London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 24, 2025

"Didn't Have Happy Childhood": Elon Musk On Financial Situation While Growing Up

"Didn't Have Happy Childhood": Elon Musk On Financial Situation While Growing Up

Elon Musk said that his father, Errol Musk, "did not support me financially after high school in any meaningful way."
Billionaire Elon Musk, who owns and manages several companies like Twitter, Tesla and SpaceX has always been vocal about his journey from a student to an entrepreneur. However, there is a long-running rumour that claims Elon Musk's father owns an emerald mine in South Africa and has given Mr Musk financial assistance. These rumours gained momentum after Elon Musk's father, Errol, said in an interview that he used emeralds from an "under the table" mine in Zambia to finance his son's escape from South Africa to America. The billionaire has once again quashed the rumours and said he has not "inherited anything ever from anyone".

Mr Musk revealed this in response to a user's tweet who had disputed that he came to the US with "no money and graduated with over $100k in debt, despite scholarships & working 2 jobs while at school." The user wrote, "I strongly support the community notes and all this work but this time I don't understand it! Even having a wealthy family, a student can have a lot of financial difficulties. On the other hand, the cited source is not reliable at all."

The CEO of the microblogging platform said, "I grew up in a lower, transitioning to upper, middle-income situation, but did not have a happy childhood. Haven't inherited anything ever from anyone, nor has anyone given me a large financial gift. My father created a small electrical/mechanical engineering company that was successful for 20 to 30 years, but it fell on hard times. He has been essentially bankrupt for about 25 years, requiring financial support from my brother and me."


Mr Musk credited his father for teaching him the fundamentals of physics, engineering and construction, which, for him, is "more valuable than money". He, however, stated that Mr Errol Musk "did not support me financially after high school in any meaningful way." He said in the tweet, "Our condition of providing him financial support was that he not engage in bad behavior. Unfortunately, he nonetheless did. There are young children involved, so we continued to provide financial support for their well-being."

Further, he threw light on the "emerald mine" and said that there is no objective evidence for the same or any records of its existence. "Regarding the so-called "emerald mine", there is no objective evidence whatsoever that this mine ever existed. He told me that he owned a share in a mine in Zambia, and I believed him for a while, but nobody has ever seen the mine, nor are there any records of its existence. If this mine was real, he would not require financial support from my brother and me," he concluded.

Maye Musk, the mother of the billionaire, provided further details on their initial days. She said in a tweet, "When we moved to Toronto in 1989, we stayed in a one-bedroom apartment until I found a rent-controlled apartment, which took us three weeks to clean up. We all worked, were happy and optimistic. The first I heard of an emerald mine was on @Twitter about 10 years ago."


A few days ago, Mr Musk had decided to pay a million in Dogecoin to anyone who could prove the existence of the mine his dad supposedly owned.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
×