Elon Musk’s father, Errol, was asked by Australian radio talk show hosts to share his opinions on the Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s life and career.
The 79-year-old patriarch said he wasn’t proud of Elon and favoured his brother Kimbal. “Your offspring is a genius. He’s worth so much money and has created so many things, you can’t take that away from him. Are you proud?”, Errol was asked.
To this, the South African replied, “No. You know, we are a family that have been doing a lot of things for a long time, it’s not as if we suddenly started doing something”.
The KIIS FM talk show also told Errol about his son feeling he’s running behind schedule in his career.
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“He is frustrated with progress and it’s understandable”, Errol said of the entrepreneur, adding, “I know it sounds crazy, but we tend to think like that as a family. He’s 50 now and I still think of him as a little boy. But he’s 50, I mean that’s an old man.”
He also took swipes at Elon’s recent shirtless pictures on a yacht in Greece. “Elon is very strongly built but he’s been eating badly”, Errol said.
Elon and Errol have had a rocky past with the innovator reportedly being unable to look past his father’s choice to leave Maye, Elon’s mother, and marry someone else. When Errol had another kid, outside his relationship with Maye, his distance with Elon increased. However, Errol, in an earlier interview, had claimed his strict upbringing was part of the reason behind Elon’s success.
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When asked by the talk show hosts whether Errol had a Tesla, he said he didn’t and noted that Elon might be the world’s richest man but he doesn’t believe in handouts.
“We are a very frugal, stingy family. If I want to spend anything, I have to answer 100 questions of why”, Errol said.