Behind the brilliance of Elon Musk lies a tangled family history marked by wealth, scandal, and estrangement. At the center is Errol Musk—an accomplished South African pilot, engineer, and real estate developer—whose past continues to cast a long shadow over his son’s meteoric rise.
Errol’s claim to fame isn’t just his technical prowess or political career in Pretoria’s city council. It’s the long-disputed story of an emerald mine in Zambia. According to Errol, he acquired a stake in the mine after a chance encounter with an Italian businessman at a remote airstrip. The deal, sealed with a handshake, allegedly funded the Musk family’s lavish lifestyle during the 1980s. Errol insists that Elon saw the emeralds and benefited from the wealth they generated, even using the money to support his education abroad.
Elon, however, has repeatedly denied these claims. He’s publicly stated that he left South Africa at 17 with little more than a backpack, worked on farms and lumber mills in Canada, and graduated with significant student debt.
The contradiction between father and son has fueled speculation about Elon’s true upbringing and the emotional rift between them. But the emerald mine is just one chapter in Errol’s controversial legacy. His personal life has been marred by scandal—including fathering two children with his former stepdaughter, Jana Bezuidenhout. The revelation shocked the Musk family and deepened the divide. Elon once described his father as “a terrible human being” with a “carefully thought-out plan of evil”.
Errol’s past also includes allegations of abuse from his ex-wife Maye Musk, who claimed he was emotionally and physically violent during their marriage. He was once charged with manslaughter after shooting three intruders at his home, though he was later acquitted.
Despite the wealth and notoriety, Errol remains a polarizing figure—one whose actions and claims continue to challenge the narrative Elon Musk has built around his own origin story. Whether the emerald mine was real or myth, the emotional scars and family tensions are undeniable.
