Birthday boy: Elon Musk’s SA childhood pics revealed [photos]

The world’s richest man-South African-born Elon Musk – is celebrating his birthday. And to honour the occasion, mom Maye has posted pictures of his childhood in Mzansi.

Elon, now a US citizen, turned 52 on Wednesday, 28 June.

ALSO READ: ‘I have a genius son’: Maye Musk on Elon Musk at three years old

MOM MAYE SHARES CHILDHOOD PICS

In a tweet, Maye Musk sent her best birthday wishes to her son Elon.

She posted: “We have had an extraordinary 52 years of laughing. Your grandfather had the words “Keep smiling” on the back of his business cards. It’s obvious it’s a family tradition”.

Happy Birthday @elonmusk 🎂🎉🥰
We have had an extraordinary 52 years of laughing.
Your grandfather had the words, KEEP SMILING, on the back of his business cards. It’s obviously a family tradition 😃😃😃 pic.twitter.com/pe70oT416y

— Maye Musk (@mayemusk) June 28, 2023

Maye also tweeted a few pics of a young Elon, likely in his Pretoria home in SA.

Elon – also the CEO of Twitter – was born in Pretoria in 1971 to businessman Errol Musk and former model Maye Musk. 

On his own Twitter account, Elon posted of his birthday: “42 +10”. He also thanked his followers for their birthday wishes.

ELON MUSK’S LIFE IN SOUTH AFRICA

Although he is now a US citizen, Elon Musk has been an open book about his South African roots.

The “Chief Twit” attended Pretoria Boys High School – a prominent English/Afrikaans school in the metropolitan of Pretoria (now Tshwane).

After his parent’s divorce, Elon Musk left SA with his mom and siblings Tosca and Kimbal to emigrate to Canada. They later moved to the US.

Errol – who still lives in SA – speaks both English and Afrikaans fluently.

Maye, originally from Canada, also states that she is fluent in Afrikaans. She shared on Twitter earlier this year: “I am English speaking and fluent in Afrikaans because I did my first Master of Science degree at an Afrikaans University, as the only English student.”

Elon Musk was raised in a predominately English-speaking household, although his dad insisted that he is “partly Afrikaans.”

According to Errol, their family’s move to Pretoria – an Afrikaans suburb – was met with great hostility on his end. Although both his parents have strong Afrikaans roots, Elon was unhappy as he could not form friendships and relationships with Afrikaans people.

In a video on his YouTube account, he said: “When Elon got to the time of meeting girls in Pretoria, there were no girls to meet. It was impossible to meet an Afrikaans girl. He was considered an Englishman.

“This was very frustrating for him.”