Meet Elon Musk’s sister Tosca, founder of Netflix-style streaming service Passionflix, accomplished filmmaker and mother of twins – but did her brother invest in her company?
- Tesla CEO Elon and restaurateur Kimbal aren’t the only entrepreneurs in the Musk family – Tosca started a platform for romance films and TV shows for women
- Passionflix may feature categories like Oh So Vanilla and NSFW, but Tosca hopes to empower women with the romance streaming service – taking cues from her fashion model mum Maye
In 2017, Musk co-founded Passionflix alongside screenwriter Joany Kane and Hollywood producer Jina Panebianco. Kane initially had the idea of creating a streaming service centred around romance novels that catered directly to women, and Panebianco and Musk quickly joined the project, according to the company’s website.
In early June, The New York Times profiled Tosca and her streaming service.
“Most of the time people look down at romance – there is apparently something radical in having female desire as a main theme – and they don’t think that romance is intellectual enough,” Musk told the newspaper. “I think that is wrong. Romance is about validating emotions. It’s about removing shame from sexuality. It’s about uplifting stories.”
A ‘sexy Hallmark Channel’
Passionflix launched in 2017 in the US and is a subscription service akin to other streaming services like Netflix or HBO. Five years later and it’s now available in almost 150 countries, according to the profile.