errol musk emerald mine

2021, https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-Elon-Musks-family-got-their-wealth-from-apartheid-emerald-mining. The emerald mine was not mentioned in that interview. 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. Musk's critics often paraphrase the story on social media, who accuse him not only of benefitting from wealth rather than genius but of indirectly profiting from Apartheid. Elon was said to be particularly furious that his father had impregnated his stepsister. "We went to this guy's prefab [home] and he opened his safe," Errol said. My dad will have a carefully thought-out plan of evil. Friend, Tad. Born in 1971, Musk grew up in Pretoria, South Africa. Hull, Dana, and Patrick May. "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," he recalled to Business Insider. ---. We've received your submission. He didnt own an emerald mine & I worked my way through college, ending up ~$100k in student debt. 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. "Elon Musk and the Emerald Mine." But I've been in physical danger before. 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. Errol employed a cutter in Johannesburg and sold the stones wherever his travels as an engineer or family holidays took him. 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. 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. Its so terrible, you cant believe it.. A post on Reddit mentioned a theory that said Elon "convinced these publications to remove the articles," but there's no evidence to support that. Several decades ago, Errol allegedly shot and killed three armed intruders who broke into his Johannesburg home. Elon and other family members have opened up about years of living in debt after they left South Africa. Business Insider South Africa, 28 Feb. 2018, https://www.businessinsider.co.za/how-elon-musks-family-came-to-own-an-emerald-mine-2018-2. ", 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. 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. 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. Quora, 9 Mar. We did not receive a response before this story was published. 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. He said that they stopped in Djibouti to avoid pricey airport fees, and there happened to meet some Italian merchants who offered to buy the plane from him then and there. He told The New York Times that as a member of the Progressive Party, he opposed apartheid. With his new riches, Errol also bought half of an emerald mine. Ive tried everything. 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.. I couldn't even afford a 2nd PC at Zip2, so programmed at night & website only worked during day. "He didn't own an emerald mine & I worked my way through college, ending up ~$100k in student debt. He seemed very sad and lonely by himself. 1/2This article is false. EM: Company death not succeeding with the company causes me a lot more stress than physical danger. "Elon Musk Is the Hero America Deserves." [20] At the time of their daughter's birth, according to The Times, Musk was 72 and Jana Bezuidenhout was 30 years old. His parents divorced. Theyre the same, except for the fact that he is a billionaire, started multiple successful companies and doesnt live in his mothers basement. Wanderlust ran on both sides of the family. 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. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Elon Musk said he and his brother have supported their father since he "ran out of money in 90s." He was reacting to a tweet saying he was from a family that owned an African emerald mine.. [11] The family lived in Pretoria,[10][12] where Maye worked as a dietician and a model. Note: Some of the tweets that promoted the rumor said that Elon did not found Tesla, which was true. 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.. https://web.archive.org/. He's the son of Maye Musk, a model and dietitian from Canada, and Errol Musk, a South African electromechanical engineer, pilot, and sailor. 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." The 76-year-old hasnt ruled out having more children, saying: The only thing we are on Earth for is to reproduce.. Not all the tweets were supportive of Elon. 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. 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. The Twitter account no longer exists. Musk, who is never shy of saying his say online, took to Twitter to show his disappointment with The Onion and took the opportunity to shout-out the publications competition, The Babylon Bee. Errol built his wealth as a prominent electromechanical engineer and entrepreneur in South Africa, reports The South African. For the state of Texas, The Onion printed, "Elon Musk: Apartheid.". In a 2019 . Below we have provided a small sampling of the many different ways the rumor has been framed in past years. Our offices are for administrative purposes only, no visitors will be accepted without an appointment. Errol Musk was born in 1946 in Pretoria to Walter Henry James Musk and Cora Amelia Robinson. The 76-year-old is most notable for being Elons estranged father, with the pair famously falling out several years ago. So we had this planeload of contraband and an overdue passport from another person. Errol told Business Insider South Africa that he co-owned an emerald mine in Zambia. [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). First, we have republished past statements from both Errol and Elon. He didnt own an emerald mine & I worked my way through college, ending up ~$100k in student debt. The most direct address was a tweet that said his father "didn't own an emerald mind [and] I worked my way through college, ending up ~$100k in student debt.". If I could have another child I would. Almost every crime you can possibly think of, he has done, he continued. Kaizer Chiefs to sign more Stellenbosch players? I couldnt even afford a 2nd PC at Zip2, so programmed at night & website only worked during day. 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 narrative of Elon Musks wealth coming from his familys apartheid gains is one that started a few years ago when Business Insider wrote an article highlighting the Musk familys involvement in mining during SAs apartheid years. Twitter, https://twitter.com/elonmusk/. Errol and Heide had two children together, Alexandra and Asha Rose. But by many accounts, the issues at the Tesla factory go beyond the need for a thick skin, New York Times reported. Errol himself has an adventurous streak and is an avid sailor and pilot. Musk, Elon. There, the two South Africans ran into a group of Italians who, as it happened, were in the market for an airplane. 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. He would throw out everything they arrived with, so I had to buy them all new clothes and school things. On Wednesday, Errol confirmed that he and Jana had welcomed a second child, a daughter who is now 3. 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 began his career as an electromechanical engineer. 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. The Onion, 22 Mar. You have no idea. 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. [15][16] At the time of their marriage, Jana Bezuidenhout was only four years old and lived together with them. 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. 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. In 1970, Errol married modelMaye Haldeman Musk before the pair welcomed three children: Elon, Kimbal and Tosca. He told me over and over that I was stupid, ugly, boring. We also reached out to media relations personnel at SpaceX, where he is the founder and CEO, as well as Tesla and Twitter. 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. Earlier in this story, we referenced a July 3, 2020, tweet from Elon that mentioned Vance's interview. The Buffalo News via San Jose Mercury News via Newspapers.com, 20 Apr. I couldnt even afford a 2nd PC at Zip2, so programmed at night & website only worked during day.. Instead, Musk has sought to dispel the general belief that he comes from wealth. However, Errol also told the outlet that life in apartheid South Africa was ultimately "better" and "safer" than it is today. He confirmed the birth of their daughter to The Sun in 2022. FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ERROL MUSK 1. 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. Bloomberg.com, 22 May 2020, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-05-22/elon-musk-speaks-frankly-on-coronavirus-spacex-and-rage-tweets. 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. While His Dad Was Sleeping." de Wet, Phillip. 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. [10][11] Musk told Agence France-Presse that he was a strict father who raised his children with discipline and austerity. mark_able_jones_. Father and son have a complicated history. He was such a terrible human being. Whats very difficult for others is easy for me. 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. The billionaire, who was born in South Africa, took to. Rumor is Errol Musk owned an emerald mine. Britannica.com, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zip2. 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 was a witness to this, bullets flying around, Cattrell further claimed. You have no idea.. Errol Musk, the familys patriarch, is in the news after confirming he fathered a second secret love child with his stepdaughter, Jana Bezuidenhout, 35. 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. Copyright 2023 PopCulture.com. But I didnt really understand at the time what kind of person he was. By email, Clash told us he had no idea why it was no longer hosted by Forbes. His children were reportedly influenced by his liberal political views. In addition to Elon, Errol is dad to son Kimbal Musk and daughters Tosca, Alexandra and Asha Rose Musk. "[4][8], In 1972, he was elected to the Pretoria City Council as a representative of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party. Once the kids were living with me, they visited their father some weekends. Errol employed a cutter in Johannesburg and sold the stones wherever his travels as an engineer or family holidays took him. This is a pretty awful lie. "Elon Musk Tells Me His Secret Of Success (Hint: It Ain't About The Money)." "So we decided to head back to Lake Tanganyika from where we were, I think we were in Djibouti.". 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. coming from?. 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. The article attributed the source of Elon Musks wealth to apartheid. Though Errol has made headlines in recent years after the births of his two youngest children, he seemingly avoids the spotlight. "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. "Elon Musk: The College Years." 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. We contacted Elon publicly on Twitter. "Tesla, Inc."Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tesla-Motors. [4], Musk met Maye Haldeman when he was 11 years old and they were childhood friends before marrying in 1970. 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. This is a pretty awful lie, Elon tweeted. "What's very difficult for others is easy for me. 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. In 2017, family members were left stunned when Jana became pregnant with Errols baby. You have no idea. On May 22, 2020, Bloomberg.com published an interview with Elon, which was penned by Ashlee Vance. Ask him." He is the father of business magnate and billionaire Elon Musk, restaurateur Kimbal Musk, and filmmaker Tosca Musk. That conversation is more valuable but less newsworthy than just resurfacing the same lazy claims every few months, which are guaranteed to get clicks. 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). 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. 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. 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. Bill Gates' mom helped Microsoft get a deal with IBM. More answers and details are available in Arnold's article. The New York Times, 5 May 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/05/world/africa/elon-musk-south-africa.html. He was only physically violent when I was very young., He also said, You have no idea about how bad. In 2019, a Twitter user claimed that Musk's father Errol owned an emerald mine. All rights reserved. For 14 free days, you can have access to a world of in-depth analyses, investigative journalism, top opinions and a range of features. Vance wrote, "For what it's worth, my reporting, based on conversations with hundreds of people, confirms Musk's story. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. After the divorce, Elon lived with his father in Pretoria, where he attended Pretoria Boys High. The headline of the story read, "Elon Musk Tells Me His Secret Of Success (Hint: It Ain't About The Money).". 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. 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. "'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." In the biography Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, author Ashlee Vance wrote that Errol invested $28,000 in Elon and Kimbal's then-fledgling company, Zip2. 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. Other companies started by Musk include Neuralink, which is working on developing implantable brainmachine interfaces. Elon would later get his own pilot's license but no longer has time to fly. 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 . We sought evidence in the case that they still had any documentation from past decades about the mine, the around $100,000 in student debt that Elon has repeatedly said he had accumulated during college, or anything else related to Elon's early finances that they have mentioned in past interviews. Regardless of your opinion of him, he is aself-made billionaire." 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. The 51-year-old has refuted claims that he grew up rich amid statements that his father Errol owned an emerald mine in . But that's more or less where the good fortune ended. According to the Twitter flag, Musk claimed in 2014 to Forbes that he had an emerald mine in Zambia. 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.. - February 10, 2021 02:34 pm EST. The funding we raised for our first company came from a small group of random angel investors in Silicon Valley. 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. He talks about the risk factors for Bitcoin as an investment asset including origin risk, speculative market structure, regulatory, and environment. At some point after the shooting, the relationship between dad Errol and son Elon soured. On holidays, Errol and his kids would travel, he said: to Europe, Hong Kong, throughout the United States. All Rights Reserved. Elon Musk addressed the recent social storm when claims related his family's emerald mines in apartheid-South Africa resurfaced online. "They just walked into Tiffany's and said, 'Do you want to buy some emeralds?' [22] He is estranged from his son Elon. In Errol's case, we sent a message to his Facebook profile. Click Here to Get Smart on Protecting Your Family and Loves Ones, No Matter What Happens. "In my experience, there is nothing you can do," he added. 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. Clash, Jim. These tweets from December 2019 appeared to have stemmed, at least in part, from a since-deleted tweet from a user with the handle @1aprildaniels. It was a lucrative decision. Maye and Errol divorced in 1980 when Elon was about 9 years old. An avid pilot and sailor, as well as an electrical and mechanical engineer, he made his money consulting and developing properties and retired early. Invest in the future today. Given Elon Musks interest in exploration and adventure, its no surprise he descends from intrepid stock, and its Errols side of the family that is seemingly responsible for his innovative, envelope-pushing genes. In the past, the Tesla CEO hasrespondedseveral times on Twitter about the emerald mine rumors. My Dad provided 10% of a ~$200k angel funding round much later, but by then risk was reduced & round would've happened anyway.". In 1972, Errol was elected to the Pretoria City Council in his native South Africa. Errol Musk bought 50% of the emerald mine in 1969 for about 40,000, which is equal to about 160 000 today. It spoke of the divorce of Elon's parents, Errol and Maye Musk, and also contained a quick mention of an emerald mine. This is not true," Elon told Rolling Stone in 2017. We reached out to Reich to ask if he could provide evidence of his assertion, but did not receive a response before this story was published. 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. "He also claims he was getting emeralds from other sources, with only 60-70% coming from this venture." He had this sense that it was definitely not a safe place to be, and he had to get the hell out.. ", 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. [3][4], Musk worked as a pilot, a sailor, an electrical engineer, a mechanical engineer, a consultant, and a property developer, before retiring early. Elon Musk has a wild story!" he captioned it. Still, it wasarchived by the Internet Archive. I wish. "I paid my own way through collegethrough student loans, scholarships, working jobsand ended up with $100,000 of student debt," Musk says. He was married to Maye Musk and also to Heide Musk, with whom he has two children, Alexandra and Rose. The claim attracted a response from the billionaire, who said that the claim isn't true. [20] Musk has a total of seven children. Move over, Elon theres another Musk hitting the headlines. We sent these messages on Nov. 16, but did not receive responses before publishing this story on the following day. Eligon, John, and Lynsey Chutel. He just had a rich dad and a got lucky. Elon Musks family wealth has once again resurfaced as a talking point. He added that Elon left the country as "a clear indication of his willingness to not support the political suppression in the country. Errol owned one of the largest homes in Pretoria and took his children on many overseas trips, according to the book, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, written by Ashlee Vance. There was a shooting in the living room, and I guess his father shot them dead. At the conference, Elon talked to some professors who told Errol, This boy needs to get his hands on one of these computers. Although Musk said that his father was brilliant at engineering in the Rolling Stone interview, thats where the praise ended. "I said, 'Oh, all right.' Image via Instagram @mayemusk. 2023 The Moguldom Nation. Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done.". Where is this bs coming from? Here is the incredible true story of Errol Musk and the striking similarities he shares with his powerful son. 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. However, any reconciliation was apparently short-lived. D'Innocenzio, Anne. ", Errol and Elon have an acrimonious relationship. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. 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. Jack @lets_gobaby tweeted, Ok but how does inheriting money mean you arent smart?. The entire episode started when the satirical publication The Onion published a piece on the wealthiest person in each American state. There were AK-47s all over the place and I'm thinking, "Man, this could really go bad.". 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. "There was just stacks of money and he paid me out, 80,000, it was a huge amount of money." They still dont like it. 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. How much of a Momentum Proteas Womens cricket fan are you? 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. He also sent a link to another interview he did with Elon in 2016. Errol Musk was born in Pretoria South Africa to Walter Henry James and Cora Amelia Robinson. We reached out to Clash and Forbes PR to ask why the interview was no longer available. 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. Arnold's story included answers from Errol about the mine, who said he had "very limited involvement" in it.