The billionaire, who was born in South Africa, took to. Although Musk said that his father was brilliant at engineering in the Rolling Stone interview, thats where the praise ended. Elon would later get his own pilot's license but no longer has time to fly. 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. While the story merely pointed to the facts that apartheid existed at the time and the Musk family made money from emerald mining, Musk to his frustration has found it hard to brush off the narrative of his wealth being linked to apartheid. Elon Musk denies his family's emerald mine ever existed 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. 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. Almost every crime you can possibly think of, he has done. Whats very difficult for others is easy for me. 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. You could tell by the way that he told the story. Errol talked about Elons fascination with computers when they first came out in the mid-80s, during an interview on radio station 702 in Johannesburg, as reported by Forbes. "Who Is Elon Musk's Estranged Father? His mother Maye responded on Twitter in December 2019 in defense of Elon. There, the two South Africans ran into a group of Italians who, as it happened, were in the market for an airplane. Errol has long since retired from the engineering business and now lives a quiet life in the Western Cape in South Africa. It would have been great if someone was paying for my college, but my dad had neither the ability nor the inclination to do so. AskMen, 2 Jan. 2015, https://www.askmen.com/entertainment/right-stuff/elon-musk-interview.html. The netizen claimed that the Business Insider article didnt show the real extent of the Musk family profiting from apartheid. He also added, "'Self-made billionaires' are a myth." He continued: He grabbed some weapons, as you could see on the cameras there were some intruders that were coming over the walls, and they were also armed. "Elon Musk Hits out at US Professor over Emerald Mine Claims: 'Idiot and Liar.'" 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 . Meet Elon Musk's controversial father, Errol On an undisclosed date, Errol reportedly shot and killed three of up to a half-dozen armed intruders who broke into his Johannesburg home, according to Rolling Stone. Invest in the future today. As well as providing links, people started commenting Musk's own words back at him under his tweet. 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. "[4][8], In 1972, he was elected to the Pretoria City Council as a representative of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party. For the state of Texas, The Onion printed, "Elon Musk: Apartheid.". He's the son of Maye Musk, a model and dietitian from Canada, and Errol Musk, a South African electromechanical engineer, pilot, and sailor. In addition, they offered Errol a chance to buy partial ownership of a Zambian emerald mine. On July 28, 2014, Forbes.com published an interview with Elon Musk, which was conducted by Jim Clash. Theyre the same, except for the fact that he is a billionaire, started multiple successful companies and doesnt live in his mothers basement. Some of his most vocal detractors have promoted the idea that Musk, like Trump, began his career backed by the deep pockets of dear old dad. 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." My dad was not physically violent with me. "Everybody I knew called him 'the Pig' because he treated me so badly in public. 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 a 2019 . A teenage Elon Musk once casually sold his father's - Businessinsider Ask him." After the divorce, Elon lived with his father in Pretoria, where he attended Pretoria Boys High. ---. 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. I've tried everything. 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. . All Rights Reserved. Hes the son of Maye Musk, a model and dietitian from Canada, and Errol Musk, a South African electromechanical engineer, pilot, and sailor. I said, Oh, all right. Elon Musk's family once owned an emerald mine in Zambia here's the I couldnt even afford a 2nd PC at Zip2, so programmed at night & website only worked during day.. He also called the whole rumor "BS.". Theyd seen I was sleeping in one morning, and they said, Oh lets just try, lets go.. 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.. 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. 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? Jeff Bezos' garage-based start was funded by a quarter . Quora, 9 Mar. 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. It is still hard to discern whether this story is true and what conclusions can be drawn. He also co-founded PayPal, which means a Twitter user said The WHOLE bank on the internet was started by him (yes, your credit card as well). Errol named his price, and a deal was done. "We went to this guy's prefab [home] and he opened his safe," Errol said. 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. 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. Nothing, nothing. 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. It didn't work out too well in the end," he said. According to the Twitter flag, Musk claimed in 2014 to Forbes that he had an emerald mine in Zambia. ", 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. But the emerald mine story keeps coming back. We also reached out to media relations personnel at SpaceX, where he is the founder and CEO, as well as Tesla and Twitter. 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. Musk's revelation about his father's financial situation in the '90s comes after a Berkeley professor and former Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, claimed on Twitter that 'self-made billionaires' are a myth and Musk came from a family that owned an emerald mine in Apartheid South Africa. Once the Musk emerald story started circulating, and information about Musk's father Errol's past business dealings got out, a cavalcade of internet poo-pooers flocked to Twitter to lambast Musk . Britannica.com, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zip2. Viral: When Elon Musk's bank account was in negative due to student 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. Harris Goe Canadian teacher with size-Z prosthetic breasts placed on paid leave, What's next for Buster Murdaugh after dad's murder conviction, life sentence, Murdaugh son collapsed outside court after sitting stone-faced through dad's 6-week murder trial: source, Murderer Alex Murdaugh shaves head for latest mugshot after learning his fate, Kelly Osbourne posts first photo of baby son as he hangs out with uncle Jack, Greys Anatomy alum Isaiah Washington retiring from acting: The haters have won, Madonna watches new boyfriend Joshua Poppers fight in New York City, Kellyanne Conway and George Conway to divorce.