7 ms·

Elon Musk, whose father owned but a humble emerald mine, and was driven to school in a Rolls Royce? Or another, poor Elon Musk?

WalterBright 2y ago
Since you know so much about this, how much did funding did Elon's father give him to start his businesses?
- piva00 2y ago
  Maybe you need to read it coming directly from Elon's dad then? [0][1] [0] https://futurism.com/elon-musk-dad-emerald-mine https://futurism.com/elon-musk-dad-emerald-mine [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...
  - valval 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - piva00 2y ago
      I'd invite you to give a counterpoint to what I posted, this type of post is not really in line with the guidelines of HN. You're a dad, act like an adult, please.
      - valval 2y ago
        You’re a bitter conspiracy theorist, inviting nothing but ridicule.
        piva00 2y ago
        Again, act like an adult and within the guidelines of this forum. I invite you to read them again in case you missed/forgot: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html As you noticed by your flagged comment, it doesn't matter what you think of me (I really don't care) but it matters how you behave here. It's ironic because this pathetic behaviour seems much more enticing to ridicule than someone sharing opinions :) don't be pathetic.
        valval 2y ago
        Well done taking the high road, Marx.
        piva00 2y ago
        Thank you!
  - Jensson 2y ago
    Getting money for living expenses as you study is the life of the average middle class student in USA, he didn't say it funded Musks ventures. The emerald mine made them rich compared to other Africans, but that doesn't say much compared to the average American.
    - piva00 2y ago
      Would there be any ventures if Errol didn't fund Elon's trip to the USA? That's the point, without the emerald mining funding there would be no Elon in the USA, no Elon taking risks in ventures, etc. It can't be looked at in a vacuum of "he didn't get direct money for his ventures", it was only possible for Elon to start ventures because of the emerald mines.
      - WalterBright 2y ago
        I know several people who emigrated to the US with a suitcase and became millionaires. None of them had a family emerald mine, or any family wealth at all. If you live in the USA already, why didn't you start SpaceX? Millions of immigrants come to the USA. Why didn't anyone else start SpaceX?
        acuozzo 2y ago
        Anecdotal, but… I'd be willing to put the time and effort in to start a company, but I would not be willing to lose my home or fail to provide for my wife & three children in the process as neither my wife nor I have any family capable of taking us in.
        WalterBright 2y ago
        You're risk averse. That's fine - but it does not justify being envious of those who do take risks. Musk bet everything he had on Tesla, and at one point was within hours of personal bankruptcy as well as Tesla's.
        2y ago
- acuozzo 2y ago
  Funding doesn't matter as much as mindset. If you know you can always go live with your rich family, then the cost of failure is pretty close to 0, so you can repeatedly take big risks until one of them pays off. Worst case? You end up a trust-fund brat.
  - WalterBright 2y ago
    Musk started out with a suitcase. He then got a dirty job cleaning machinery. A job anyone could do.

WalterBright 2y ago

Since you know so much about this, how much did funding did Elon's father give him to start his businesses?

piva00 2y ago
Maybe you need to read it coming directly from Elon's dad then? [0][1] [0] https://futurism.com/elon-musk-dad-emerald-mine https://futurism.com/elon-musk-dad-emerald-mine [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...
- valval 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - piva00 2y ago
    I'd invite you to give a counterpoint to what I posted, this type of post is not really in line with the guidelines of HN. You're a dad, act like an adult, please.
    - valval 2y ago
      You’re a bitter conspiracy theorist, inviting nothing but ridicule.
      - piva00 2y ago
        Again, act like an adult and within the guidelines of this forum. I invite you to read them again in case you missed/forgot: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html As you noticed by your flagged comment, it doesn't matter what you think of me (I really don't care) but it matters how you behave here. It's ironic because this pathetic behaviour seems much more enticing to ridicule than someone sharing opinions :) don't be pathetic.
        valval 2y ago
        Well done taking the high road, Marx.
        piva00 2y ago
        Thank you!
- Jensson 2y ago
  Getting money for living expenses as you study is the life of the average middle class student in USA, he didn't say it funded Musks ventures. The emerald mine made them rich compared to other Africans, but that doesn't say much compared to the average American.
  - piva00 2y ago
    Would there be any ventures if Errol didn't fund Elon's trip to the USA? That's the point, without the emerald mining funding there would be no Elon in the USA, no Elon taking risks in ventures, etc. It can't be looked at in a vacuum of "he didn't get direct money for his ventures", it was only possible for Elon to start ventures because of the emerald mines.
    - WalterBright 2y ago
      I know several people who emigrated to the US with a suitcase and became millionaires. None of them had a family emerald mine, or any family wealth at all. If you live in the USA already, why didn't you start SpaceX? Millions of immigrants come to the USA. Why didn't anyone else start SpaceX?
      - acuozzo 2y ago
        Anecdotal, but… I'd be willing to put the time and effort in to start a company, but I would not be willing to lose my home or fail to provide for my wife & three children in the process as neither my wife nor I have any family capable of taking us in.
        WalterBright 2y ago
        You're risk averse. That's fine - but it does not justify being envious of those who do take risks. Musk bet everything he had on Tesla, and at one point was within hours of personal bankruptcy as well as Tesla's.
        2y ago
acuozzo 2y ago
Funding doesn't matter as much as mindset. If you know you can always go live with your rich family, then the cost of failure is pretty close to 0, so you can repeatedly take big risks until one of them pays off. Worst case? You end up a trust-fund brat.
- WalterBright 2y ago
  Musk started out with a suitcase. He then got a dirty job cleaning machinery. A job anyone could do.