Elon Musk is the richest person in the world. The American billionaire's closeness to Donald Trump sometimes leads him to be called "the unelected president of the United States."
The BBC spoke to his father, Errol Musk, to find out how family influenced Elon Musk and his views.
The father of one of the world's most powerful people is barely making enough to buy a plane. We speak to Errol Musk on Zoom. He talks about the correspondence with his son that took place just the day before the interview, from the pool room of his villa near Cape Town, South Africa.
“He sent me money for a twin-engine plane that I wanted to buy,” Musk Sr. says. “And I just thanked him.”
Elon has a lot in common with his father. Both were born and raised in South Africa, both are businessmen, and both are considered controversial personalities. And they even speak in a very similar way, jumping from one thought to another.
"Awl doesn't fit in a bag"
Elon Musk was born in 1971 in Pretoria. His father, Errol, is an engineer, entrepreneur, and city councilor, and his mother, May, works as a model. After his parents divorced, Musk lived mostly with his father in South Africa. In 1989, he moved to his mother's homeland, Canada.
According to his father, Elon was “a good boy, a trouble-free kid.” He always got what he wanted, so his son’s success doesn’t surprise Musk Sr.
During the conversation, Erol noted that his family has a certain admiration for President Putin. According to him, “if you look at Putin simply as a person, and not in the context of international politics, it’s hard not to have respect for him.”
When I asked if Elon had said anything similar (about Putin), he confirmed that their views were similar. He explained that people around him often try to convince others not to trust Putin, but he himself considers him an example of a strong leader.
In response to the comment that it was Putin who started the war in Ukraine, Erol countered that “only time will tell who really started it.” To my objections that Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 was a fact, he continued to insist on his position.
About the war in Ukraine
He then went on to talk about Elon's position on Ukraine. According to him, providing Ukraine with access to the Starlink satellite internet network at the beginning of the war seemed like the right decision, but over time the conflict dragged on. He categorically rejected the suggestion that Elon's change in position was due to business interests, stating that their family has everything and does not need additional money.
I asked if Errol could tell me something about his son that the general public doesn’t know but that he thinks is important to know. Musk Sr. replied that Elon is a shy person, feels uncomfortable on stage, and has yet to learn how to speak in front of an audience. “Elon always talks very fast so he can finish quickly.”
Is Elon nervous during public appearances, and could this explain Elon's gesture, which many described as a Nazi salute?
Errol denies these accusations and cites examples from the field of disinformation, according to which similar gestures were allegedly made by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
However, the photos circulating on X [the former Twitter] are taken out of context: they are shots of speeches in which politicians are simply gesturing.
I ask him if he finds it strange that Elon would allow such gestures, considering that Errol says that his maternal grandparents supported apartheid and even sympathized with Hitler. Errol admits that at one point he stopped visiting them for this very reason. Elon's grandfather died when he was very young. Errol believes that this is why he can have no influence on his grandson. І BGNES
