The billionaire, who was born in South Africa, took to Twitter to answer claims made by The Onion about how his family made their money in apartheid South Africa. 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 Tesla founder also said there was no way to repair his relationship with his father. He was only physically violent when I was very young., He also said, You have no idea about how bad. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. ", His post ended with this: "Finally, it is necessary to acknowledge the wrong and oppressive nature of apartheid and we do need to recognise the pain and suffering it caused for many South Africans, but I do not feel it is fair to associate any of that with what Elon has achieved through hard work since he left South African shores as a teenager of 17.". Errol and a co-pilot were flying a plane from. I couldnt even afford a 2nd PC at Zip2, so programmed at night & website only worked during day. 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. The story also included the same information from Elon's tweets where he said again that he had "ended up with $100,000 of student debt. "We went to this guy's prefab [home] and he opened his safe," Errol said. More answers and details are available in Arnold's article. mark_able_jones_. First, we have republished past statements from both Errol and Elon. "Like every abused woman, I was embarrassed, and I knew I had made a mistake, you know? 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 Daily Mail has reported that Errol was a multimillionaire before the age of 30. Britannica.com, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zip2. Elon Musk says he had six figures in student debt after college - CNBC The entire episode started when the satirical publication The Onion published a piece on the wealthiest person in each American state. To me, he sure is trying to make the world better right now, and that's the best thing he could do with his father's money. Whats very difficult for others is easy for me. Errol. He didnt own an emerald mine, and I worked my way through college, ending up [around] $100,000 in student debt, Elon tweeted. The netizen claimed that the Business Insider article didnt show the real extent of the Musk family profiting from apartheid. "I paid my own way through collegethrough student loans, scholarships, working jobsand ended up with $100,000 of student debt," Musk says. We had so much money at times we couldn't even close our safe," Errol said, explaining that one person would hold the money down while a second would slam the safe door shut. Still, it wasarchived by the Internet Archive. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and his mother, Maye Musk. Image via Instagram @mayemusk. "So we decided to head back to Lake Tanganyika from where we were, I think we were in Djibouti.". ---. So it was very formative for him. 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. [11][5] Maye has stated that Errol beat her. Errol and Elons feud has reportedly been exacerbated by the patriarchs eyebrow-raising relationships. Errols other children we also shocked and uncomfortable about the surprise pregnancy. Elon Musk, After Emerald Mine Twitter Spat, Says Father Errol Ran Out Wayback Machine. Elon Musk: The Truth About His Dad and Emerald Mines - Trending 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. "Elon Musk Hits out at US Professor over Emerald Mine Claims: 'Idiot and Liar.'" So we got one, thank God at a discount, and with that computer he taught himself, using Disk Operating System, which is DOS, to program, Errol said. Vance wrote, "For what it's worth, my reporting, based on conversations with hundreds of people, confirms Musk's story. 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. "Elon Musk Is the Hero America Deserves." The Onion, a satirical publication, shared. D'Innocenzio, Anne. In 2019, a Twitter user claimed that Musk's father Errol owned an emerald mine. "And then there'd still be all these notes sticking out and we'd sort of pull them out and put them in our pockets.". 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. While the story did mention the family once lived in a popular suburb, the article said nothing of the emerald mine providing wealth to the son when he moved to Canada in 1988, or to the U.S. in 1992. 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.. - February 10, 2021 02:34 pm EST. 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. Twitter, https://twitter.com/elonmusk/. Errol and his stepdaughter, Jana Bezuidenhout, share two children. It didn't work out too well in the end," he said. ", According to the story, Errol said that Elon "once walked the streets of New York with emeralds in his pocket." Elon Musk addresses emerald mines and apartheid claims - The South African Elon was said to be particularly furious that his father had impregnated his stepsister. On their way to England, Errol and his copilot got word that their original flight plan was going to cost a lot of money. "Bezos' Comments on Workers after Spaceflight Draws Rebuke." 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. ---. "Everybody I knew called him 'the Pig' because he treated me so badly in public. Elon Musk came from a family that owned an emerald mine in Apartheid South Africa. Address: Regus Business Centre 1st Floor, Block B, North Park, Black River Park, 2 Fir Street, Observatory, Cape Town, 7925, South Africa Postal: Blue Sky Publications (Pty) Ltd T/A TheSouthAfrican, PO Box 44354, Claremont, 7735, South Africa, United Kingdom Blue Sky Publications Ltd Company Registration Number: 04683692. Still, Elon's tweets leave just enough room for Errol's story to be accurate, even if the inferences about his family's wealth are not. So I became a half owner of the mine, and we got emeralds for the next six years., When the Tesla CEO was around 16 years old, he and his brother Kimbal sold two emeralds to Tiffany & Co. on Fifth Avenue in New York City while Errol snoozed, according to what Musk's father told Business Insider South Africa. Hes the son of Maye Musk, a model and dietitian from Canada, and Errol Musk, a South African electromechanical engineer, pilot, and sailor. SpaceX, his rocket company, is valued at $20 billion-plus. He was married to Maye Musk and also to Heide Musk, with whom he has two children, Alexandra and Rose. "Errol also quoted a lower number to me over the phone," Arnold wrote. He can't have what he wants and now I am apparently an evil monster.". odakyu11. Their half-sister.. The Associated Press, 20 July 2021, https://apnews.com/article/business-science-3546262d41f4c84763aa15339f642a5a. TheSouthAfrican.com is all about South Africa and the stories that affect South Africans, wherever they are in the world. 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. ", 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. We contacted Elon publicly on Twitter. 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? He is the father of Elon Musk, the CEO of 'SpaceX,' 'Tesla, Inc.,' and 'Neuralink' and one of the co-founders of 'PayPal.' Errol is mostly known for his scandalous life and his estranged relationship with his children. Father and son have a complicated history. Then he'd sue me and say that I was unfit to parent.". [15][16] At the time of their marriage, Jana Bezuidenhout was only four years old and lived together with them. According to Ashlee Vances 2017 biography of the Tesla founder, The Musk family owned one of the biggest houses in Pretoria thanks to the success of Errols engineering business, which included large projects such as office buildings, retail complexes, residential subdivisions, and an air force base.. A recurring theme on social media is the claim that Musks father owned an emerald mine and paid for his sons privileged upbringing and education. Musk has denied that story. In April 2014, Dana Hull and Patrick May penned an article for San Jose's The Mercury News with the headline, "The otherworldly ambitions of Elon Musk." coming from?. They still feel a bit creepy about it., They still dont like it, Errol admitted in a new interview withthe Sun: They still feel a bit creepy about it because shes their sister. "He also claims he was getting emeralds from other sources, with only 60-70% coming from this venture." I wish. For the state of Texas, The Onion printed, "Elon Musk: Apartheid.". Photo: Cyrus McCrimmon/The Denver Post/Getty Images; Anthony Harvey/Getty Images, Elon Musk and Amber Heard's Relationship Timeline, Elon Musk Claims He Had 'No Choice' But to Make Mass Layoffs at Twitter, Elon Musk Buys Twitter for $44B Following Legal Battle with Company, Fires Top Execs: Reports, Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey Apologizes Following Layoffs at the Company After Elon Musk's Takeover, Twitter to Lay Off Several Employees Over Email amid Elon Musk Takeover: Reports, Employees Suing Twitter In Response to Elon Musk's Plans for Mass Layoffs, Elon Musk Goes to Heidi Klum's Halloween Party as Stars Vow to Leave Twitter Over Controversy, When Will Donald Trump Return to Twitter? And we spent three weeks making our rent-controlled apartment livable in Toronto, Maye tweeted. All rights reserved. And then thered still be all these notes sticking out, and wed sort of pull them out and put them in our pockets.. So I became a half owner of the mine, and we got emeralds for the next six years.. He would throw out everything they arrived with, so I had to buy them all new clothes and school things. In that context, its probably understandable that Musk decided enough was enough and felt he needed to answer the claims online. He added that Elon left the country as "a clear indication of his willingness to not support the political suppression in the country. Musk's father, Errol, an engineer, married Maye when she was 22, and Musk was born shortly . 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. On March 25, 2021, Elon Musktweetedthat the emerald mine inheritance rumor was false, and that he had arrived by himself in Canada in 1989 "with ~CA$2,500." Hull, Dana, and Patrick May. If I could have another child I would. Elon Musk denies his family's emerald mine ever existed Maye and Errol divorced in 1980 when Elon was about 9 years old. Kimbal is a millionaire who owns restaurant chains and spearheads a nonprofit education program, The Kitchen Community, which grows vegetables in the U.S. Tosca is a film producer and director. This is going to sound slightly crazy, but my father also had a share in an Emerald mine in Zambia. According to a Facebook post from Errol, the Zambian emerald mine he held a stake in "collapsed in 1989. "Back when I was ~$100k negative with student debt," he wrote. @spylinen tweeted, The mine was in Zambia, which became independent of the UK in 1964. The 76-year-old hasnt ruled out having more children, saying: The only thing we are on Earth for is to reproduce.. * The headline of this article was updated toreflect that the Musk family once owned the mine in question, and no longer do. We sought evidence in the case that they still had any documentation from past decades about the mine, the around $100,000 in student debt that Elon has repeatedly said he had accumulated during college, or anything else related to Elon's early finances that they have mentioned in past interviews. After his divorce from Elons mother, Errol went on to wed HeideBezuidenhout, a young widow who already had two children, including 4-year-old Jana Bezuidenhout. "One thing led to another you can call it God's plan or nature's plan. Arnold, Jeremy. He had this sense that it was definitely not a safe place to be, and he had to get the hell out.. Get to Know Errol Musk, Elon's "Brilliant," "Terrible" Father On Aug. 17, 2009, The New Yorker printed one of the earliest known searchable records of an emerald mine being tied to the Musk name. SASSA: Here are your March 2023 grant payment dates. Elon Musk helped his financially 'broke' father but on 1 condition Errol and a co-pilot were flying a plane from South Africa to England to sell the aircraft but when they couldn't make a scheduled stop in Saudi Arabia, he pivoted his plan and changed his life. Elon Musk Says He and His Brother Financed Their Father Errol Since 1990s In addition to Elon, Errol is dad to son Kimbal Musk and daughters Tosca, Alexandra and Asha Rose Musk. Chromatica Warrior @DebbieTweeted Can he be held responsible for his dads ethics tho? Soon after Elon left for Canada, his mother, Maye, moved there too, along with Elons brother, Kimbal, and sister, Tosca. He also sent a link to another interview he did with Elon in 2016. Elon would later get his own pilot's license but no longer has time to fly. Errol himself has an adventurous streak and is an avid sailor and pilot. 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. Earlier in this story, we referenced a July 3, 2020, tweet from Elon that mentioned Vance's interview. Almost every crime you can possibly think of, he has done, he continued. He's the son of Maye Musk, a model and dietitian from Canada, and Errol Musk, a South African electromechanical engineer, pilot, and sailor. Where is this B.S. The Save Journalism Committee, 9 Mar. In 1972, Errol was elected to the Pretoria City Council in his native South Africa. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. By email, Clash told us he had no idea why it was no longer hosted by Forbes. The funding we raised for our first company came from a small group of random angel investors in Silicon Valley. According to reporting we reviewed, the stake his father had in the emerald mine appeared to have both started and ended in the 1980s. In the biography Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, author Ashlee Vance wrote that Errol invested $28,000 in Elon and Kimbal's then-fledgling company, Zip2. In times of uncertainty you need journalism you can trust. ". Once the kids were living with me, they visited their father some weekends. How A Rumor About Elon Musk's Family Emerald Mine Fortune Took A Life 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. Kaizer Chiefs to sign more Swallows players. Musk left his father behind at the age of 17 to pursue his dreams in North America and escape conscription into the South African military. Esquire, 5 June 2015, https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a35508/elon-musk-college-years-canada-u-penn/. For a while, I thought things were so obvious that everyone must know this.". "We went to . In 2017, Errol told Rolling Stone that while he has never intentionally hurt or threatened anyone, he once shot and killed a group of burglars at his home in Johannesburg, though he says he was cleared of all charges because he acted in self-defense. 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. Jack @lets_gobaby tweeted, Ok but how does inheriting money mean you arent smart?. 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. His father, Errol Musk, had a casual attitude towards the family's considerable wealth, including the stones that came from the Zambian emerald mine in which Errol owned a half share. "The Man Who's Revolutionizing The Future Of Driving -- And The Universe." Our offices are for administrative purposes only, no visitors will be accepted without an appointment. 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. 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. So we went to this guy's prefab and he opened his safe and there was just stacks of money and he paid me out, 80,000, it was a huge amount of money, he said. Kaizer Chiefs to sign more Stellenbosch players? 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. Musk, Errol. Has even greenlit racism by saying those on receiving end need thick skin.https://t.co/DhpANcrqNp https://t.co/OESO1BJTtE, Can he be held responsible for his dad's ethics tho? All Rights Reserved. He is the father of business magnate and billionaire Elon Musk, restaurateur Kimbal Musk, and filmmaker Tosca Musk. Errol Musk (born 1946) is a South African electromechanical engineer, pilot, sailor, consultant, and property developer who was once a co-owner of a Zambian emerald mine near Lake Tanganyika. Get down!'. 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. Nothing, nothing. The buyer also offered Errol the option to buy half of an emerald mine with that cash. Where is this bs coming from?" Errol Musk - Wikipedia We were going to fly into Jeddah and there was a religious holiday and they said if we come in now we have to pay $2,000 but if we wait 10 days we can come in at no charge. 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. Elon and Kimbal allegedly sold 2 emeralds: one worth $800 and another worth $1200. Elon Musk Once Called His Father, Errol Musk, a 'Terrible Human' I left South Africa by myself when I was 17 with just a backpack & suitcase of books. In the meantime, Musk continues to make waves on multiple technological fronts, all while raising concerns about workers' rights and income inequality. And, on at least one occasion, his now famous son also took his hand at dealing in the gems, with peculiar results. So we decided to head back to Lake Tanganyika from where we were, I think we were in Djibouti., Errol Musk (father of one Elon Musk) on raising one of the world's most famous billionaires: http://t.co/Fg8xmqN1L0 pic.twitter.com/LVJyMdebZK. Note: Some of the tweets that promoted the rumor said that Elon did not found Tesla, which was true. Eligon, John, and Lynsey Chutel. In an interview with The Sun, Errol recalled the attack, claiming that he was confronted by a group of seven men inside his home and shot back at the intruders after they opened fire. . He confirmed the birth of their daughter to The Sun in 2022. Zip2's purpose was to provide "a searchable business directory that could be described as an internet version of the yellow pages telephone directory with maps included," according to Britannica.com. In December 2019, Elon denied the emerald mine-and-lavish-lifestyle story on Twitter, saying it was a lie. ---. [22] He is estranged from his son Elon. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. While in Djibouti, he and his co-pilot sold their plane to some Italian nationals. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Elon Musks bid to implant chips into human brains shot down by feds, How the feds spend $74M a year to try to censor Americans, US government-funded research tagged Americans for Twitter ban: report, Tesla stock slumps as Master Plan 3 event falls flat with investors, after confirming he fathered a second secret love child, once rumored to be the co-owner of a Zambian emerald mine, an outspoken advocate for abolishing apartheid, Ashlee Vances 2017 biography of the Tesla founder, that he welcomed twochildren with an executive, second child with his ex-girlfriend, Grimes. I'm going to wait until he comes to his senses. 2021, https://www.theonion.com/the-richest-person-in-every-state-and-how-they-made-the-1846312073. Ive tried everything. Ashlee Vance interviewed hundreds of people. Elon Musks family wealth has once again resurfaced as a talking point. "'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." ERROL IS A RETIRED SOUTH AFRICAN ENGINEER. This article is actually accurate: https://t.co/eVpCX9V1NB. Moneycontrol.com, 21 Sept. 2022, https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/elon-musk-hits-out-at-us-professor-over-emerald-mine-claims-idiot-and-liar-9208281.html. Meanwhile, Musk's defenders often say that the mogul has denied this story, though that is not precisely true either. To add to the truth, we went to Boston Chicken in Philadelphia for Thanksgiving because we couldnt afford a turkey. Bridges to Italy tweeted, Yeah, hes not that bright, just like the guy who started this thread. They still dont like it. "'His Family Stole an Emerald Mine.'" His net worth is. Business Insider South Africa, 28 Feb. 2018, https://www.businessinsider.co.za/how-elon-musks-family-came-to-own-an-emerald-mine-2018-2. "Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done It's so terrible, you can't believe it.