'Haven’t inherited anything ever', says world's 2nd richest Elon Musk (2024)

Musk responded to a tweet by Deborah who mentioned, " 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".

To which Musk replied that he grew up in a lower, transitioning to the upper, middle-income situation but he never experience a happy childhood.

"I grew up in a lower, transitioning to an 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".

Musk said his father, Errol Musk, never supported him financially after high school in "any meaningful way".

Revealing about his father's business, Musk stated "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.".

However, the billionaire showed gratitude to his father, and said "he does deserve credit for teaching me the fundamentals of physics, engineering, and construction, which is more valuable than money".

Musk and his brother Kimbal Musk, a chef and an entrepreneur in South Africa provided financial support to their father on one condition that he would not engage in bad behaviour.

"Unfortunately, he nonetheless did. There are young children involved, so we continued to provide financial support for their well-being," he added.

Spurning the theory of Musk's father has an "emerald mine", the Twitter chief said, "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".

Last month, Elon Musk offered a million Dogecoin (almost $78000) o anyone who could prove the existence of an emerald mine his father supposedly owned.

Subsequently, Musk's father Errol gave an interview to The Sun wherein he confirmed the existence of the mine and l.

"What Elon is saying is that there was no formal mine. It was a rock formation protruding from the ground in the middle of nowhere," Errol told the tabloid, noting that he kept his involvement with the operation "under the table."

"There was no mining company. There are no signed agreements or financial statements," he explained. "No one owned anything. The deal was done on a handshake with the Italian man at a time when Zambia was a free for all."

Errol Musk also stated 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.

"Elon's main concern is not to appear to be a 'trust fund kid' who got everything given to him on a plate," Errol Musk told the tabloid.

Elon Musk's father added that his son took risks and worked like blazes to be where he is today.

"The emeralds helped us through a very trying time in South Africa when people were fleeing the country in droves," he concluded.

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Published: 07 May 2023, 01:36 PM IST