

It features five bedrooms, five bathrooms and a luxurious backyard pool.

He shared his only condition for viewing the stunning property: “Only one stipulation on the sale: I own Gene Wilder’s old house. It cannot be dismantled or purchased in any way of its size.”