He told me over and over that I was stupid, ugly, boring. 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. Or they'd take the plane to Lake Tanganyika [in Zambia], where Errol had a stake in an emerald mine. Maye and Errol divorced in 1980 when Elon was about 9 years old. * The headline of this article was updated toreflect that the Musk family once owned the mine in question, and no longer do. Musk may not be a great guy, but I fail to see any apartheid link to his fathers emerald mine., @grard97 tweeted, Remind: Elon Musk owns an electric and autonomous car companyA private space landing rockets companyAn AI companyA Neuroscience companyA Solar Panel and energy storage companyThe WHOLE bank on the internet was started by him (yes, your credit card as well), @C49015142 tweeted, I thought I read in Malcolm Gladwells book David and Goliath that his company received $500 million from the US government, so we are all subsidizing him. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com, Image Via PHILIP PACHECO/AFP via Getty Images. [9], Errol Musk's claims that he invested in Elon Musk's software company Zip2 have been rejected by Elon Musk. According to a Facebook post from Errol, the Zambian emerald mine he held a stake in "collapsed in 1989. "[4][8], In 1972, he was elected to the Pretoria City Council as a representative of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party. 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. . I can't see any reason not to. In South Africa, my father had a private plane we'd fly in incredibly dangerous weather and barely make it back. 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. I couldnt even afford a 2nd PC at Zip2, so programmed at night & website only worked during day. There was a shooting in the living room, and I guess his father shot them dead. Wayback Machine. Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Note: The reference to Zip2 concerned Elon's "first enterprise" in 1995. 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. [10][11] Musk told Agence France-Presse that he was a strict father who raised his children with discipline and austerity. He is the father of business magnate and billionaire Elon Musk, restaurateur Kimbal Musk, and filmmaker Tosca Musk. https://web.archive.org/. ", 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. Though Errol has made headlines in recent years after the births of his two youngest children, he seemingly avoids the spotlight. Ive tried everything. In his interview with Business Insider South Africa, Errol said that he was to blame for his divorce from model Maye Musk, with whom he shares Elon, Kimbal and Tosca. [21] As of 2022, Musk and Jana Bezuidenhout were no longer living together. 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? "Elon Musk Is the Hero America Deserves." It was kind of weird for them to walk into Tiffanys. "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.". Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done., He was such a terrible human being. Clash, Jim. [18][19] Musk described the first child as unplanned. More answers and details are available in Arnold's article. I felt sorry for my father, because my mother had all three kids. The eccentric billionaire once again attempted to set the record straight about his familys emerald mines to respond to Twitter user @howlpolitically. r/EnoughMuskSpam via Reddit.com, 18 Dec. 2021, https://www.reddit.com/r/EnoughMuskSpam/comments/rj689s/elon_musk_and_the_emerald_mine/. He also called the whole rumor "BS.". Offers may be subject to change without notice. Business Insider South Africa, 22 Feb. 2018, https://www.businessinsider.co.za/elon-musk-sells-the-family-emeralds-in-new-york-2018-2. "They didn't like it.". Jordan Liles is a Snopes reporter with expertise in investigating misinformation, inauthentic social media activity, and scams. Errol himself has an adventurous streak and is an avid sailor and pilot. He has also dismissed rumors that his father co-owned a Zambian emerald mine, writing on Twitter in 2019: He didnt own an emerald mine & I worked my way through college, ending up ~$100k in student debt. According to the Twitter flag, Musk claimed in 2014 to Forbes that he had an emerald mine in Zambia. Earlier in this story, we referenced a July 3, 2020, tweet from Elon that mentioned Vance's interview. 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. 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. For 14 free days, you can have access to a world of in-depth analyses, investigative journalism, top opinions and a range of features. My dad will have a carefully thought-out plan of evil. Instead, Musk has sought to dispel the general belief that he comes from wealth. His children were reportedly influenced by his liberal political views. Elon and other family members have opened up about years of living in debt after they left South Africa. [Jana] stayed here for about 18 months after Rushi was born. Elon was a witness to this, bullets flying around, Cattrell further claimed. All the Musk siblings did well, Forbes reported. In addition to Elon, Errol is dad to son Kimbal Musk and daughters Tosca, Alexandra and Asha Rose Musk. 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. Here is the incredible true story of Errol Musk and the striking similarities he shares with his powerful son. And we spent three weeks making our rent-controlled apartment livable in Toronto, Maye tweeted. FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ERROL MUSK 1. Wanderlust ran on both sides of the family. Friend, Tad. Aside from that hes just dumb. Heres his story. All rights reserved. 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. The Onion, 22 Mar. Elon Musk's father planned to fly a plane from South Africa to England and sell it once they got there. How much of a Momentum Proteas Womens cricket fan are you? "Elon Musk Hits out at US Professor over Emerald Mine Claims: 'Idiot and Liar.'" Arnold, Jeremy. On July 28, 2014, Forbes.com published an interview with Elon Musk, which was conducted by Jim Clash. Other companies started by Musk include Neuralink, which is working on developing implantable brainmachine interfaces. Its unclear how old Elon was at the time and whether he was even present is in dispute. For example, on Dec. 28, 2019, hetweetedthat his father "didn't own an emerald mine" and that he (Elon) had worked his way through college, ending up with around $100,000 in student debt. "He didn't own an emerald mine & I worked my way through college, ending up ~$100k in student debt. This is why people are switching to @TheBabylonBee! Musk wrote. Bill Gates' mom helped Microsoft get a deal with IBM. So it was very formative for him. It was also shared on Reddit.com. "There was just stacks of money and he paid me out, 80,000, it was a huge amount of money." "The Richest Person In Every State And How They Made Their Money." 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. "Tesla, Inc."Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tesla-Motors. ", 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.". In that way, Errol might be like estranged Elon after all. "Exploring the Otherworldly Ambitions of Elon Musk." Where is this bs coming from? He also added, "'Self-made billionaires' are a myth." Elon has himself admitted that his father has a very high IQ and is brilliant at engineering.. And, on at least one occasion, his now famous son also took his hand at dealing in the gems, with peculiar results. In 2017, family members were left stunned when Jana became pregnant with Errols baby. "'His Family Stole an Emerald Mine.'" In the mid 1980s, Elon Musks father Errol and a copilot were on their way to England aboard a plane they hoped to sell when they landed there. On Wednesday, Errol confirmed that he and Jana had welcomed a second child, a daughter who is now 3. The way Errol tells it, that all started with an inconvenient religious holiday. "I paid my own way through collegethrough student loans, scholarships, working jobsand ended up with $100,000 of student debt," Musk says. "They just walked into Tiffany's and said, 'Do you want to buy some emeralds?' "We were lonely, lost people," Errol said. Errol Musk was born in Pretoria South Africa to Walter Henry James and Cora Amelia Robinson. [10] She gave birth to three children; Elon Reeve Musk born on 28 June 1971, Kimbal Reeve Musk born on 20 September 1972, and Tosca Musk born on 20 July 1974. [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. 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. Elon called the story "actually accurate." 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 . 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. Theyd seen I was sleeping in one morning, and they said, Oh lets just try, lets go.. R/EnoughMuskSpam via Reddit.com, 5 Dec. 2019, www.reddit.com/r/EnoughMuskSpam/comments/e6j76f/his_family_stole_an_emerald_mine/. One of their homes was in Waterkloof, a leafy suburb of Pretoria that was popular with foreign diplomats. It was a lucrative decision. "Zip2." 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. "So we decided to head back to Lake Tanganyika from where we were, I think we were in Djibouti.". Reich, theformer secretary of labor under U.S. President Bill Clinton and a professor of public policy at University of California, Berkeley, had tweeted,"Elon Musk came from a family that owned an emerald mine in apartheid South Africa." At 17, Musk decided to leave home, heading first to Canada and then the U.S. for university. For a while, I thought things were so obvious that everyone must know this., However, Elon has disputed claims that he grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth. The child, a boy named Elliot Rush, is now 5 years old. Jeff Bezos' garage-based start was funded by a quarter . 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. 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. Thereafter you will be billed R75 per month. 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. "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 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. Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done. Journalism strengthens democracy. Note: Reporting from Esquire.com said that Elon moved from South Africa to Canada in 1988. Errol Musk, the family's patriarch, is in the news after confirming he fathered a second secret love child with his stepdaughter, Jana Bezuidenhout, 35. The emerald mine was not mentioned in that interview. At the conference, Elon talked to some professors who told Errol, This boy needs to get his hands on one of these computers. Elon Musk addressed the recent social storm when claims related his familys emerald mines in apartheid-South Africa resurfaced online. So I thought, I can be company. Yeah, I was sad for my father. ---. There, the two South Africans ran into a group of Italians who, as it happened, were in the market for an airplane. Errol and Jana welcomed a son, Elliot "Rushi" Rush, in 2017 and a daughter in 2019. [23], In 1998, Musk shot and killed three out of six or seven burglars who forced their way into his Johannesburg home and who opened fire upon detection.[24]. In December 2019, Elon denied the emerald mine-and-lavish-lifestyle story on Twitter, saying it was a lie. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. Instead, we will concentrate on the two Business Insider South Africa articles mentioned by Arnold that appeared to provide the roots of the "apartheid emerald mine" rumor. "'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." 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. Errol Musk, an engineer, owned a small percentage of an emerald mine and had a couple of good years before the mine went bust and wiped out his investment. Nothing, nothing. We had so much money at times we couldnt even close our safe, he explained, adding that they would need one person to hold the money in place and another to close the safe door. For the state of Texas, The Onion printed, "Elon Musk: Apartheid.". Move over, Elon theres another Musk hitting the headlines. - February 10, 2021 02:34 pm EST. It was a lucrative decision. "We were very wealthy. ", Errol and Elon have an acrimonious relationship. He has a net worth of $2 million and is living quite comfortably. "So I became a half-owner of the mine, and we got emeralds for the next six years," Errol said. Vance, Ashlee. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. 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. 1/2This article is false. TheSouthAfrican.com is all about South Africa and the stories that affect South Africans, wherever they are in the world. "Elon Musk's family owns an emerald mine" was corrected to "Elon Musk's family once owned an emerald mine." There were AK-47s all over the place and I'm thinking, "Man, this could really go bad.". On holidays, Errol and his kids would travel, he said: to Europe, Hong Kong, throughout the United States. Musk's father said that Tiffanys set the $800 emerald in a ring and offered it for $24,000, which he said was an object lesson in retail markup for the family. But the emerald mine story keeps coming back. 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. 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. 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. "'His Family Stole an Emerald Mine.'" Kaizer Chiefs to sign more Stellenbosch players? @Keewa tweeted on May 9, 2020, Remind: Elon Musk inherited money from his fathers apartheid emerald mine, that doesnt mean hes clever. By some accounts, Elon is reported to have witnessed the attack, with Errol later telling Rolling Stone that he acted in self-defense; he was never convicted of any crime. Errol Musk bought 50% of the emerald mine in 1969 for about 40,000, which is equal to about 160 000 today. [4], Musk met Maye Haldeman when he was 11 years old and they were childhood friends before marrying in 1970. His parents divorced. "He also claims he was getting emeralds from other sources, with only 60-70% coming from this venture." This is a pretty awful lie. The netizen claimed that the Business Insider article didnt show the real extent of the Musk family profiting from apartheid. He was such a terrible human being. The New York Times, 5 May 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/05/world/africa/elon-musk-south-africa.html. 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 . Unlike his son, Tesla and Twitter CEO Elon Musk, Errol has mostly flown under the radar, though the father of seven has had an increasingly public profile over the last few years, largely due to his complicated family relationships. ---. The Associated Press, 20 July 2021, https://apnews.com/article/business-science-3546262d41f4c84763aa15339f642a5a. They also emphasize anecdotes from Elon and his mother about the hard work and squalor they endured in Canada in those years. Jump to Main content Search Account Menu icon A vertical stack of three evenly spaced horizontal. Their half-sister.. Twitter, https://twitter.com/elonmusk/. 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. From impregnating his stepdaughter to the emerald mine, here's what we know about Elon Musk's South African father Errol Musk. "Back when I was ~$100k negative with student debt," he wrote. Regardless of your opinion of him, he is aself-made billionaire." In a 2019 . Errols grandmother was Canadas first chiropractor, while Errols own mom and dad were the first two people to fly from South Africa to Australia in a single-engine airplane, according to Forbes magazine. Standing with the cash in his hand, Errol was made another offer he couldn't refuse: Would he like to buy half an emerald mine for half of his new riches? We also reached out to media relations personnel at SpaceX, where he is the founder and CEO, as well as Tesla and Twitter. The article was republished in several other newspapers around the U.S. Ashlee Vance interviewed hundreds of people. Errol Musk said he bought half of an emerald mine after selling a plane. Musk replied, linking to Jeremy Arnolds article, which gave Musks side of the story. 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. I said, Oh, all right. "She wasn't planned," Errol said of his youngest child. The Musk name might be one of the most recognizable on the planet, but little is known about its patriarch, Errol Musk. Hes the son of Maye Musk, a model and dietitian from Canada, and Errol Musk, a South African electromechanical engineer, pilot, and sailor. Almost every crime you can possibly think of, he has done," Elon said. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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 did not receive a response before this story was published. Forbes, 28 July 2014, https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2014/07/28/elon-musk-tells-me-his-secret-of-success-hint-it-aint-about-the-money/. Britannica.com, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zip2. Jack @lets_gobaby tweeted, Ok but how does inheriting money mean you arent smart?. 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. For a while, I thought things were so obvious that everyone must know this.". ", 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. Curiously, Errol has said nothing more about the controversial emerald mine story in the years since, even in recent interviews like his discussion with Forbes last year. Smart Policies are as low as $30 a month, No Medical Exam Required The 76-year-old is most notable for being Elons estranged father, with the pair famously falling out several years ago. Clash's same 2014 interview was also republished by AskMen.com on Jan. 2, 2015. 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 up ~$100k in student debt. Elon would later get his own pilot's license but no longer has time to fly. [3][4], Musk worked as a pilot, a sailor, an electrical engineer, a mechanical engineer, a consultant, and a property developer, before retiring early. 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.
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