LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk and his British actress wife, Ms Talulah Riley, have agreed to "amicably" end their marriage, according to a joint statement received on Friday.

It was the second split for the couple, who first married in 2010, and, after a breakup, re-wed in 2013.

"Elon Musk and his wife Talulah Riley have announced that they are ending their marriage amicably," said the statement received by AFP.

"Mr Musk filed a divorce petition in Los Angeles on Dec 31, 2014."

The statement went on to say that Ms Riley would receive US$16 million (S$21 million) from Mr Musk, who co-founded the online payments firm PayPal before moving on to launch the firms SpaceX and Tesla Motors.

Mr Musk is one of the world's wealthiest individuals, with a net worth estimated at some US$8 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

Mr Musk and Ms Riley have been living apart for the past five months after marrying in July 2013.

According to the statement, Ms Riley "has decided to remain in the UK and pursue her career where she has spent the last five months working on her first feature film, Scottish Mussel, as a writer and director",

It added that "Mr Musk and Ms Riley remain friends".

In 2010, Mr Musk went through a messy divorce from his Canadian-born wife, science-fiction writer Justine Musk, the mother of their five sons, including triplets.

She wrote about the proceedings on a blog.

A 43-year-old South African native, Mr Musk has channelled a dot.com fortune into a series of ambitious ventures.

Besides SpaceX and Tesla, Mr Musk heads SolarCity, a company which makes solar panels for homes and businesses.

And he operates his own foundation focusing on education, clean energy and child health.