Elon Musk Touts His Newest Venture: Perfume That Smells Like Burnt Hair

The fragrance is currently being sold on Mr. Musk’s Boring Co.’s website, which describes the scent as, “The Essence of Repugnant Desire.” It shows a picture of a smoking red perfume bottle. The product isn’t expected to ship until early next year. 

“With a name like mine, getting into the fragrance business was inevitable—why did I even fight it for so long!?,” Mr. Musk tweeted Tuesday night. He later added: “Can’t wait for media stories tomorrow about $1M of Burnt Hair sold,” a tweet which included a sideways laughing emoji.

He also changed his Twitter bio to “Perfume Salesman.”

Mr. Musk didn’t say how or where the perfume will be manufactured. Representatives for the Boring Co. and Tesla didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on Mr. Musk’s endeavor. 

Mr. Musk is the world’s wealthiest person and one of Twitter’s most prominent users with more than 100 million followers. He has been in a prolonged back-and-forth to potentially take over the platform, one that he has often used to make big pronouncements—some serious, some not. He once tweeted he was buying English soccer team

Manchester United

only to say hours later it was a joke. 

In addition to Tesla, he runs rocket company SpaceX, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., and founded Boring Co., an underground tunnel business, and neuroscience startup Neuralink Corp. 

Mr. Musk’s newest venture comes as he’s tackling several high-profile business and geopolitical issues. SpaceX ferried astronauts to the International Space Station last week just as Tesla’s stock price slumped sharply following the car company’s disappointing delivery figures. 

He also stirred a political dust-up when he suggested that Crimea, an area previously part of Ukraine that Moscow annexed in 2014, rightfully is part of Russia. The comment drew pushback from Kyiv, including Ukraine’s President

Volodymyr Zelensky.

And in the same week, he also disclosed that he planned to go forward with his $44 billion takeover of Twitter, a surprise about-face after almost three months of trying to abandon the deal.

Mr. Musk’s companies have sold unrelated things before, including a Tesla tequila and a Boring Co. flamethrower. 

Jonathan Preston

said he bought two bottles of Burnt Hair Tuesday night, one to save and the other to sniff. He received an email after the purchase with the subject line, “You’re on fire!”

“Hey, hot stuff!,” the message said. “This email confirms your purchase of Burnt Hair by Singed. It’s going to be lit. We’ll let you know when it ships, expected Q1 2023.”

Mr. Preston, 41 years old, is used to waiting for Elon Musk-related goods. It took seven months for the Tesla electric car he ordered to arrive, and even longer to get home internet service from Mr. Musk’s satellite-internet business, Starlink. 

Mr. Preston, who is semiretired and lives in Phillipsburg, Mo., said he bought the perfume as a gag and that it won’t replace his usual scent, a peppery Axe body spray. 

“It better smell like burnt hair,” Mr. Preston said about Burnt Hair. “If it doesn’t, I may try to return it, just out of disappointment.”

Mr. Preston said he thinks the perfume will be made, and if not, he assumes he’ll get a refund.

Mr. Musk teased the perfume in September. 

“‘Burnt Hair’—Scent for Men by Singed,” he tweeted. “Stand out in a crowd! Get noticed as you walk through the airport!”

Write to Joseph Pisani at [email protected]