The early months of 2026 were busy for Elon Musk. The Texas billionaire oversaw the merger of SpaceX and xAI, announced plans for Tesla Inc.’s Terafab chip factory and continued working toward taking SpaceX public this week in what could be the biggest-ever initial public offering.
All that activity — and appearances in U.S. courtrooms and at public events around the globe — suggest he has been logging hundreds of thousands of miles in the Gulfstream private jet he most often uses. This quarterly series aims to shed light on where he’s been and what he’s doing, but aircraft owners such as Musk can block their information from public view, complicating the task.
Programmer and entrepreneur Jack Sweeney compiles crowdsourced flight data to track the planes of billionaires, politicians and celebrities. So, in addition to Musk’s regular trips between Texas and California — the states where his companies have many of their operations — here are a few of the notable places his jet visited in the first quarter, according to Sweeney’s data and news reports.
Jan. 22 to Zurich, Switzerland: On stage in Davos for the World Economic Forum, Musk made promises about humanoid robots and SpaceX mega-rockets. About 12 hours later, he made his way back to Austin to report the company’s fourth-quarter earnings.
Feb. 1 to Palm Beach, Fla.: Musk attended the wedding of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino and State Department official Erin Elmore at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla. He arrived at the event accompanied by Shivon Zilis, director of operations and special projects at Musk’s Neuralink brain implant company who is the mother of four of his children.
Feb. 15 to San Jose: He landed in Northern California, according to flight tracking data, where he shared a video of a SpaceX Starship launch to his followers on X.
Feb. 21 to Austin: Flight tracking data show he returned to Austin.
March 4 to San Francisco: Two days into a three-week civil trial, Musk took the stand in a San Francisco courtroom to defend himself against accusations that he engaged in a pattern of deceptive behavior that misled investors as he attempted to back out of his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter. The suit was brought by shareholders who accused him of securities fraud and market manipulation. A jury found him liable but absolved him of some fraud allegations.
March 8 to Memphis and San Jose: Musk could have been visiting Memphis for work related to xAI. The company has data centers in the area. In mid-April, the NAACP sued xAI, accusing the company of violating the Clean Air Act.
March 16 to Austin and to Lancaster: Pilots were conducting test flights, Sweeney wrote, resulting in multiple landings and takeoffs this day. One of the landings, Sweeney noted, used 241 pounds of jet fuel at a cost of about $220.
March 17 to San Jose and to Burbank, Calif.
March 21 to Austin, Houston, a landing near Alexandria and another near Lake Charles: Musk’s jet went to Houston as Tesla continued working on a factory that will produce the company’s grid-level Megapack batteries. The increasingly important part of Tesla’s business struggled in the first quarter, with deliveries falling 15%.
March 23 to Austin and to San Jose: Musk was in Austin March 21, where he announced plans for what he said would be the world's largest semiconductor factory, a manufacturing joint venture involving Tesla, SpaceX and xAI. The event at the Seaholm Power Plant in downtown Austin was attended by Gov. Greg Abbott and other elected officials.
March 24 to Los Angeles and to Mesa, Ariz
March 25 to Mountain View, Calif.: Musk was making headlines around this time over his offer to pay Transportation Security Administration workers during a partial government shutdown. The White House declined his offer, saying it could pose legal challenges.
March 26 to Mesa and to San Jose: A Wall Street Journal report revealed that Musk’s social media company X had laid off more than 20 staffers in previous weeks and that remaining staffers were directed to work on growing revenue.
March 27 to Burbank and to San Jose
March 28 to Austin and to San Jose: No Kings protests were held across the U.S., including local demonstrations in Austin expressing criticism of the Trump administration and of Musk.
March 29 to Temple: SpaceX has a rocket development and test facility in McGregor, which is a half-hour drive from Temple.
March 30 to Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan: No confirmation exists that Musk visited Japan, though Sweeney’s tracker tied his jet to a landing in the capital of Hokkaido. On the same day, Musk announced Tesla is making a “big investment” in Japan with service centers and Superchargers.
March 31 to a site near Delhi, India: Similarly to Japan, it’s not confirmed that Musk visited India. His companies have links to Delhi with a Starlink office located there.
April 2 to Tokyo Prefecture, Japan, then to Austin and Temple: Musk’s jet was tied to several locations this day. In early April, he announced that Tesla is planning to double the number of directly operated service centers in Japan to more than 30 this year.
April 3 to a site near Savannah, Ga.: Musk’s activity in Georgia is unclear. However, his America PAC previously faced a lawsuit in the state over allegedly failing to pay voters money they were promised for signing a petition during President Trump’s 2024 campaign.
April 5 to Burbank: California is one of Musk’s regular visits, with Burbank being the site where he unveiled Cybercab, which is now in production at Gigafactory Texas.