 "Elon Musk's father accused of decades-long sexual abuse of children")
Errol Musk, the 79-year-old father of tech billionaire Elon Musk, has been accused of sexually abusing five of his children and stepchildren since 1993, according to a report by The New York Times. While Errol denies all allegations, family members, police, court records, and personal correspondence paint a decades-long pattern of abuse.
According to the news report, Elon Musk’s estrangement from his father is directly linked to repeated accusations of child sex abuse against Errol Musk. Elon often tried to intervene financially or logistically at the request of several relatives, who turned to him for help.
The report said that police probes were opened in South Africa and California against Errol; however, he was never convicted. He maintains that the allegations are “false and nonsense in the extreme,” blaming relatives for trying to extract money from Elon.
Who is Errol Musk?
Born and raised in Pretoria, South Africa, Errol Musk built a career in engineering and served briefly on the Pretoria City Council. He gained early wealth through business ventures but later became financially reliant on his children.
Errol’s three marriages
In his first marriage to model and dietitian Maye Haldeman he gave birth to Elon, Kimbal, and Tosca. However, they divorced in 1979, just after nine years of marriage. Maye later accused him of physical and verbal abuse, which he has denied.
He later married another model, Sue Wilson briefly, following which Elon Musk left for North America at the age of 17. Shortly after, his mother and siblings followed.
After separating from Wilson, he married Heide-Mari Bezuidenhout in the early 1990s, becoming stepfather to her three young children. She later remarried Errol and gave birth to another daughter.
Children with his stepdaughter
One of the disturbing chapters in Errol Musk’s life involves his relationship with his former stepdaughter, Jana Bezuidenhout. She first accused him of abuse as a child in the 1990s and later filed for a protection order in her twenties.
In 2018, Errol admitted that he had a child with Jana, and later acknowledged at least one more. He defended the relationship as “nature’s plan”, sparking widespread outrage.
Business claims
According to The New York Times, Errol has often raised the ‘Musk’ name in questionable ventures, including a meme coin called MuskIt and a proposed “Musk Tower” in Dubai. However, he later distanced himself from both claims.
Musk’s relationship with his father
Musk has long been estranged from his father, and the two are reportedly no longer on speaking terms. In a 2017 Rolling Stone interview, he said, “He [Errol] has done almost every evil thing you could possibly think of.” In Walter Isaacson’s 2023 biography, Elon confirmed he no longer communicates with him. According to The New York Times, Elon once said that living with him during adolescence was “a terrible idea”.