Errol revealed young Elon and his siblings reaction to having a police escort
ELON Musk has been the target of death threats since he was just five years old, his dad has told The U.S. Sun.
The world’s richest man, 52, told Tesla shareholders earlier this month that two “homicidal maniacs” have tried to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 him in the last seven months.
Errol Musk is seen at his home Langebaan, South Africa in May 2022Credit: AFP
Elon Musk at an event in Cannes, France, earlier this monthCredit: Getty
Errol says Elon and his siblings suffered death threats in around 1976, when the tech tycoon would have been fiveCredit: Musk Family
Elon implied he had been targeted for no apparent reason other than his fame.
Speaking from his home in South Africa, the tech tycoon’s father Errol claimed it is not the first time Elon has been in the crosshairs.
Retired electromechanical engineer Errol, 78, revealed he received death threats against Elon and his other kids when he was involved in politics in the 1970s.
Errol said the threats came in the form of late night phone calls while he was a Pretoria city councilor and still married to Elon’s mom Maye.
“Maye and I and the 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren were threatened with death in about 1976,” he revealed.
“We were told we were all going to be 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed in telephone calls at 2am which lasted for about three weeks.
“I was told my 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren Elon, Kimbal and Tosca would be 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed first, then Maye and then me.
“They knew our movements including where the 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren went to school.
“Maye was pretty terrified, as she sometimes took the calls.
“The police told me how hard it is or was to trace calls, they took two weeks to do it.
“I held them on the line with the promise of money and eventually they were traced and arrested.”
Errol says that the threats were in retaliation for his role in giving evidence to an investigation while he was a councilor.
It forced him to carry a gun and arrange for a police escort for Maye and the kids, he claims.
Asked how Elon, his younger brother Kimbal, now 51, and sister Tosca, 49, had reacted to the police escort, Errol said, “It was not possible to explain it to them but I’m sure they thought it was fun.”
We were told we were all going to be 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed in telephone calls at 2am which lasted for about three weeks.
Errol Musk
He says he declined to prosecute the suspects when they were caught after a police colonel briefed him about them.
“He told me they were old men quivering and crying in the cells,” Errol explained.
“I told him they should each write me a letter of apology instead.
“They did, with quivering writing and all.”
Errol first got involved in politics in 1972 when he was elected as an independent for the Pretoria City Council.
He also ran for the South African parliament twice, in 1974 and 1981, but was unsuccessful.
Errol, who met up with his son in Texas in November, says that Elon currently has a security team of around 50 guards who work three eight-hour shifts every day.
The Tesla co-founder was asked at the electric automaker’s annual shareholder meeting earlier this month what steps he is taking to stay safe.
“It is getting a little crazy these days,” he replied.
“You know, like, to first approximation, the probability that a homicidal maniac will try to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 you is proportional to how many homicidal maniacs hear your name.
“They hear my name a lot, and I’m like, ok, I’m on the list.”
He added, “We [Tesla] actually did have two homicidal maniacs in the last roughly seven months, come to aspirationally try to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 me and a bunch of other people, so it’s not just me, and there wasn’t an actual issue that they articulated — they were just, you know, in the homicidal maniac career.”
Elon claims that two people have tried to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 him in the last seven monthsCredit: Getty
A smiling Elon is seen as a 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 in a photo from the family albumCredit: Errol Musk
