[2] In 1969, he became a 50% owner of an emerald mine on Lake Tanganyika,[2][5] that he bought for 40,000, funded by selling an airplane for 80,000 (the equivalent of 320,000 today). Recently, Elon Musk had to set the record straight on a narrative spun over three years ago about his family owning an emerald mine in South Africa. The headline of the story read, "Elon Musk Tells Me His Secret Of Success (Hint: It Ain't About The Money).". Forbes, 1 Oct. 2016, https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2016/10/01/can-elon-musk-really-get-us-to-mars-within-10-years/. Bridges to Italy tweeted, Yeah, hes not that bright, just like the guy who started this thread. 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. SASSA: Here are your March 2023 grant payment dates. 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. Not all the tweets were supportive of Elon. Where is this bs coming from? Arnold, Jeremy. 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. FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ERROL MUSK 1. "Like every abused woman, I was embarrassed, and I knew I had made a mistake, you know? Clearly, Elon Musk doesn't like being mocked. Note: The reference to Zip2 concerned Elon's "first enterprise" in 1995. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. 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. r/EnoughMuskSpam via Reddit.com, 18 Dec. 2021, https://www.reddit.com/r/EnoughMuskSpam/comments/rj689s/elon_musk_and_the_emerald_mine/. This is a pretty awful lie, Elon tweeted. 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. TheSouthAfrican.com is all about South Africa and the stories that affect South Africans, wherever they are in the world. 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. 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. [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 an interview with Business Insider South Africa, Errol admitted that, at one point, he literally made more money than he could physically handle. 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. The Daily Mail has reported that Errol was a multimillionaire before the age of 30. First, we have republished past statements from both Errol and Elon. Errol and Heide eventually divorced after an 18-year marriage. He will plan evil. 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 51-year-old has refuted claims that he grew up rich amid statements that his father Errol owned an emerald mine in South Africa. More answers and details are available in Arnold's article. He did the investment after selling a plane for about 80 000. In a 2019 . As well as providing links, people started commenting Musk's own words back at him under his tweet. Business Insider South Africa, 22 Feb. 2018, https://www.businessinsider.co.za/elon-musk-sells-the-family-emeralds-in-new-york-2018-2. At the conference, Elon talked to some professors who told Errol, This boy needs to get his hands on one of these computers. 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. My Dad provided 10% of a ~$200k angel funding round much later, but by then risk was reduced & round would've happened anyway.". The constant resurfacing of the story is probably what spurred Musk into replying on Twitter. Related stories Making better AI is Elon Musk's new object of . In my experience, there is nothing you can do, Elon said of Errol. 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. It is still hard to discern whether this story is true and what conclusions can be drawn. Our offices are for administrative purposes only, no visitors will be accepted without an appointment. In 1970, Errol married modelMaye Haldeman Musk before the pair welcomed three children: Elon, Kimbal and Tosca. All the Musk siblings did well, Forbes reported. The Onion, a satirical publication, shared. by Marilynn Manuel 13-02-2023 13:43 [9], Errol Musk's claims that he invested in Elon Musk's software company Zip2 have been rejected by Elon Musk. In South Africa, my father had a private plane we'd fly in incredibly dangerous weather and barely make it back. But I didnt really understand at the time what kind of person he was. 2021, https://savingjournalism.substack.com/p/i-talked-to-elon-musk-about-journalism. The billionaire, who was born in South Africa, took to. 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. 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. So I became a half owner of the mine, and we got emeralds for the next six years.". Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. He said that he sold and traded these emeralds himself and that at one point, Elon himself even went out to sell some of the stones. Elon Musks family wealth has once again resurfaced as a talking point. Instead, they focus on describing how hard he worked in his teenage years and early adulthood, how much debt he accrued by attending college and his disdain for his father. On July 28, 2014, Forbes.com published an interview with Elon Musk, which was conducted by Jim Clash. 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. In a 2017 Rolling Stone cover story, the Tesla CEO described his childhood and revealed that he moved in with his father at eight years old after his parents split. Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done. The Save Journalism Committee, 9 Mar. One thing most of us can agree on is that there is a more nuanced conversation to be had about how Musk specifically and South Africas white population in general, even those who didnt own mines benefitted from apartheid. 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. Errol has long since retired from the engineering business and now lives a quiet life in the Western Cape in South Africa. "She wasn't planned," Errol said of his youngest child. 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. The way Errol tells it, that all started with an inconvenient religious holiday. In that way, Errol might be like estranged Elon after all. 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. The Twitter account no longer exists. Here's what to know about Elon Musk's estranged father, Errol Musk. Soon after Elon left for Canada, his mother, Maye, moved there too, along with Elons brother, Kimbal, and sister, Tosca. Are you prioritizing your cable entertainment bill over protecting and investing in your family? 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. The Onion, 22 Mar. [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. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and his mother, Maye Musk. 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. You have no idea.. In an interview with Rolling Stone, during which he reportedly cried, Elon called his father "a terrible human being" and "evil. Errol and Elons feud has reportedly been exacerbated by the patriarchs eyebrow-raising relationships. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. 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. luis carruthers @orthereaboot tweeted, When the same pattern of racist behavior happens at all $tsla locations, its the company thats racist, and the fish rots from @elonmusks head.. mark_able_jones_. 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. ", 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 an interview with Express, Cattrell recalled: One night, they were sitting in the living room and his dad said Everybody down! 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. I couldnt even afford a 2nd PC at Zip2, so programmed at night & website only worked during day. In the interview, the Tesla owner briefly mentioned that his father had a share in an emerald mine in Zambia. Errol employed a cutter in Johannesburg and sold the stones wherever his travels as an engineer or family holidays took him. "So I became a half-owner of the mine, and we got emeralds for the next six years," Errol said. 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. To summarize Arnold's story would be difficult, as it contained a considerable amount of data and analysis. 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. Copyright Blue Sky Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved. It was revealed last weekthat he welcomed twochildren with an executiveat his artificial intelligence company, Neuralink, just weeks before hissecond child with his ex-girlfriend, Grimes,was born. The patriarch confirmed the shootings to the publication in 2017, saying manslaughter charges were later dropped because he acted in self-defense. "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. I couldnt even afford a 2nd PC at Zip2, so programmed at night & website only worked during day.. Copyright 2023 PopCulture.com. 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. "One thing led to another you can call it God's plan or nature's plan. Errols other children we also shocked and uncomfortable about the surprise pregnancy. Errol Musk was born in Pretoria South Africa to Walter Henry James and Cora Amelia Robinson. You could tell by the way that he told the story. An avid pilot and sailor, as well as an electrical and mechanical engineer, he made his money consulting and developing properties and retired early. Note: Reporting from Esquire.com said that Elon moved from South Africa to Canada in 1988. He added that Elon left the country as "a clear indication of his willingness to not support the political suppression in the country. This article is actually accurate: https://t.co/eVpCX9V1NB. "My [former] wife doesn't speak to me, even when we're together, she won't speak to me, so we haven't spoken to one other for 37 years. In the past, the Tesla CEO hasrespondedseveral times on Twitter about the emerald mine rumors. 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. His grandmother broke barriers of her own, becoming the first-ever chiropractor in Canada. In that context, its probably understandable that Musk decided enough was enough and felt he needed to answer the claims online. 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). Nothing, nothing. Elon would later get his own pilot's license but no longer has time to fly. ", Five days later on Feb. 28, Business Insider SA published a second article with the headline, "Elon Musk's family owns an emerald mine in Zambia here's the fascinating story of how they came to own it.". @Keewa tweeted on May 9, 2020, Remind: Elon Musk inherited money from his fathers apartheid emerald mine, that doesnt mean hes clever. 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. 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. After the divorce, Elon lived with his father in Pretoria, where he attended Pretoria Boys High. We've received your submission. [22] He is estranged from his son Elon. Smart Policies are as low as $30 a month, No Medical Exam Required Their half-sister.. "Elon Musk's Vision of an Electric-Car Future." But I've been in physical danger before. "We went to this guy's prefab [home] and he opened his safe," Errol said. There were AK-47s all over the place and I'm thinking, "Man, this could really go bad.". [13] After engaging in extra-marital affairs,[4] Errol and Maye divorced in 1979, and both sons moved in with their father. * The headline of this article was updated toreflect that the Musk family once owned the mine in question, and no longer do. On their way to England, Errol and his copilot got word that their original flight plan was going to cost a lot of money. Vance, Ashlee. [2] His grandmother was the first chiropractor in Canada. EM: Company death not succeeding with the company causes me a lot more stress than physical danger. Bloomberg.com, 22 May 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-05-22/elon-musk-speaks-frankly-on-coronavirus-spacex-and-rage-tweets. His parents divorced. coming from?. Later, on Sept. 20, 2022, hecalledRobert Reich "an idiot and a liar" for tweeting a video that pushed the emerald mine wealth rumor as fact. 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. While in Djibouti, he and his co-pilot sold their plane to some Italian nationals. ", 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. For a while, I thought things were so obvious that everyone must know this.". Several decades ago, Errol allegedly shot and killed three armed intruders who broke into his Johannesburg home. In an interview with Business Insider South Africa, Musk's father Errol Musk said he negotiated his way into having partial ownership of an Emerald mine in Zambia along with other assets. Elon also denied that Errol invested in the company. As a child, Elon had a close relationship with his father and grew up prosperous in Pretoria. "Elon Musk Is the Hero America Deserves." It didn't work out too well in the end," he said. @spylinen tweeted, The mine was in Zambia, which became independent of the UK in 1964. How much of a Momentum Proteas Womens cricket fan are you? It spoke of the divorce of Elon's parents, Errol and Maye Musk, and also contained a quick mention of an emerald mine. Invest in the future today. He would throw out everything they arrived with, so I had to buy them all new clothes and school things. 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've tried everything. We reached out to AskMen.com to ask if the fact that some of the pages were gone was a glitch, or if it was a purposeful partial removal. - February 10, 2021 02:34 pm EST. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. I wish. [6][7] In a 2018 interview with Business Insider, Musk boasted that as a result of the emerald mine "we had so much money we couldn't even close our 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. odakyu11. 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. He didnt own an emerald mine, and I worked my way through college, ending up [around] $100,000 in student debt, Elon tweeted. Where is this bs coming from?" It was that lifestyle, Errol says, that turned Elon into the kind of merchant adventurer who would later break the rules of the motoring business with Tesla, then go on to change spaceflight with SpaceX. Are broader financial markets in a massive speculative bubble? His net worth is. 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.