'He looked like death itself': Billionaire Elon Musk's wife Talulah Riley recalls how her parents offered to remortgage their home in a bid to save her then-boyfriend's teetering companies in 2008

• e-mail

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk was once in such dire financial straits that the parents of his then-girlfriend and future wife offered to remortgage their house in order to keep his companies from collapsing.

Talulah Riley, the British actress who was dating Musk at the time in 2008, recalled that even though his companies – SpaceX and Tesla – were teetering on the brink of oblivion, Musk turned down her parents' offer, according to Bloomberg.

'He looked like death itself,' Riley said.

'I remember thinking this guy would have a heart attack and die. He seemed like a man on the brink.'

Elon Musk (seen here speaking about climate change during an appearance in Paris in December 2015) was once on the brink of being broke

Musk (left) began dating British actress Talulah Riley (right) in 2008. They are seen above at an art exhibition in France in May 2015

A native of Hertfordshire, England, Riley is the only child of Una Riley, a businesswoman who heads a security systems company and a public relations firm, and Doug Milburn, a former head of the National Crime Squad. 

She made the remarks to Ashlee Vance, the author who wrote a biography about the hard-charging South African-born businessman.

She said that Musk was nearly broke when he began suffering from what might be known as 'industrial night terrors.'

'He was in physical pain,' Riley said. 'He would climb up me and start screaming while still asleep.'

Musk managed to extricate himself from near ruin. 

In the next few years, he managed to find more investors to pump money into Tesla – the maker of electric sports car and self-driving automobiles – and SpaceX – the space transport services company that seeks to one day colonize Mars.

Riley (right) and Musk, who has five children from his first wife, married in 2010

They would then divorce in 2012, only to remarry 18 months later

Musk, a resident of Los Angeles, is estimated to be worth $11.6billion, according to Forbes magazine’s 2016 rankings.

Earlier this week, Musk posted a cryptic tweet in which he hinted that a new product would be unveiled next week.

Little is known about what the product could be, but Musk said that it would be 'unexpected.'

The Tesla CEO has previously hinted at the event on October 28, tweeting at the end of last month: 'Aiming for Oct 28 unveil in SF Bay Area of new Tesla/SolarCity solar roof with integrated Powerwall 2.0 battery and Tesla charger.'

But his latest tweet suggests that Tesla will be revealing something else on top of those new products.

Many people on Twitter have speculated on what the new product could be.

One user, called Keng, replied to Mr Musk's tweet: 'Model 3 Part Deux' – hinting that it could be a new vehicle.

Last month, Musk lost about $390million as the stock prices of Telsa and another company he owns, SolarCity, dropped after the SpaceX Falcon 9 explosion at Cape Canaveral.

After the accident, shares in Tesla dropped 5.3 percent and his SolarCity venture was also down 9.1 percent.

Riley, meanwhile, has sued for divorce from Musk for a third time.

The couple first met in 2008, when the actress was a virgin, and they got married two years later.

But their first marriage ended in divorce in 2012, with Riley reportedly walking away with a $16million divorce package.

Earlier this year, Riley filed for divorce, making this the third time that the couple will split

By the following summer they had remarried but then in December 2014 she sued for divorce a second time, only to withdraw it the following year.

Riley first made her name in Pride and Prejudice and has had small parts in Inception and Thor: The Dark World without really making it big.

In March this year she filed for divorce again and is set to cash in on an even bigger financial settlement this time.

But in an interview with The Times this past August, Riley said: 'We really are best friends. I'll always love him, I'll always be there for him.'

Journalist Stefanie Marsh said that sounded like the basis for a good marriage, and Riley smiled before replying: 'You'd think.'

She was 22 when she met Musk - almost 20 years her senior - in a London nightclub.

She was the product of two of British's poshest and most expensive schools - Cheltenham Ladies College and Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls.

Despite the divorce, Riley insists that their relationship is amicable. The couple are seen here attending a conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, in 2015

She told the Mail on Sunday's You magazine how the tycoon - who founded the SpaceX aerospace company - had chatted her up by offering to show her his rockets.

'I was sceptical, but he actually did show me rocket videos,' she added.

Asked if she would marry Musk for a third time she said: 'I mean, never say never. Marriage is a social construct, but I still believe in it.

'Elon and I are best friends. We still see each other all the time and take care of each other. If this could continue indefinitely it would be lovely. When you've been with someone for eight years on and off, you really learn how to love them. He and I are very good at loving each other.'