. ANC accuses De Ruyter of ruining its good name and reputation, BREAKING: Chiefs confirm another MASSIVE injury blow. "We went to . "We went to this guy's prefab [home] and he opened his safe," Errol said. After obtaining the mine, he tells that he had so much money, that 'he couldn't close his safe'. 1/2This article is false. When the same pattern of racist behavior happens at all $tsla locations, its the company thats racist, and the fish rots from @elonmusk s head.https://t.co/aKAP7vrT6G https://t.co/EMN9xQH06V. However, any reconciliation was apparently short-lived. "I said, 'Oh, all right.' "Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done It's so terrible, you can't believe it. "Who Is Elon Musk's Estranged Father? They also emphasize anecdotes from Elon and his mother about the hard work and squalor they endured in Canada in those years. @Keewa tweeted on May 9, 2020, Remind: Elon Musk inherited money from his fathers apartheid emerald mine, that doesnt mean hes clever. In 2019, Elon Musk confronted the Twitter talking point about his father's supposed emerald mine head on, writing, "He didn't own an emerald mine & I worked my way through college, ending. Errol Musk was born in 1946 in Pretoria to Walter Henry James Musk and Cora Amelia Robinson. His net worth is. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com, Image Via PHILIP PACHECO/AFP via Getty Images. I left South Africa by myself when I was 17 with just a backpack & suitcase of books. He didnt own an emerald mine & I worked my way through college, ending up ~$100k in student debt. "She wasn't planned," Errol said of his youngest child. "Back when I was ~$100k negative with student debt," he wrote. He seemed very sad and lonely by himself. To add to the truth, we went to Boston Chicken in Philadelphia for Thanksgiving because we couldnt afford a turkey. Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done. Im not sure if replying to a satire site and amplifying their articles reach is necessarily the best idea, but Musk felt that this was a hill worth dying on. 2021, https://savingjournalism.substack.com/p/i-talked-to-elon-musk-about-journalism. Elon and other family members have opened up about years of living in debt after they left South Africa. [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. While His Dad Was Sleeping." It was authored by Jeremy Arnold with The Save Journalism Committee. I arrived by myself in Canada in 89 with ~CA$2500 Paid my own way through college, ending with ~$100k student debt Started 1st company with no funding & just one computer I built Theres no evidence whatsoever of an emerald mine, 2/2My father & his extended family have been dependent on financial support from my brother & me for over 20 years. coming from?. I left South Africa by myself when I was 17 with just a backpack & suitcase of books. (We'll have more on Vance's Bloomberg.com interview later in this story.). Errol told Business Insider South Africa that he once owned half of an emerald mine in Zambia, which he claimed to have purchased on a whim. The Tesla CEO once called his South African dad 'evil' and denied rumours of family wealth fuelled by an emerald mine - but are they ready to reconcile? I wish. Instead, Musk has sought to dispel the general belief that he comes from wealth. 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.. He attended Queens University in Canada. In 2018, Errol Musk interviewed Business Insider South Africa, where he told a story about bartering his way into partial ownership of an emerald mine in Zambia. Soon after Elon left for Canada, his mother, Maye, moved there too, along with Elons brother, Kimbal, and sister, Tosca. Note: Less than two weeks after Arnold's piece was published in 2021, the satirical website The Onion printed a story with the headline, "The Richest Person In Every State And How They Made Their Money." Elon, by his father's recollection then probably 16 years old, and his brother Kimbal, decided to sell emeralds to Tiffany & Co. on Fifth Avenue in New York . "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. Errols other children we also shocked and uncomfortable about the surprise pregnancy. Errol told BI that he was flying from his home in South Africa to the U.K. to sell the plane he was on, with a young Elon in tow. Bill Gates' mom helped Microsoft get a deal with IBM. 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", Inoneof the tweets from Elon in which he refuted the emerald mine rumor, he linked to an article that had been published on March 9, 2021. 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). Where is this B.S. Friend, Tad. Elon clarified that his father was never physically abusive toward him and that he once tried to mend the relationship by inviting his father to live with him in the United States. First, we have republished past statements from both Errol and Elon. I've tried everything. Sager, Jessica. This material may not be reproduced without permission. With a net worth of $37 billion, Musk hopes to revolutionize transportation on Earth and in space, bringing fully-electric vehicles to the mass market through his auto manufacturing company, Tesla. "But I mean, we were living together. People.Com, 7 Nov. 2022, https://people.com/human-interest/who-is-errol-musk-elon-musk-father/. In 1972, Errol was elected to the Pretoria City Council in his native South Africa. Wayback Machine. 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. You can cancel anytime and if you cancel within 14 days you won't be billed. With his new riches, Errol also bought half of an emerald mine. The 51-year-old has refuted claims that he grew up rich amid statements that his father Errol owned an emerald mine in South Africa. Its unclear how old Elon was at the time and whether he was even present is in dispute. He had this sense that it was definitely not a safe place to be, and he had to get the hell out.. Elon and Kimbal allegedly sold 2 emeralds: one worth $800 and another worth $1200. Their half-sister.. [17] Later in life, after splitting from Heide Bezuidenhout, he fathered two children with her daughter (his former step-daughter) Jana Bezuidenhout; a son born in 2017 and a daughter born in 2019. Below, we have laid out all of the data that we found, including examples of the rumor, as well as stories from newspaper archives and blogs. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. In my experience, there is nothing you can do, Elon said of Errol. "A Teenage Elon Musk Once Casually Sold His Father's Emeralds to Tiffany & Co. "In my experience, there is nothing you can do," he added. Elon Musk said he and his brother have supported their father since he "ran out of money in 90s." He was reacting to a tweet saying he was from a family that owned an African emerald mine.. There is a more nuanced conversation to be had about how Elon Musk specifically and South Africas white population in general benefitted from apartheid. . A common story about Musk on social media is that his father owned part of an emerald mine, providing a bedrock of wealth that buoyed Elon up to his current level of success. In the interview, Musk's father explained that he bought his share of the emerald mine after selling a plane to a group of Italians. We also reached out to both men for additional comment and to ask if they could potentially provide any evidence that would support their statements, even though they didn't start the rumor. One of their homes was in Waterkloof, a leafy suburb of Pretoria that was popular with foreign diplomats. ---. These tweets from December 2019 appeared to have stemmed, at least in part, from a since-deleted tweet from a user with the handle @1aprildaniels. Elon also denied that Errol invested in the company. [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. Related stories Making better AI is Elon Musk's new object of . "Elon Musk: The College Years." He also called the whole rumor "BS.". Here's what to know about Elon Musk's estranged father, Errol Musk. Elon Musk has a wild story!" he captioned it. You have no idea. But I didnt really understand at the time what kind of person he was. 2023 The Moguldom Nation. Copyright Blue Sky Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved. The share in the mine wasnt acquired until the 1980s. He also sent a link to another interview he did with Elon in 2016. Business Insider South Africa, 28 Feb. 2018, https://www.businessinsider.co.za/how-elon-musks-family-came-to-own-an-emerald-mine-2018-2. The claim attracted a response from the billionaire, who said that the claim isn't true. All Rights Reserved. Image via Instagram @mayemusk. Where is this bs coming from? Errol. In 2019, a Twitter user claimed that Musk's father Errol owned an emerald mine. He didnt own an emerald mine, and I worked my way through college, ending up [around] $100,000 in student debt, Elon tweeted. As Arnold noted, the headline for this story was later corrected more than two years after it was published, sometime around late July or early August 2020,according to page captures from the Internet Archive. In a February 2018 interview with Business Insider South Africa, Musk's father said he did own half share in an emerald mine in Zambia. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. There were AK-47s all over the place and I'm thinking, "Man, this could really go bad.". The article's headline was changed in late July or early August 2020, which appeared to be after Errol made his Facebook poston July 27, which called the dated article's claims into question. The same story appeared to have also been published the day before with the headline, "A teenage Elon Musk once casually sold his father's emeralds to Tiffany & Co. while his dad was sleeping. On May 22, 2020, Bloomberg.com published an interview with Elon, which was penned by Ashlee Vance. "The Richest Person In Every State And How They Made Their Money." Errol employed a cutter in Johannesburg and sold the stones wherever his travels as an engineer or family holidays took him. Like his son, the wealthy business owner who was once rumored to be the co-owner of a Zambian emerald mine has also been mired in controversy. Regardless of your opinion of him, he is aself-made billionaire. He's the son of Maye Musk, a model and dietitian from Canada, and Errol Musk, a South African electromechanical engineer, pilot, and sailor. The eccentric billionaire once again attempted to set the record straight about his familys emerald mines to respond to Twitter user @howlpolitically. Elon called the story "actually accurate." Errol made money by consulting and developing properties, Forbes reported. How much of a Momentum Proteas Womens cricket fan are you? . We sent these messages on Nov. 16, but did not receive responses before publishing this story on the following day. [11][5] Maye has stated that Errol beat her. "[4][8], In 1972, he was elected to the Pretoria City Council as a representative of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party. He once tweeted he arrived in 1989, not 1988, however. You have no idea. As well as providing links, people started commenting Musk's own words back at him under his tweet. 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." We went to this guys prefab, and he opened his safe, and there [were] just stacks of money, and he paid me out 80,000, It was a huge amount of money, he said. The interview is no longer available on the Forbes website. [22] He is estranged from his son Elon. The story included reporting of Elon's denials that the emerald mine had provided any seed money for the wealth he would later accumulate. Rolling Stone reported in 2017 that Errol was, by his own account, making money in the often dangerous worlds of construction and emerald mining at times so much that he claims he couldnt close his safe.. In an interview with Business Insider South Africa, Errol admitted that, at one point, he literally made more money than he could physically handle. The Daily Mail has reported that Errol was a multimillionaire before the age of 30. CEO Elon Musk said his father Errol ran out of money in the '90s and was provided financial support by the entrepreneur and his brother. Though Errol has made headlines in recent years after the births of his two youngest children, he seemingly avoids the spotlight. According to media reports Errol reportedly owned an emerald mine in Zambia near Lake Tanganyika which enabled his family to live in luxury at the time. Elon Musk's father, Errol Musk, remains a mysterious figure, and there is still no common consensus how his work or his wealth during Elon's childhood. Elon was said to be particularly furious that his father had impregnated his stepsister. So we had this planeload of contraband and an overdue passport from another person. This story was picked up by other news outlets and peddled as a sign of the Musk family's "lavish lifestyle. Meanwhile, Elon has himself admitted that his father has a very high IQ and is brilliant at engineering. In 2017, he also told Rolling Stone that Errol was the youngest person to get a professional engineers qualification in South Africa., Im naturally good at engineering thats because I inherited it from my father, the worlds richest man stated. 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. This is a pretty awful lie. Click Here to Get Smart on Protecting Your Family and Loves Ones, No Matter What Happens. To me, he sure is trying to make the world better right now, and thats the best thing he could do with his fathers money. Clash, Jim. "Zip2." It is still hard to discern whether this story is true and what conclusions can be drawn. He told The New York Times that as a member of the Progressive Party, he opposed apartheid. He would throw out everything they arrived with, so I had to buy them all new clothes and school things. In an interview with Express, Cattrell recalled: One night, they were sitting in the living room and his dad said Everybody down! Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done.". 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. Given Elon Musks interest in exploration and adventure, its no surprise he descends from intrepid stock, and its Errols side of the family that is seemingly responsible for his innovative, envelope-pushing genes. The Twitter account no longer exists. The user tweeted: If this is half of an article is a small glimpse into the apartheid mines his [family-owned] haha even [T]he Onion tells more truthful stories than CNN and Fox. Errol himself has an adventurous streak and is an avid sailor and pilot. We also reached out to media relations personnel at SpaceX, where he is the founder and CEO, as well as Tesla and Twitter. Answer these 2 simple questions & WIN R1000 in cash! In 2017, family members were left stunned when Jana became pregnant with Errols baby. "What's very difficult for others is easy for me. There, the two South Africans ran into a group of Italians who, as it happened, were in the market for an airplane. In an email to Rolling Stone, Musk's father said he smacked the Tesla CEO only once and on the bottom. He also said that the only criminal charges that had been filed against him from when he killed three home invaders in self-defense had been cleared. 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. Kaizer Chiefs to sign more Swallows players. - February 10, 2021 02:34 pm EST. de Wet, Phillip. Esquire, 5 June 2015, https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a35508/elon-musk-college-years-canada-u-penn/. Several respondents on social media disputed the emerald mine and privileged-lifestyle story, defending Musks intelligence and questioning the intelligence of the person who started the thread. [9], Errol Musk's claims that he invested in Elon Musk's software company Zip2 have been rejected by Elon Musk. The Musk name might be one of the most recognizable on the planet, but little is known about its patriarch, Errol Musk. Standing with the cash in his hand, Errol was made another offer he couldnt refuse: Would he like to buy half an emerald mine for half of his new riches? He said, They just walked into Tiffanys and said, Do you want to buy some emeralds? And they sold two emeralds: one was for $800, and I think the other one was for $1,200. Went to Queens Univ with scholarship & debt, then same to UPenn/Wharton & Stanford. Once again, he said that he paid his own way through college, ending with around $100,000 in student debt, and added thathe started his first company with no funding and one computer he built himself. "Elon Musk Tells Me His Secret Of Success (Hint: It Ain't About The Money)." "Tesla, Inc."Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tesla-Motors. "Exploring the Otherworldly Ambitions of Elon Musk." My dad will have a carefully thought-out plan of evil. [13] After engaging in extra-marital affairs,[4] Errol and Maye divorced in 1979, and both sons moved in with their father. Here's a summary of our findings: We located reporting from as far back as 2009 and 2014 that said when Elon Musk ("Elon" hereafter) was a child in South Africa in the 1980s, his father ("Errol" hereafter) at some point owned "a stake in an emerald mine" near Lake Tanganyika in Zambia, not South Africa. The 76-year-old hasnt ruled out having more children, saying: The only thing we are on Earth for is to reproduce.. 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. We contacted Elon publicly on Twitter. The entire episode started when the satirical publication The Onion published a piece on the wealthiest person in each American state. Errol Musk was born in Pretoria South Africa to Walter Henry James and Cora Amelia Robinson. " he told the outlet. A post on Reddit mentioned a theory that said Elon "convinced these publications to remove the articles," but there's no evidence to support that.
