Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and his mother, Maye Musk. Image via Instagram @mayemusk
Bright spark: Elon Musk’s mom spotted Tesla CEO’s genius at age 3 [watch]
Elon Musk’s mother, Maye Musk, said in an interview that all of her children discovered their passions while living in South Africa.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and his mother, Maye Musk. Image via Instagram @mayemusk
Elon Musk‘s 72-year-old mother, Maye Musk, was recently interviewed on CBS This Morning to talk about her new book, A Woman Makes a Plan: Advice for a Lifetime of Adventure, Beauty, and Success.
Maye Musk on raising ‘child genius’ Elon Musk
The title is seemingly a play on the Afrikaans saying “A Boer Maak`n Plan“. In here she talks about her “hard-earned wisdom and frank, practical advice on careers, family, health, adventure, and more.”
Maye also went on to share some tidbits about being a mom to Elon — a “child genius” — and told hosts, hosts Gayle King and Anthony Mason, that she worried that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO might “end up in a basement” rather than achieve his goals.
“At three, I knew [Elon] was a genius,” she said. “But you still don’t know if he’s going to do great things because many geniuses just end up in a basement being a genius but not applying it.”
Living in South Africa
All4Women writes that Elon (now 49) is the oldest of three siblings. He has a younger brother, Kimbal (48), and a sister, Tosca (46).
According to Maye, all of her kids discovered their passions while living in South Africa. She says Kimbal began cooking because he didn’t like the food she prepared. “I’m not a great cook,” she admitted. And Tosca always loved watching movies and analysing them.
‘I don’t think they knew he was 12’
She recalled how Elon wrote a computer game when he was 12 years old that impressed a group of college engineering students.
“They said, ‘Wow, he knows all the shortcuts’,” she said of showing them the game. Maye suggested that young Elon submit the game to a magazine, and he did, earning himself $500.
“I don’t think they knew that he was 12,” she said. “So that was a good start.”
One of Elon’s first business ventures, was the software company Zip2, which he co-founded with his brother, Kimbal, and Greg Kouri with funds from a group of angel investors, including his mother.
Elon Musk’s Zip2 ‘just the beginning’
“I was so excited when he started Zip2 because it just made life easier with door-to-door directions, and then newspapers could have a link that took you to a restaurant,” Maye recalled.
“I know that’s common now, but that was highly unusual and people didn’t believe that’s possible. So that’s why I invested in that at the very beginning — although I didn’t have much money. Then he thought the banking system needed some help, so he did PayPal,” Maye continued.
“Then after that, he asked whether he should do space research or solar energy or electric cars?’ And I said, ‘Just choose one,’ and, of course, he didn’t listen to me.”
Elon Musk’s mom owns a Tesla – of course
Maye — who is also a Canadian-South African model and dietician — also confirmed that she owns a Tesla — of course.
