4 ms·

Funny, the only mention of Elon Musk is in the description of the header photo... I wonder, why include him in the photo at all if you're not going to talk abou

Funny, the only mention of Elon Musk is in the description of the header photo... I wonder, why include him in the photo at all if you're not going to talk about him? Did he have rich parents? So what I'm getting from the article is that these three men lived in middle class households in the 70s, 80s and 90s, a period in America with a strong middle class, and that by today's standards had well off parents, but by the standards at the time, maybe only a little better off than the average person? There's a big difference between withdrawing a quarter million dollars from the bank and taking out a home equity loan and risking your security to help your son's business venture.

nomilk 3y ago
> why include (Musk) in the photo if you're not going to talk about him? Answer: www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clickbait
whatscooking 3y ago
Everyone knows Elon Musk’s father owned a emerald mine in Zambia. The only person who denies it is Elon.
- inemesitaffia 3y ago
  There's no evidence of actual ownership
- friend_and_foe 3y ago
  Musk has a million dogecoin bounty for anyone who can prove that claim. There are interviews with his dad where his dad says basically he bought some emeralds from an Italian guy who was chiseling them from a rock in the ground. That's a far cry away from an emerald mine fortune, when I think "emerald mine" I think John of God level fortunes, and they used what money they made to move out of South Africa. From my understanding they were middle class at best.
  - rr2841 3y ago
    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.com/sites/jimclash/2014/07/28/elon-musk-tells-me-his-secret-of-success-hint-it-aint-about-the-money/ https://web.archive.org/web/20140729222547/http://www.forbes... [1] https://www.the-sun.com/news/7911051/elon-musks-dad-errol-emerald-business/ https://www.the-sun.com/news/7911051/elon-musks-dad-errol-em...
    - friend_and_foe 3y ago
      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 3y ago
        > A private plane is not a private jet (...) https://www.the-sun.com/news/8014711/elon-musk-dad-errol-chance-meeting-disputed-emerald-mine/ 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-family-emeralds-in-new-york-2018-2 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.
        Turing_Machine 3y ago
- Turing_Machine 3y ago
  Everyone who knows anything at all about mining knows that "owning a mine" (any kind) says nothing whatsoever about the wealth of the owner. It's quite common to put more money into the ground than you ever get back out. I've known several gold mine owners over the years. To be blunt: none of them had a pot to piss in. Some of them made enough to get by, but that's it. Others had to subsidize their mines by working in town part of the year.
  - sharts 3y ago
    Takes money to buy mines. Whether that was a good/bad investment isn’t the point.
    - Turing_Machine 3y ago
      Not much. In the U.S. you can just file a claim. There are processing fees, etc., but those aren't that much. Or you can buy one that someone else has claimed and not have to do all the paperwork. Ten gold mining claims for sale, right here. All filed and proved up. US$12k each. https://hopemining.com/claims/six-mile-claims/ https://hopemining.com/claims/six-mile-claims/ There are hundreds of others. Perhaps things are different in South Africa, but I seriously doubt it.

nomilk 3y ago

> why include (Musk) in the photo if you're not going to talk about him? Answer: www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clickbait

whatscooking 3y ago

Everyone knows Elon Musk’s father owned a emerald mine in Zambia. The only person who denies it is Elon.

inemesitaffia 3y ago
There's no evidence of actual ownership
friend_and_foe 3y ago
Musk has a million dogecoin bounty for anyone who can prove that claim. There are interviews with his dad where his dad says basically he bought some emeralds from an Italian guy who was chiseling them from a rock in the ground. That's a far cry away from an emerald mine fortune, when I think "emerald mine" I think John of God level fortunes, and they used what money they made to move out of South Africa. From my understanding they were middle class at best.
- rr2841 3y ago
  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.com/sites/jimclash/2014/07/28/elon-musk-tells-me-his-secret-of-success-hint-it-aint-about-the-money/ https://web.archive.org/web/20140729222547/http://www.forbes... [1] https://www.the-sun.com/news/7911051/elon-musks-dad-errol-emerald-business/ https://www.the-sun.com/news/7911051/elon-musks-dad-errol-em...
  - friend_and_foe 3y ago
    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 3y ago
      > A private plane is not a private jet (...) https://www.the-sun.com/news/8014711/elon-musk-dad-errol-chance-meeting-disputed-emerald-mine/ 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-family-emeralds-in-new-york-2018-2 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.
      - Turing_Machine 3y ago
Turing_Machine 3y ago
Everyone who knows anything at all about mining knows that "owning a mine" (any kind) says nothing whatsoever about the wealth of the owner. It's quite common to put more money into the ground than you ever get back out. I've known several gold mine owners over the years. To be blunt: none of them had a pot to piss in. Some of them made enough to get by, but that's it. Others had to subsidize their mines by working in town part of the year.
- sharts 3y ago
  Takes money to buy mines. Whether that was a good/bad investment isn’t the point.
  - Turing_Machine 3y ago
    Not much. In the U.S. you can just file a claim. There are processing fees, etc., but those aren't that much. Or you can buy one that someone else has claimed and not have to do all the paperwork. Ten gold mining claims for sale, right here. All filed and proved up. US$12k each. https://hopemining.com/claims/six-mile-claims/ https://hopemining.com/claims/six-mile-claims/ There are hundreds of others. Perhaps things are different in South Africa, but I seriously doubt it.