How Elon Musk Escaped South Africa

I have just finished reading Elon Musk's autobiography written by Ashlee Vance. It was released 10 years ago in 2015. Setting aside his latest political scandals, his life is interesting.

(Disclaimer: None of the text contained herein was generated using AI)

Elon Musk is a South African by birth. However, during his teenage years, he left South Africa and moved to the USA. How did he pull it off? How did he end up in the USA? Not only did he relocate to a foreign country before the age of 20, but he also became the richest person alive.

I have asked myself: Where did he live in South Africa? Which schools did he attend? And when did all of this occur?

A great starting point is on his mother’s side of the family. His grandfather, the guy who gave birth to his mother, lived in Canada before he emigrated to South Africa in 1950. His name was Joshua Haldeman.

Elon Musk’s grandfather (Racist guy)

Haldeman was a racist at heart. His support of the apartheid government was the driving force behind his relocation from Canada to South Africa two years after the enactment of apartheid. He held outrageous views about black people. The less said about those, the better. Elon’s grandfather died in an aeroplane crash in 1974. He was attempting to land his small aircraft. It hooked power cables and tipped over, leading to his unfortunate death.

Anyway, Haldeman fathered a daughter, Maye Haldeman. She would later give birth to Elon Musk in South Africa. Maye Haldeman was born in Canada and relocated with her father and family to South Africa. She was still a toddler at this point. Upon arrival, they settled in Pretoria. In her youth, she became a model and appeared in various well-known fashion magazines.

Maye Haldeman (later Musk) as a model

Maye met Errol Musk in her 20s. They married. On their honeymoon night in France, she fell pregnant. Nine months later, Elon Musk was born. Errol Musk was an engineer by profession. He amassed substantial wealth doing consulting work in the building construction industry. The same wealth that purchased the computer on which Elon Musk learnt to code. It was bought at the Sandton City Mall around 1985.

A young Elon Musk

Elon Musk, at age 17, applied for Canadian citizenship. Since his mother was technically Canadian. Upon receiving approval, he immediately left South Africa. His entire family later followed him. From Canada, he applied for a university scholarship to study in the USA. That is how he made it to Silicon Valley in Los Angeles.

Thank you for reading.

Kurisani

(I will share more Elon Musk facts as I try to regain my writing form. Stories about his companies are quite interesting if one manages to look past his flaws as a human being.)