Elon Musk’s father, Errol Musk, has been accused of child sexual abuse by five of his children and stepchildren, according to The New York Times.
The allegations were revealed by the paper after it conducted reviews of police and court records, social workers and interviews with family members.
The 79-year-old South African businessman was first accused of abuse in 1993 when his stepdaughter Jana, then four years old, told her relatives that Errol had touched her at the family house.
Errol then controversially started a relationship with Jana, going on to have two children with her.
Other family members also accused Errol of abusing two of his daughters and a stepson.
More recently in 2023, family members and a social worker intervened when Errol’s then five-year-old son claimed he had groped his bottom.
Police and court records show that three separate police investigations have been opened against Errol. Two of the inquiries ended, while the outcome of the third has not been confirmed, according to the New York Times.
Errol has not been convicted of any crimes.
The father of seven has long had a fraught relationship with his billionaire son.
Elon has also branded his father a “terrible human being” in past interviews, adding: “almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done.”
Read on for a closer look at both Elon Musk’s parents and his relationship with them.
Who is Errol Musk?
Errol Musk, father to Elon, is a South African politician, engineer, and businessman.
Similar to Elon, he has several children, three (including Elon) with his first wife Maye Haldeman, two with his third wife Heide Bezuidenhout, and two more with his controversial fourth partner and step-daughter, Jana Bezuidenhout.
Jana is his stepdaughter through Heide and was just four years old when Errol married her mother.
The relationship drew steep criticism due to the nature of how they met. Errol appears to be motivated to have as many children as possible, having once said: “The only thing we are on Earth for is to reproduce.”
Although the relationship between Errol and Elon remains troubled, the billionaire’s father has defended Elon in the media, including when Elon was criticised for his comments that the UK was destined for a civil war.
Who is Maye Haldeman?
Maye Haldeman, Errol’s first wife and mother to Elon, is a model with a career spanning 50 years. Highlights include appearances in a Time magazine health edition, international editions of Vogue, and a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
Born in Canada, she also holds South African and American citizenship and has two master’s degrees in diet and nutrition.
She met Errol in high school and married young, divorcing in 1979 after nine years of marriage. In a later memoir, she alleged that he was abusive.
Haldeman recounted a time when she sought refuge at a neighbour's home during the divorce, as Errol had shown up at her home with a knife looking for her.
A couple of years later, 10-year-old Elon elected to live with his father, reportedly because he had a computer, something his mother could not afford.
A few years on, Elon’s brother Kimbal also went to live with their father. When Elon decided to move to Canada after graduating high school, Haldeman and her daughter Tosca emigrated too.
In an interview with Forbes in 2023, she said that her greatest achievement was "having three great kids and surviving".
