The Emerald Mine Mystery: Why Elon Musk's Origin Story Doesn't Add Up

Here’s a plot twist worthy of Hollywood: Elon’s father Errol claims the family was so loaded they literally couldn’t close their safe—cash spilling everywhere, emeralds casually sold on Fifth Avenue. Meanwhile, Elon straight-up denies it ever happened.

Errol’s Version: The man describes a scenario where young Elon walked into Tiffany & Co. with emeralds in his pocket, sold two for $2,000, then watched one get marked up to $24,000 in a store display. The family was basically drowning in cash—they’d have to hold money in place just to shut the safe door.

Elon’s Counter-Narrative: In a 2022 tweet, he called BS on the whole thing. “There is no objective evidence whatsoever that this mine ever existed,” he wrote. His claim? Growing up middle-to-upper-middle class, no inheritance, no big financial gifts. His father’s engineering business eventually tanked, and now Elon and Kimbal are actually supporting their dad—with conditions attached.

The Wild Part: One of the world’s richest men is literally paying his father’s bills while the old man’s still telling stories about emerald riches. Elon acknowledges his father’s business was solid for decades, but the narrative about inherited wealth? He’s not having it.

So which version is real? The dude who claims he got zero help building a multi-trillion-dollar legacy, or the father insisting the family once had more money than they could physically store? The emerald mine has never been verified, no records exist. Draw your own conclusions.

One thing’s clear though—the Musk family origin story is way messier than the “self-made billionaire” headline suggests.