According to a Facebook post from Errol, the Zambian emerald mine he held a stake in "collapsed in 1989. In South Africa, my father had a private plane we'd fly in incredibly dangerous weather and barely make it back. How much of a Momentum Proteas Womens cricket fan are you? Father and son have a complicated history. 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. The share in the mine wasnt acquired until the 1980s. 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. Then he'd sue me and say that I was unfit to parent.". [Jana] stayed here for about 18 months after Rushi was born. They never made it to their destination. Jump to Main content Search Account Menu icon A vertical stack of three evenly spaced horizontal. There is a more nuanced conversation to be had about how Elon Musk specifically and South Africas white population in general benefitted from apartheid. "I said, 'Oh, all right.' "Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done It's so terrible, you can't believe it. Jain, Sanya. "'His Family Stole an Emerald Mine.'" 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.. "She wasn't planned," Errol said of his youngest child. There was a shooting in the living room, and I guess his father shot them dead. We sent these messages on Nov. 16, but did not receive responses before publishing this story on the following day. "Exploring the Otherworldly Ambitions of Elon Musk." And I was too scared to tell anyone [about his violence]," Maye told Harper's Bazaar in 2019. "There was just stacks of money and he paid me out, 80,000, it was a huge amount of money." Errol admitted to having affairs, but his ex-wife, now a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model, said the problems in their marriage extended beyond infidelity, alleging that Errol was abusive. However, any reconciliation was apparently short-lived. 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. 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.. This material may not be reproduced without permission. 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. 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). "Elon Musk: The College Years." 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. Elon would later get his own pilot's license but no longer has time to fly. And then thered still be all these notes sticking out, and wed sort of pull them out and put them in our pockets.. 1/2This article is false. Errol and Jana welcomed a son, Elliot "Rushi" Rush, in 2017 and a daughter in 2019. In Errol's case, we sent a message to his Facebook profile. But I didnt really understand at the time what kind of person he was. In a 2019 . Elon Musk's father planned to fly a plane from South Africa to England and sell it once they got there. Although Tesla stands out as a groundbreaking company at the forefront of the electric car revolution, its standard operating procedure at the Tesla factory is pre-civil-rights-era race discrimination, Vaughn wrote in his complaint, according to a Daily Beast report. By Michael Hein "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. 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. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. "Like every abused woman, I was embarrassed, and I knew I had made a mistake, you know? by Marilynn Manuel 13-02-2023 13:43 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 . The entire episode started when the satirical publication The Onion published a piece on the wealthiest person in each American state. A Twitter user claimed in December 2019 that Elon Musk's privileged upbringing included his father, Errol Musk, who owned an emerald mine [and] who could bankroll his education. However, the Tesla CEO begged to differ. After Maye and Errol divorced in 1980, Elon mostly lived with his father, who says he owned thoroughbred horses, a yacht, several houses and a Cessna. Inside the fabulous Dior couture world of 'Mrs. Copyright 2023 Market Realist. This is not true," Elon told Rolling Stone in 2017. Once the kids were living with me, they visited their father some weekends. Friend, Tad. I wish. In an interview with Business Insider South Africa, Errol admitted that, at one point, he literally made more money than he could physically handle. Invest in the future today. Went to Queens Univ with scholarship & debt, then same to UPenn/Wharton & Stanford. AskMen, 2 Jan. 2015, https://www.askmen.com/entertainment/right-stuff/elon-musk-interview.html. Musk, Errol. First, we have republished past statements from both Errol and Elon. 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. Elon Musk (~16 years old) & Kimbal Musk sold gems from the Zambian emerald mine to world-famous "Tiffany & Co." on Fifth Avenue in New York - one of the world's most famous jewelers. To add to the truth, we went to Boston Chicken in Philadelphia for Thanksgiving because we couldnt afford a turkey. The New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2009, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/08/24/plugged-in. In that way, Errol might be like estranged Elon after all. Elon Musk came from a family that owned an emerald mine in Apartheid South Africa. 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 Associated Press, 20 July 2021, https://apnews.com/article/business-science-3546262d41f4c84763aa15339f642a5a. 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. So we had this planeload of contraband and an overdue passport from another person. "One thing led to another you can call it God's plan or nature's plan. Instead, Musk has sought to dispel the general belief that he comes from wealth. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and his mother, Maye Musk. Once again, he said that he paid his own way through college, ending with around $100,000 in student debt, and added thathe started his first company with no funding and one computer he built himself. Note: Less than two weeks after Arnold's piece was published in 2021, the satirical website The Onion printed a story with the headline, "The Richest Person In Every State And How They Made Their Money." ", 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.". 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. 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. It was not a good idea.. He didnt own an emerald mine & I worked my way through college, ending up ~$100k in student debt. The claim attracted a response from the billionaire, who said that the claim isn't true. Vance, Ashlee. Errol. 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 said, Oh, all right. 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. If I could have another child I would. Elon Musk has a wild story!" he captioned it. https://web.archive.org/. 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. Errol employed a cutter in Johannesburg and sold the stones wherever his travels as an engineer or family holidays took him. Hull, Dana, and Patrick May. But the emerald mine story keeps coming back. ---. 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. 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. 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. He also sent a link to another interview he did with Elon in 2016. According to media reports Errol reportedly owned an emerald mine in Zambia near Lake Tanganyika which enabled his family to live in luxury at the time. Britannica.com, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zip2. 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.. The Twitter account no longer exists. 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. She won't speak to me or engage me if we're in the same room which we have been often.". However, Errol also told the outlet that life in apartheid South Africa was ultimately "better" and "safer" than it is today. You have no idea. In 2019, a Twitter user claimed that Musk's father Errol owned an emerald mine. Meanwhile, Musk's defenders often say that the mogul has denied this story, though that is not precisely true either. Address: Riverbank House, 1 Putney Bridge Approach, London, SW6 4TJ. "Back when I was ~$100k negative with student debt," he wrote. We reached out to Clash and Forbes PR to ask why the interview was no longer available. Aside from that hes just dumb. Errol told Business Insider South Africa that he co-owned an emerald mine in Zambia. 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. The way Errol tells it, that all started with an inconvenient religious holiday. Whats very difficult for others is easy for me. In the interview, the Tesla owner briefly mentioned that his father had a share in an emerald mine in Zambia. TheSouthAfrican.com is all about South Africa and the stories that affect South Africans, wherever they are in the world. So it was very formative for him. This story will be updated if any further details come to light. 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. "We were very wealthy. [1] His father was a South African veteran of World War II and his mother was British. 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. "Elon Musk Hits out at US Professor over Emerald Mine Claims: 'Idiot and Liar.'" Almost every crime you can possibly think of, he has done," Elon said. Copyright Blue Sky Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved. "He also claims he was getting emeralds from other sources, with only 60-70% coming from this venture." Vance wrote, "For what it's worth, my reporting, based on conversations with hundreds of people, confirms Musk's story. He added that Elon left the country as "a clear indication of his willingness to not support the political suppression in the country. ---. Bridges to Italy tweeted, Yeah, hes not that bright, just like the guy who started this thread. "Zip2." ANC accuses De Ruyter of ruining its good name and reputation, BREAKING: Chiefs confirm another MASSIVE injury blow. His tweet is now viral with over 9.1 million views. 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? "Elon Musk and the Emerald Mine." We also reached out to media relations personnel at SpaceX, where he is the founder and CEO, as well as Tesla and Twitter. Errol and Heide had two children together, Alexandra and Asha Rose. Note: Some of the tweets that promoted the rumor said that Elon did not found Tesla, which was true. He seemed very sad and lonely by himself. Eligon, John, and Lynsey Chutel. We were very wealthy. Elon was said to be particularly furious that his father had impregnated his stepsister. After the divorce, Elon lived with his father in Pretoria, where he attended Pretoria Boys High. We did not receive a response before this story was published. Elon tweeted that he had $100,000 debt after college. 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/. Errol has long since retired from the engineering business and now lives a quiet life in the Western Cape in South Africa. Image via Instagram @mayemusk. 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. One of their homes was in Waterkloof, a leafy suburb of Pretoria that was popular with foreign diplomats. More answers and details are available in Arnold's article. Here's what to know about Elon Musk's estranged father, Errol Musk. [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. Errol Musk bought 50% of the emerald mine in 1969 for about 40,000, which is equal to about 160 000 today. This is why people are switching to @TheBabylonBee! Musk wrote. He was married to Maye Musk and also to Heide Musk, with whom he has two children, Alexandra and Rose. Thereafter you will be billed R75 per month. Elon Musk was highlighted as the wealthiest resident of Texas, Americas second-biggest state. It was that lifestyle, Errol says, that turned Elon into the kind of merchant adventurer who would laterbreak the rules of the motoring businesswith Tesla, then go on tochange spaceflight with SpaceX, BI reported. 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. Twitter, https://twitter.com/elonmusk/. 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? Almost every crime you can possibly think of, he has done. It spoke of the divorce of Elon's parents, Errol and Maye Musk, and also contained a quick mention of an emerald mine. Their plane got diverted, which led to a chance meeting with Italians who wanted to buy the plane in cash. The tweet was shared as a screenshot on Imgur.com, which showed the image had been viewed more than 300,000 times. Though Errol has made headlines in recent years after the births of his two youngest children, he seemingly avoids the spotlight. After the divorce, Elon lived mostly with his father until he left South Africa at age 17 partly to avoid conscription in the South African army. It was a lucrative decision. 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 . coming from?. The interview is no longer available on the Forbes website. And we spent three weeks making our rent-controlled apartment livable in Toronto, Maye tweeted. Errol himself has an adventurous streak and is an avid sailor and pilot. Wanderlust ran on both sides of the family. Soon after Elon left for Canada, his mother, Maye, moved there too, along with Elons brother, Kimbal, and sister, Tosca. Errol Musk was born in Pretoria South Africa to Walter Henry James and Cora Amelia Robinson. Beyond that, we were unable to find any evidence that showed money generated from his father's involvement in the mine helped Elon build his wealth in North America. 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. He has also fathered two children, a son and a daughter, with his stepdaughter Jana Bezuidenhout. Meet. "Elon Musk Left a South Africa That Was Rife With Misinformation and White Privilege." Arnold, Jeremy. 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. He's having a tantrum, like a spoilt child. I couldnt even afford a 2nd PC at Zip2, so programmed at night & website only worked during day. In addition, they offered Errol a chance to buy partial ownership of a Zambian emerald mine.