Elon Musk has a complicated family tree, which he has reportedly attempted to navigate more efficiently with an unusual property purchase. And it's certainly not a set-up that would suit all blended families.

The tech mogul, who has now been given a new role in President-elect Donald Trump's White House cabinet, has 11 living children with three different mothers and has reportedly splashed out on a 14,400 square ft compound in Texas to accommodate them all.

Billionaire Musk, who will now be co-leading Trump's new "Department of Government Efficiency", was allegedly keen for his younger children to spend more quality sibling time together, in a way that would fit in with his hectic schedule running several major companies.

Setting up a family compound therefore apparently seemed like the most logical solution. But how does it actually work?

The New York Times reports that Musk has told those close to him that he wants his kids and two of their mothers to live in adjoining properties behind a six-bedroom mansion he helped purchase, as per two sources and public records. The total cost of both properties is said to be around $35 million.

Insiders told the publication that these new properties are conveniently located around a 10-minute walk from a third mansion Musk tends to stay in when in Austin. People magazine reports that Musk welcomed six children with his first wife, the Canadian novelist Justine Wilson, whom he married between 2000 and 2008.

Tragically, the former couple lost their first child, a son named Nevada Alexander, in 2002, after he passed away from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) when he was just 10 weeks old. Opening up about her grief in a piece penned for Marie Claire, Justine wrote: "I buried my feelings ... coping with Nevada's death by making my first visit to an IVF clinic less than two months later. Elon and I planned to get pregnant again as swiftly as possible. Within the next five years, I gave birth to twins, then triplets."

In 2004, Musk welcomed twins Vivian and Griffin through IVF, with triplets Kai, Saxon, and Damian arriving in 2006. Now 20, Vivian, who legally changed her name and gender back in 2022, has spoken out against Elon's new close friend, President-elect Donald Trump, who the tech mogul supported throughout his campaign.

Taking to the social media platform Threads, Vivian, who is estranged from her famous father, wrote: “I’ve been considering this for some time, but yesterday made it clear. I don’t see my future in the United States. Even if he’s only in office for four years, even if the anti-trans regulations magically don’t happen, the people who willingly voted this in are not going anywhere anytime soon."

Musk went on to expand his family during his on-off relationship with musician Claire Boucher, best known to fans as Grimes. And this time around, the couple got very creative with names. Little X Æ A-Xii was born in May 2020, followed by Exa Dark Sideræl, who they welcomed with the help of a surrogate in December 2021. Another child, Techno Mechanicus, was also born to the pair in 2022, after Elon told The New York Post that they had 'semi separated'.

Offering an insight into Musk's parenting style in a 2023 interview with Wired, Grimes, 36, shared: "I think their life is gonna be pretty intense. Being Elon's kid is not the same as being anyone’s kid. In my house, at least, I want it to be more of a crazy warehouse situation and a cool art space."

Reflecting on what she felt Musk had learned from her, Grimes, who describes her ex as someone with an 'old-world kind of discipline', told the publication: Maybe to have more fun. I try to soften him up, to build family culture. And he steals a lot of my memes."

However, although their split initially appeared amicable, NBC News reports that Musk and Grimes' relationship took a frosty turn last year amid a custody battle when the billionaire allegedly refused to let Grimes see their children.

Musk also shares twins Strider and Azure with project director Shivon Zilis, with the children arriving in 2021, mere weeks before the birth of his and Grimes' third child. Earlier this year, Musk and Neurolink exec Shivon, 38, welcomed their third child together earlier this year, but have not made the gender or birth date publicly known.

The Austen American Statesman reports that Shivon and her three kids have already moved onto the Austin compound, while Justine and her children are expected to join them.

Musk has previously made his thoughts clear on the topic of having large families. Taking to X back in May, he warned followers: "Just have kids one way or another or humanity will die with a whimper in adult diapers!

"I'm doing my best to encourage more people to become parents and ideally have three or more kids, so humanity can grow."

This comes as President-elect Trump, announces Musk's White House appointment as a co-lead on the new "Department of Government Efficiency", alongside ex-presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. The acronym "DOGE" is a clear reference to Musk 's favourite cryptocurrency, Dogecoin.

Trump said in a statement: "I am pleased to announce that the Great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American Patriot Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

"Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies - Essential to the 'Save America' Movement."

This article originally appeared in The Mirror.