[rr2841]

I find entertaining the show of cynicism when Musk himself started the rumour about the emerald mine [0]:

> Elon Musk: "... In South Africa, my father had a private plane we’d fly in incredibly dangerous weather and barely make it back. This is going to sound slightly crazy, but my father also had a share in an Emerald mine in Zambia."

Musk's father gave an interview [1] where he explains what the mine business was about. He also shares that he had to sell his "ocean going yatch" to send his family money overseas. Musk is not a trust fund baby, but he wasn't coming from middle class either.

[0] https://web.archive.org/web/20140729222547/http://www.forbes...

[1] https://www.the-sun.com/news/7911051/elon-musks-dad-errol-em...

[friend_and_foe]

A private plane is not a private jet, and a sailboat is not the Fulk al Salama. I'd bet the private plane was a little cesna and the "ocean going yacht" was probably a medium sized sailboat or catamaran. Rich? I suppose, but not wealthy. Upper middle class maybe.

[rewmie]

> A private plane is not a private jet (...)

https://www.the-sun.com/news/8014711/elon-musk-dad-errol-cha...

Elon Musk stans are something else. The loops they jump through to convince themselves that the teenager who was walking around with emerald from his family's mine in his pockets was not a rich privileged kid are out of this world.

https://www.news24.com/news24/bi-archive/elon-musk-sells-the...

It's perfectly fine if you want to idolize a rich kid who multiplied his family's fortune, but let's keep it grounded.