Jennifer Gwynne, 1997 Wharton Graduate Elon Musk's college girlfriend, worked as an RA with Musk together in the Quad.
Penn alumnus Elon Musk's former girlfriend at Penn auctioned off items relating to Musk's time at Penn on Wednesday, amounting to $165,265 overall.
College graduate Jennifer Gwynne, who dated 1997 College and Wharton graduate Musk between the years of 1994 and 1995, auctioned a variety of items relating to Musk through Boston-based auction house RR Auction. Memorabilia from their college relationship included 18 photos of Musk as a college student at Penn, a signed birthday card, a 14-karat gold necklace, and a signed dollar bill.
The sale started on Aug. 12, and bidding for all but one of the items closed on Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. The last item, a dollar bill signed by the multi-billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, sits at a bid of $14,300 with 33 bids as of Sept. 15. Bidding for the dollar bill will conclude on Sept. 22.
Gwynne and Musk started dating in the fall of 1994 when they worked as resident advisors in the Quad, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The highest bid on any of the items auctioned was just over $51,000 for a 14-karat gold necklace featuring a green emerald pendant. Gwynne told RR Auction that the emerald inside the necklace came from Musk’s father’s emerald mine in South Africa.
The 18 photos of Musk's college years were auctioned off by Wednesday, ranging from $1,000 to over $21,000. They depicted the world's richest man partaking in a variety of normal college and relationship activities, such sitting on a bench with Gwynne in the Quad, Musk in a library, and Musk in Gwynne’s dorm room.
The signed birthday card — which reads “Happy Birthday Jennifer (aka. Boo-Boo). Love, Elon.” — closed at $16,643.
Gwynne said that she was inspired to auction off the memorabilia after seeing news that a Penn alumnus had auctioned off an assignment hand-graded by Musk when he worked as a teaching assistant in the Wharton School. She added that the six-figure proceeds from the auction will help pay for her stepson’s college tuition, the Inquirer reported.
RR Auction is an auction house based in the North End of Boston specializing in historical artifacts, autographs, and rare manuscripts. All winning bids included a 25% buyer’s fee that purchasers are required to pay to RR Auction as part of their terms & conditions.
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