Musk's father not only confirmed the existence of the mine but also said Musk knew about it. Soon after Elon left for Canada, his mother, Maye, moved there too, along with Elons brother, Kimbal, and sister, Tosca. One rumor is that his father owned an emerald mine, which Musk denied. But those are ancillary to the real story about how to navigate mainstream . Errol Musk did not stop there. Copyright 2023 Market Realist. And then thered still be all these notes sticking out, and wed sort of pull them out and put them in our pockets.. Perhaps Musk might buy the Babylon Bee next, if he still has a couple of those emeralds clinking in his pockets. The 76-year-old is most notable for being . Hence, The Onions apartheid joke flew a little too close to the sun, and Musks temper exploded like a SpaceX rocket. Not to mention the fact that the claim clashes with the image of Musk being a self-made billionaire, a titan of industry who seeks to transcend humanity into a space-faring civilization; that narrative rings a little hollow when one thinks of Musk as some trust fund baby. The BI articles did not make the connection to apartheid. At the conference, Elon talked to some professors who told Errol, This boy needs to get his hands on one of these computers. Errol says he then had to send the cash via an Israeli broker because of strict exchange control regulations. But despite repeatedly stating that there is no evidence of an emerald mine, he has reportedly admitted that it did exist - and that he visited it. But the emerald mine story keeps coming back. Or maybe, he does not want it to look like the emeralds played any role in his success. The billionaire, who was born in South Africa, took to. Based on his conversations with Musk and those close to him, Arnold concluded that there are three reasons the billionaire wants to snuff out the false apartheid narrative. (Photo by FREDERIC J. I was 15 and really wanted to go with him but didnt realize how dangerous it was. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Cookie Notice It was a rock formation protruding from the ground in the middle of nowhere.". In fact, he was born into an upper-middle-class family in Pretoria. 1. The Teslarati team would appreciate hearing from you. 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. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. Musk's decision to buy Twitter is unrelated to any philanthropic efforts. The duo reportedly was spotted at the football final between Argentina and France. "Like where exactly is this thing anyway!?". In addition to Elon, Errol is dad to son Kimbal Musk and daughters Tosca, Alexandra and Asha Rose Musk. The senior Musk, in an interview with The Sun, said he can prove that the mine existed. Offers may be subject to change without notice. The open question surrounding the alleged existence of the elder Musk's Zambian emerald mine is made all the murkier by the way it's spun out of control online, with dubious takes claiming the mine existed in the neighboring country of South Africa (where the Musks are from) or that the money gained from those "blood" gems acted as seed capital for the younger Musk's many business ventures, or at least paid off his student loan debt. Musk's father not only confirmed the existence of the mine but also said Musk knew about it. "Elon knows it's true. Are broader financial markets in a massive speculative bubble? 8h. 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. Errol went as far as to say that emerald money paid for his son's move to the US, where Elon would go on to attend the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School on scholarship with, apparently, emerald-generated cash in his pocket for living expenses. He talks about the risk factors for Bitcoin as an investment asset including origin risk, speculative market structure, regulatory, and environment. The Onion, a satirical publication,. 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. Musk scolded The Onion for not being sufficiently deferential, and even suggested rival satirical news site the Babylon Bee, which, by sheer coincidence, writes glowing stories about Musk that hardly read like satire at all. The eccentric billionaire once again attempted to set the record straight about his familys emerald mines to respond to Twitter user @howlpolitically. Hence, on Thursday, The Onion released a satirical piece that described the source of Musks multi-billion fortune in a single word - apartheid. "We went to . We had so much . "During that time," he said speaking of Musk's college years, "I managed to send money I made from emerald sales to him and Kimbal for living expenses." Elon Musk addressed the recent social storm when claims related his familys emerald mines in apartheid-South Africa resurfaced online. We were very wealthy. This narrative emerged once more after The Onion received a reply from the Tesla CEO on Twitter. He looked up at me, his face beaming and exclaimed, Yes!, Ten days later, Elon left South Africa with a return ticket for a year for America with emerald money in his pocket.. All Rights Reserved. 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. Elon Musk addressed the recent social storm when claims related his family's emerald mines in apartheid-South Africa resurfaced online. With a net worth of $37 billion, Musk hopes to revolutionize transportation on Earth and in space, bringing fully-electric vehicles to the mass market through his auto manufacturing company, Tesla. 4 Elon Musks family wealth has once again resurfaced as a talking point. While there are a few variations now, the common features go something like: Errol Musk owns/owned an emerald mine in Africa. He was such a terrible human being, Musk told the magazine. To me, he sure is trying to make the world better right now, and thats the best thing he could do with his fathers money. In 1972, he was a Pretoria city councillor representing the anti-apartheid Progressive Party It is often claimed that Musks father, Errol Musk, once owned shares in a Zambian emerald mine, and that Musk subsequently enjoyed an incredibly privileged upbringing. Landing at an airstrip near Zambias northern borders with Tanzania and what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he met and befriended the Italian owner of the airstrip. Elon Musk sets record straight on emerald mine and apartheid narrative, FL Mayor pursues federal funding for Boring Company tunnels in Miami, Tesla Supercharger Network hits new milestone in Europe amid ongoing expansion. Elon Musk's Dad Says His Son's Whole Career Was Funded by That Emerald Mine. 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. 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. The constant resurfacing of the story is probably what spurred Musk into replying on Twitter. Curiously, the interview in question is no longer live on Forbes' website,though it is backed up by the Internet Archive. BROWN / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. 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ELON Musks dad Errol claims he bankrolled his billionaire sons escape from South Africa to America with emeralds from an under the table mine in Zambia. It turned out the Italian-employed locals dig out emeralds deep in the Zambian bush and Errol decided to go into business with him. Errol can only say for sure that the deposit was about 40 miles from where he had landed his Cessna in Kasaba Bay, which is now a tourist hub. He was only physically violent when I was very young., He also said, You have no idea about how bad. A story about Musk's father once owning an emerald mine evolved into a larger rumor that had no evidence to support its central claim. It should be interesting to see how Musk responds to his father's claims. 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. Reportedly, Musk used to casually walk around the streets of New York with emeralds in his pocket, which sounds like it should be Thanos origin story. We haven't heard anything about it for a while, but Musk's reply to Twitter user. In that context, its probably understandable that Musk decided enough was enough and felt he needed to answer the claims online. Did he really own half of a mine? Errol said: During that time, I managed to send money Id made from emerald sales to him and Kimbal for living expenses.. "I will pay a million Dogecoin for proof of the existence of said mine!", He assured in Twitter.Now, it looks like the CEO of SpaceX will have to . Elon Musk offered a million Dogecoin (almost $78000) last week to anyone who could prove the existence of an emerald mine his father supposedly owned Moneycontrol News April 25, 2023 / 09:17 AM IST Justifying Elon's denial of the existence of the mine, Errol Musk said, "What Elon is saying is that there was no formal mine. All rights reserved. Home; Service. The Onion, a satirical publication, shared an article on Twitter titled The Richest Person In Every State And How They Made Their Money. In the tweet, The Onion stated that the wealthiest person in Texas was Elon Musk, who made his money through apartheid. There's no note explaining why it was taken down, and the original link leads to a 404 error page though Futurism has reached out toForbes, the freelancer, and Musk himself for further details. Click Here to Get Smart on Protecting Your Family and Loves Ones, No Matter What Happens. His companies Tesla and Space X have helped him build an amazing net worth of over $297 000 billion.