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. The constant resurfacing of the story is probably what spurred Musk into replying on Twitter. Musk's defenders have also pointed out that Errol's alleged trade took place in the mid-1980s, at which point Zambia was independent. "But I mean, we were living together. Here is the incredible true story of Errol Musk and the striking similarities he shares with his powerful son. 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. "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. The child, a boy named Elliot Rush, is now 5 years old. In 1972, Errol was elected to the Pretoria City Council in his native South Africa. [3][4], Musk worked as a pilot, a sailor, an electrical engineer, a mechanical engineer, a consultant, and a property developer, before retiring early. Errol Musk was born in Pretoria South Africa to Walter Henry James and Cora Amelia Robinson. What We Know About Elon Musk and the Emerald Mine Rumor The tweet was shared as a screenshot on Imgur.com, which showed the image had been viewed more than 300,000 times. Errol himself has an adventurous streak and is an avid sailor and pilot. He was married to Maye Musk and also to Heide Musk, with whom he has two children, Alexandra and Rose. The article was titled, "I Talked to Elon Musk about Journalism and the Blood Emeralds Story.". Jana was 4 years old when Errol married her mother, Heide Bezuidenhout though he claims that he didn't consider Jana his stepdaughter, as she primarily grew up separate from the Musks. He is the father of business magnate and billionaire Elon Musk, restaurateur Kimbal Musk, and filmmaker Tosca Musk. Musk had earlier slammed Reich for misrepresenting his background in the post, which argued that "self-made billionaires are a myth" and named the SpaceX founder and other prominent business. Britannica.com, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zip2. He began his career as an electromechanical engineer. 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. 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. One of their homes was in Waterkloof, a leafy suburb of Pretoria that was popular with foreign diplomats. I couldn't even afford a 2nd PC at Zip2, so programmed at night & website only worked during day. 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. [1] His father was a South African veteran of World War II and his mother was British. He also claimed, "My father & his extended family have been dependent on financial support from my brother & me for over 20 years.". Kaizer Chiefs to sign more Stellenbosch players? In 2018, Musk also told Business Insider that his father Errol purchased a 50 per cent share in the mine after selling a plane. 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 New York Times, 5 May 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/05/world/africa/elon-musk-south-africa.html. Note: The reference to Zip2 concerned Elon's "first enterprise" in 1995. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Errol was born in South Africa to a British mother and a South African father. [21] As of 2022, Musk and Jana Bezuidenhout were no longer living together. "Like every abused woman, I was embarrassed, and I knew I had made a mistake, you know? He was such a terrible human being. 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. Heres his story. ---. In the interview, the Tesla owner briefly mentioned that his father had a share in an emerald mine in Zambia. ", "You have no idea about how bad. According to the story, in the mid-1980s, Errol and a copilot landed their plane near Lake Tanganyika in Zambia, where "a group of Italians" offered them 80,000 pounds in British currency in order to buy the plane. As well as providing links, people started commenting Musk's own words back at him under his tweet. Answer these 2 simple questions & WIN R1000 in cash! Elliot Rush Musk Biography: Age, Networth and All you need to know There is a more nuanced conversation to be had about how Elon Musk specifically and South Africas white population in general benefitted from apartheid. In 1970, Errol married modelMaye Haldeman Musk before the pair welcomed three children: Elon, Kimbal and Tosca. And, on at least one occasion, his now famous son also took his hand at dealing in the gems, with peculiar results. In the meantime, Musk continues to make waves on multiple technological fronts, all while raising concerns about workers' rights and income inequality. Errols other children we also shocked and uncomfortable about the surprise pregnancy. Errol Musk, the familys patriarch, is in the news after confirming he fathered a second secret love child with his stepdaughter, Jana Bezuidenhout, 35. 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. So I thought, I can be company. Yeah, I was sad for my father. SASSA: Here are your March 2023 grant payment dates. Errol Musk was born in 1946 in Pretoria to Walter Henry James Musk and Cora Amelia Robinson. 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. Snopes and the Snopes.com logo are registered service marks of Snopes.com, Image Via PHILIP PACHECO/AFP via Getty Images. "So I became a half-owner of the mine, and we got emeralds for the next six years," Errol said. 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. On July 3, 2020, Elon tweeted about the subject again, responding to a since-deleted tweet with, "I don't have an 'emerald mine,' nor was I given free money from anyone, inheritance or otherwise. Elon Musk addressed the recent social storm when claims related his family's emerald mines in apartheid-South Africa resurfaced online. 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. 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. We did not receive a response from Forbes PR. [13] After engaging in extra-marital affairs,[4] Errol and Maye divorced in 1979, and both sons moved in with their father. 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. "He didn't own an emerald mine & I worked my way through college, ending up ~$100k in student debt. Its so terrible, you cant believe it.. Errol and Heide eventually divorced after an 18-year marriage. A teenage Elon Musk once casually sold his father's - Businessinsider Move over, Elon theres another Musk hitting the headlines. 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. Fact Check: Did Elon Musk Inherit Apartheid Money From His - Moguldom 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. "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. Jeff Bezos' garage-based start was funded by a quarter . [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. [11][5] Maye has stated that Errol beat her. In addition, they offered Errol a chance to buy partial ownership of a Zambian emerald mine. 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. Viral: When Elon Musk's bank account was in negative due to student This is not true," Elon told Rolling Stone in 2017. Meet. Note: Reporting from Esquire.com said that Elon moved from South Africa to Canada in 1988. The eccentric billionaire once again attempted to set the record straight about his familys emerald mines to respond to Twitter user @howlpolitically. Get down!'. 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. He added that Elon left the country as "a clear indication of his willingness to not support the political suppression in the country. [20] Musk has a total of seven children. "They just walked into Tiffany's and said, 'Do you want to buy some emeralds?' The billionaire, who was born in South Africa, took to. Theyd seen I was sleeping in one morning, and they said, Oh lets just try, lets go.. "Everybody I knew called him 'the Pig' because he treated me so badly in public. 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 2017, family members were left stunned when Jana became pregnant with Errols baby. An avid pilot and sailor, as well as an electrical and mechanical engineer, he made his money consulting and developing properties and retired early. "I Talked to Elon Musk about Journalism and the Blood Emeralds Story." On holidays, Errol and his kids would travel, he said: to Europe, Hong Kong, throughout the United States. Kaizer Chiefs to sign more Swallows players. Errol was a successful consulting engineer, and also owned an emerald mine in Zambia. The story included reporting of Elon's denials that the emerald mine had provided any seed money for the wealth he would later accumulate. 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. 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. "Nothing, nothing. It is often claimed that Musk's father, Errol Musk, once owned shares in a Zambian emerald mine, and that Musk subsequently enjoyed an . We also reached out to media relations personnel at SpaceX, where he is the founder and CEO, as well as Tesla and Twitter. ---. According to the Internet Archive, the article was still available months after it was published, onSept. 1, 2014, but was gone by Sept. 18. Errol also added that his children were keenly aware of the country's government-sanctioned racial segregation. Errol Musk said he bought half of an emerald mine after selling a plane. 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. All Rights Reserved. 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. 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., Errol subsequently told the publication in an email: Ive been accused of being a Gay, a Misogynist, a Paedophile, a Traitor, a Rat, a St (quite often), a Bastard (by many women whose attentions I did not return) and much more. 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. There were AK-47s all over the place and I'm thinking, "Man, this could really go bad.". You have no idea.. Jordan Liles is a Snopes reporter with expertise in investigating misinformation, inauthentic social media activity, and scams. The 76-year-old is most notable for being Elons estranged father, with the pair famously falling out several years ago. 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. [15][16] At the time of their marriage, Jana Bezuidenhout was only four years old and lived together with them. 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. The entire episode started when the satirical publication The Onion published a piece on the wealthiest person in each American state. Business Insider South Africa, 23 Feb. 2018, https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-dad-tells-bi-about-the-familys-casual-attitude-to-wealth-2018-2. FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ERROL MUSK 1. He can't have what he wants and now I am apparently an evil monster.". There, the two South Africans ran into a group of Italians who, as it happened, were in the market for an airplane. Elon Musk's Dad Tells BI About the Family's Casual Attitude to Wealth You could tell by the way that he told the story. Elon has himself admitted that his father has a very high IQ and is brilliant at engineering.. Though Errol has made headlines in recent years after the births of his two youngest children, he seemingly avoids the spotlight. Elon would later get his own pilot's license but no longer has time to fly. "'His Family Stole an Emerald Mine.'" In that way, Errol might be like estranged Elon after all. Business Insider South Africa, 22 Feb. 2018, https://www.businessinsider.co.za/elon-musk-sells-the-family-emeralds-in-new-york-2018-2. The 51-year-old has refuted claims that he grew up rich amid statements that his father Errol owned an emerald mine in . Copyright 2023 PopCulture.com. "Elon Musk's Vision of an Electric-Car Future." To summarize Arnold's story would be difficult, as it contained a considerable amount of data and analysis. Elon and Kimbal allegedly sold 2 emeralds: one worth $800 and another worth $1200. . That conversation is more valuable but less newsworthy than just resurfacing the same lazy claims every few months, which are guaranteed to get clicks. Worked on my Moms cousins farm in Saskatchewan & a lumber mill in Vancouver. Elon Musk came from a family that owned an emerald mine in Apartheid South Africa. 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? Bill Gates' mom helped Microsoft get a deal with IBM. Smart Policies are as low as $30 a month, No Medical Exam Required The rumor of the "apartheid emerald mine" received a spike in shares around the time that Elon Musk completed his takeover of Twitter in late 2022. Errol and a co-pilot were flying a plane from. 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 . As a child, Elon had a close relationship with his father and grew up prosperous in Pretoria. 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 was kind of weird for them to walk into Tiffanys. Your membership is the foundation of our sustainability and resilience. The way Errol tells it, that all started with an inconvenient religious holiday. 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. Elon, 51, was brought to tears discussing his dad in a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone, describing him as evil and a terrible human being.. You can cancel anytime and if you cancel within 14 days you won't be billed. He confirmed the birth of their daughter to The Sun in 2022. Where is this bs coming from?" He was only physically violent when I was very young., He also said, You have no idea about how bad. "The Richest Person In Every State And How They Made Their Money." ". "My brother and I paid for college through scholarships, loans and working two jobs simultaneously. "Can Elon Musk Really Get Us To Mars Within 10 Years?" It was a lucrative decision. ", 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. 2021, https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-Elon-Musks-family-got-their-wealth-from-apartheid-emerald-mining. 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. Elon Musk addresses emerald mines and apartheid claims - The South African The emerald mine story, reported in 2018 in Business Insider, tells how, in the mid-1980s, Errol acquired a half-share in a Zambian emerald mine, which would help to fund his familys lavish lifestyle of yachts, skiing holidays, and expensive computers.. He's the son of Maye Musk, a model and dietitian from Canada, and Errol Musk, a South African electromechanical engineer, pilot, and sailor. ", 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.". It spoke of the divorce of Elon's parents, Errol and Maye Musk, and also contained a quick mention of an emerald mine. 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. Worked on my Moms cousins farm in Saskatchewan & a lumber mill in Vancouver. "They didn't like it.". - February 10, 2021 02:34 pm EST. odakyu11. In addition to Elon, Errol is dad to son Kimbal Musk and daughters Tosca, Alexandra and Asha Rose Musk. His grandmother broke barriers of her own, becoming the first-ever chiropractor in Canada. His children were reportedly influenced by his liberal political views. TheSouthAfrican.com is all about South Africa and the stories that affect South Africans, wherever they are in the world. For a while, I thought things were so obvious that everyone must know this.". 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. I couldnt even afford a second [computer] at [web software company] Zip2, so [I] programmed at night and the website only worked during the day. 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. SpaceX, his rocket company, is valued at $20 billion-plus. . It was not a good idea.. Its obvious why Musk would want to distance himself from apartheid in every possible way. 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. He had this sense that it was definitely not a safe place to be, and he had to get the hell out.. Image via Instagram @mayemusk. 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. Twitter, https://twitter.com/elonmusk/. [11] The family lived in Pretoria,[10][12] where Maye worked as a dietician and a model. And we spent three weeks making our rent-controlled apartment livable in Toronto, Maye tweeted. Wanderlust ran on both sides of the family. ", She added, "He was very rich, but he made sure I had nothing. https://web.archive.org/. He has a net worth of $2 million and is living quite comfortably. I was 15 and really wanted to go with him but didn't realize how dangerous it was. Elon Musk's father Errol was penniless in the '90s & Tesla chief helped 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? 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. My dad was not physically violent with me. First, we have republished past statements from both Errol and Elon. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and his mother, Maye Musk. 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. "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.". Musk replied, linking to Jeremy Arnolds article, which gave Musks side of the story. by Marilynn Manuel 13-02-2023 13:43 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." Elon tweeted that he had $100,000 debt after college. Several decades ago, Errol allegedly shot and killed three armed intruders who broke into his Johannesburg home. Are you prioritizing your cable entertainment bill over protecting and investing in your family? 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. 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. Vance, Ashlee. Fortier, Alexander. Copyright Blue Sky Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Elon Musk isn't innovative. 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. The 76-year-old is most notable for. Headded, also on Dec. 28, "We started Zip2 with ~$2k from me plus my overclocked home-built PC, ~$5k from my bro & ~$8k from Greg Kouri (such a good guy he is greatly missed). Errol also shared how his sons got involved in the family business and recalled a time when Elon and his brother Kimbal sold a few of the emeralds from his mine to Tiffany & Co. in New York City. On Wednesday, Errol confirmed that he and Jana had welcomed a second child, a daughter who is now 3. "One thing led to another you can call it God's plan or nature's plan. At 17, Musk decided to leave home, heading first to Canada and then the U.S. for university. This is a pretty awful lie. After the end of the article, a note was added that read, "BI SA reached out to Elon for confirmation of the tale, but he did not respond. Elon Musk Once Called His Father, Errol Musk, a 'Terrible Human' Elon was said to be particularly furious that his father had impregnated his stepsister. Where is this bs coming from? However, again, the story was at least partially unavailable on that website, too. However, Errol also told the outlet that life in apartheid South Africa was ultimately "better" and "safer" than it is today.