The headline of the story read, "Elon Musk Tells Me His Secret Of Success (Hint: It Ain't About The Money).". Almost every crime you can possibly think of, he has done, he continued. A Twitter user claimed in December 2019 that Elon Musk's privileged upbringing included his father, Errol Musk, who owned an emerald mine [and] who could bankroll his education. However, the Tesla CEO begged to differ. Note: Reporting from Esquire.com said that Elon moved from South Africa to Canada in 1988. "He didn't own an emerald mine & I worked my way through college, ending up ~$100k in student debt," Elon tweeted in December 2019. [14], Musk was married to Heide Bezuidenhout for eighteen years and helped her raise her young daughter Jana Bezuidenhout, a child from a previous relationship. "Is It True That Elon Musk's Family Got Their Wealth from Apartheid Emerald Mining?" Elon Musk was highlighted as the wealthiest resident of Texas, Americas second-biggest state. Here's what to know about Elon Musk's estranged father, Errol Musk. EM: Company death not succeeding with the company causes me a lot more stress than physical danger. After the divorce, Elon lived with his father in Pretoria, where he attended Pretoria Boys High. In that way, Errol might be like estranged Elon after all. For 14 free days, you can have access to a world of in-depth analyses, investigative journalism, top opinions and a range of features. ", "You have no idea about how bad. Bridges to Italy tweeted, Yeah, hes not that bright, just like the guy who started this thread. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. How much of a Momentum Proteas Womens cricket fan are you? In December 2019, Elon denied the emerald mine-and-lavish-lifestyle story on Twitter, saying it was a lie. Elon Musk has a wild story!" he captioned it. In the mid-1980s, the family profited handsomely from Errol Musk's purchasing of an emerald mine, after selling their airplane for 80,000 (the equivalent of 320,000 today). He also claimed, "My father & his extended family have been dependent on financial support from my brother & me for over 20 years.". ", According to the story, Errol said that Elon "once walked the streets of New York with emeralds in his pocket." Soon after Elon left for Canada, his mother, Maye, moved there too, along with Elons brother, Kimbal, and sister, Tosca. He just had a rich dad and a got lucky. But I've been in physical danger before. Errol also shared how his sons got involved in the family business and recalled a time when Elon and his brother Kimbal sold a few of the emeralds from his mine to Tiffany & Co. in New York City. To summarize Arnold's story would be difficult, as it contained a considerable amount of data and analysis. Worked on my Moms cousins farm in Saskatchewan & a lumber mill in Vancouver. Elon Musk does not care about Black people.Example after example after example. Although Tesla stands out as a groundbreaking company at the forefront of the electric car revolution, its standard operating procedure at the Tesla factory is pre-civil-rights-era race discrimination, Vaughn wrote in his complaint, according to a Daily Beast report. All rights reserved. Errol made money by consulting and developing properties, Forbes reported. Wayback Machine. The billionaire, who was born in South Africa, took to. Almost every crime you can possibly think of, he has done," Elon said. ", In the post, he claimed that his family stood in opposition to apartheid, saying he went so far as to be elected as a Pretoria city councillor to aid that opposition. Former Tesla employees have reported racist behavior and attempted to sue over it. And, on at least one occasion, his now famous son also took his hand at dealing in the gems, with peculiar results. You have no idea. The narrative of Elon Musks wealth coming from his familys apartheid gains is one that started a few years ago when Business Insider wrote an article highlighting the Musk familys involvement in mining during SAs apartheid years. Its obvious why Musk would want to distance himself from apartheid in every possible way. We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred. by Marilynn Manuel 13-02-2023 13:43 The Buffalo News via San Jose Mercury News via Newspapers.com, 20 Apr. Instead, Musk has sought to dispel the general belief that he comes from wealth. In a 2017 email to employees which the company later released in response to one of the lawsuits, Elon warned against being a huge jerk to members of a historically less represented group. He also wrote, if someone is a jerk to you, but sincerely apologizes, it is important to be thick-skinned and accept that apology.. Bloomberg.com, 22 May 2020. www.bloomberg.com, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-05-22/elon-musk-speaks-frankly-on-coronavirus-spacex-and-rage-tweets. Inside the fabulous Dior couture world of 'Mrs. First, we have republished past statements from both Errol and Elon. Jack @lets_gobaby tweeted, Ok but how does inheriting money mean you arent smart?. Are you prioritizing your cable entertainment bill over protecting and investing in your family? It was a lucrative decision. The New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2009, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/08/24/plugged-in. By email, Clash told us he had no idea why it was no longer hosted by Forbes. r/EnoughMuskSpam via Reddit.com, 18 Dec. 2021, https://www.reddit.com/r/EnoughMuskSpam/comments/rj689s/elon_musk_and_the_emerald_mine/. Click Here to Get Smart on Protecting Your Family and Loves Ones, No Matter What Happens. Elon may have been 6 or 7 years old at the time and begged his dad to get him a ticket to a very early computer conference in South Africa. "I started my first company with $2,500, and I had one computer and a car that I bought for $1,400, and all that debt. Errol Musk was born in Pretoria South Africa to Walter Henry James and Cora Amelia Robinson. Errol named his price, and a deal was done. All About Errol Musk", "50 years of Elon Musk's huge wealth, from emeralds to SpaceX and Tesla", "How Elon Musk made his money - from emeralds to SpaceX and Tesla", "Elon Musk Left a South Africa That Was Rife With Misinformation and White Privilege", "At 68, Maye Musk, the Mother of Elon, Is Reclaiming the Spotlight", "El padre de Elon Musk dice que la ambicin de su hijo se debe a la educacin austera que recibi: "Fui un padre estricto", "BBC Two - The Elon Musk Show, Series 1, Episode 2", "Elon Musk's dad reveals he fathered an "unplanned" child with his stepdaughter", "Elon Musk's father has baby with step-daughter he has known since she was four", "Elon Musk's father confirms second child with his own stepdaughter - report", "Errol Musk explains why he got his stepdaughter pregnant", "Ayah Elon Musk Punya Bayi dari Hubungan dengan Putri Tirinya", "Meet Elon Musk's controversial father, Errol", "Errol Musk hat Kind mit Stieftochter: "Wir sind zum Fortpflanzen auf der Welt", "Elon Musk's Dad Says Company Wants His Sperm to Impregnate 'High-Class' Women", Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors, Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Bet of the Century, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Errol_Musk&oldid=1142497006, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 18:50. "There was just stacks of money and he paid me out, 80,000, it was a huge amount of money." "They didn't like it.". In 1970, Errol married modelMaye Haldeman Musk before the pair welcomed three children: Elon, Kimbal and Tosca. Elon Musk: The Truth About His Dad and Emerald Mines, Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes Should Remain On-Air Couple After ABC Exit, According to TV Host, King Charles' Reported Reason for Evicting Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Revealed, Hoda Kotb Makes Brief 'Today Show' Appearance Amid Family Health Matter, 'Creed III': Why Sylvester Stallone and Rocky Balboa Are Missing From Latest Film, Disney World Brings Back 'Beauty & the Beast' Experience for First Time Since COVID-19 Pandemic Began, QVC Hosts Call it Quits After Nearly 20 Years, Florida Residents Urged to Use Caution With Tap Water After Man Dies From Brain-Eating Amoeba. In Errol's case, we sent a message to his Facebook profile. On Feb. 23, 2018, Business Insider SA published a story with the headline, "'We had so much money we couldn't even close our safe': Elon Musk's Dad tells BI about the family's insanely casual attitude to wealth." "Zip2." He was bullied at school. "The Man Who's Revolutionizing The Future Of Driving -- And The Universe." The gist of the claim was that Elon's father, Errol Musk, who reports say has been estranged from his son for some time, owned an emerald mine during apartheid in South Africa, and that it was seed money from his father's wealth from the mine that made it possible for him to become the American billionaire he is today. ", Though he claimed Elon and Kimbal were upset with him for fathering a child with a woman they felt was "their sister," Errol told The Sun, "The only thing we are on Earth for is to reproduce. Elon would later get his own pilot's license but no longer has time to fly. Headded, also on Dec. 28, "We started Zip2 with ~$2k from me plus my overclocked home-built PC, ~$5k from my bro & ~$8k from Greg Kouri (such a good guy he is greatly missed). Aside from that hes just dumb. Black Americans Have the Highest Mortality Rates But Lowest Levels of Life Insurance Arnold, Jeremy. (We'll have more on Vance's Bloomberg.com interview later in this story.). The wealth earned from the investment in the mine was quantified to be about $400,000 USD, taking into account inflation when Arnold's piece was written in 2021, according to Errol. Errol and Heide had two children of their own, but he also helped raise Jana. We sent these messages on Nov. 16, but did not receive responses before publishing this story on the following day. This is why people are switching to @TheBabylonBee! Musk wrote. [18][19] Musk described the first child as unplanned. Went to Queens Univ with scholarship & debt, then same to UPenn/Wharton & Stanford. I wish. He added that Elon left the country as "a clear indication of his willingness to not support the political suppression in the country. But little else is known about Errol outside of his native South Africa, where he has made a name for himself as a high-powered engineer, property developer and political advocate who vehemently opposed apartheid. All the Musk siblings did well, Forbes reported. Went to Queens Univ with scholarship & debt, then same to UPenn/Wharton & Stanford., In a follow-up tweet, Elon said his father didnt own an emerald mine & I worked my way through college, ending up ~$100k in student debt.. Their plane got diverted, which led to a chance meeting with Italians who wanted to buy the plane in cash. [3][4], Musk worked as a pilot, a sailor, an electrical engineer, a mechanical engineer, a consultant, and a property developer, before retiring early. I said, Oh, all right. The most direct address was a tweet that said his father "didn't own an emerald mind [and] I worked my way through college, ending up ~$100k in student debt.". https://web.archive.org/. However, that as well as Errol's claim of owning half of an emerald mine is in stark contrast to what Elon has said about his father's wealth. SpaceX, his rocket company, is valued at $20 billion-plus. Although Musk said that his father was brilliant at engineering in the Rolling Stone interview, thats where the praise ended. Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 74: Jamarlin Martin Jamarlin returns for a new season of the GHOGH podcast to discuss Bitcoin, bubbles, and Biden. However, in the recent Channel 4 documentary Elon Musk: Superhero or Supervillain, co-founder of SpaceX, Jim Cattrell, claimed Elon was home at the time. Ashlee Vance interviewed hundreds of people. So I thought, I can be company. Yeah, I was sad for my father. "One thing he claims is he gave us a whole bunch of money to start, my brother and I, to start up our first company. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, grew up in South Africa and made his way via Canada to the U.S. as a transfer student before attending the Wharton School and becoming the billionaire tech founder he is today. ", Musk tackled it on Twitter as the story circulated, but his denials do not explicitly contradict his father's tale of the bizarre airplane-emerald mine trade. There were AK-47s all over the place and I'm thinking, "Man, this could really go bad.". [2] His grandmother was the first chiropractor in Canada. This article forms part of the archives of Business Insider South Africa, which was published as a partnership between News24 and Insider Inc between 2018 and 2023. "Errol also quoted a lower number to me over the phone," Arnold wrote. This is not true," Elon told Rolling Stone in 2017. [20] At the time of their daughter's birth, according to The Times, Musk was 72 and Jana Bezuidenhout was 30 years old. There was a shooting in the living room, and I guess his father shot them dead. Elon Musk addressed the recent social storm when claims related his family's emerald mines in apartheid-South Africa resurfaced online. Where is this bs coming from? The netizen claimed that the Business Insider article didnt show the real extent of the Musk family profiting from apartheid. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Errol owned one of the largest homes in Pretoria and took his children on many overseas trips, according to the book, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, written by Ashlee Vance. Here is the incredible true story of Errol Musk and the striking similarities he shares with his powerful son. ", For his part, Errol told the Daily Mail that Elon "needs to grow up" and "get over himself," adding, "I'm not going to hit back. The Associated Press, 20 July 2021, https://apnews.com/article/business-science-3546262d41f4c84763aa15339f642a5a. [22] He is estranged from his son Elon. [21] As of 2022, Musk and Jana Bezuidenhout were no longer living together. Errol Musk said he bought half of an emerald mine after selling a plane. I tried threats, rewards, intellectual arguments, emotional arguments, everything to try to change my father for the better, and he no way, it just got worse. Errol and Heide eventually divorced after an 18-year marriage. Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done., He was such a terrible human being. Elon Musk came from a family that owned an emerald mine in Apartheid South Africa. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Elon also denied that Errol invested in the company. Errol was elected to the Pretoria City Council in 1972 and was an outspoken advocate for abolishing apartheid. Forbes, 1 Oct. 2016, https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2016/10/01/can-elon-musk-really-get-us-to-mars-within-10-years/. From impregnating his stepdaughter to the emerald mine, here's what we know about Elon Musk's South African father Errol Musk. According to the story, in the mid-1980s, Errol and a copilot landed their plane near Lake Tanganyika in Zambia, where "a group of Italians" offered them 80,000 pounds in British currency in order to buy the plane. Invest in the future today. You could tell by the way that he told the story. Not for 'At Least' a Few Weeks, Says Elon Musk, Elon Musk's Ex Justine Calls Twitter Employees' Letter Protesting Reported Staff Cuts a 'Very Bad Idea', Elon Musk Says He's Buying Twitter to 'Help Humanity' And Doesn't Want It to Be 'Free-for-All Hellscape', Elon Musk Says Kanye West's Twitter Was Reinstated Before He Took Over the Company, Elon Musk Plans to Cut 75 Percent of Twitter's Workforce If He Takes Over the Company: Report. Friend, Tad. Former Tesla employee Marcus Vaughn, who worked in the Fremont, California, factory in 2017, alleged that the companys production floor was a hotbed for racist behavior. Supervisors regularly used the N word around Black workers and he said he was fired after complaining to human resources about workplace harassment. Errol Musk is a South African electromechanical engineer, pilot, and sailor. Clash's same 2014 interview was also republished by AskMen.com on Jan. 2, 2015. 2021, https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-Elon-Musks-family-got-their-wealth-from-apartheid-emerald-mining. He seemed very sad and lonely by himself. Once the kids were living with me, they visited their father some weekends. Errol and Jana welcomed a son, Elliot "Rushi" Rush, in 2017 and a daughter in 2019. He did the investment after selling a plane for about 80 000. Bloomberg.com, 22 May 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-05-22/elon-musk-speaks-frankly-on-coronavirus-spacex-and-rage-tweets.