Errol Musk (79) has been accused of abusing five of his children and stepchildren in South Africa and California in allegations dating to the early 1990s, according to The New York Times.
The SpaceX CEO’s father, who has not been convicted of any crime, dismissed the allegations as “false and nonsense in the extreme” in a statement to the Times.
Relatives of Elon Musk have repeatedly contacted the Tesla CEO for support and he has sometimes interceded, according to the Times, citing personal letters, emails and interviews with family members obtained as part of the investigation.
Police and court records reportedly document three separate investigations into the alleged abuse. Two of the investigations ended, but the outcome of the third remains unclear.
In the earliest alleged incident, Errol Musk’s stepdaughter accused him of abusing her when she was four years old in 1993.
Reports … were ‘concocted by family members who were putting the children up to say false things’
Other relatives allege he also abused two of his daughters and a stepson, according to the outlet.
One relative reportedly wrote a five-page letter to Elon Musk in 2010, detailing some of the allegations against his father and urging him to intervene.
“We really need your advice, help and guidance in these matters because we daily see these children suffer,” the relative wrote in the letter, which was reviewed by the Times.
It was not clear if Elon Musk read the letter, but one of his assistants reportedly contacted a family member afterward.
Errol Musk, who currently lives in South Africa, has been married three times and has at least nine children and stepchildren. He was described by the Times as maintaining “a powerful grip over much of the family”.
Elon Musk is his eldest child, and the 54-year-old former “special government employee” is reported to have provided financial support for his stepfamily from his father’s third marriage.
Elmie Smit, the sister of Errol Musk’s third wife, said Errol has “left a massive wound” in the family.
In response to the allegations, Errol Musk told the newspaper “the reports are false and nonsense in the extreme” and alleged the accusations were “concocted by family members who were putting the children up to say false things”, according to the Times.
Everything could be super, then within a second he would be vicious and spewing abuse
He claimed he has a good relationship with Elon and they “are very close”.
However, in a 2023 biography, Elon told author Walter Isaacson that he does not communicate with his father.
Maye Musk, Elon Musk’s mother, and his father divorced in 1979. Elon chose to live with his father in the South African capital of Pretoria between the ages of 10 and 17 and endured a troubled relationship with him, according to the authorised biography.
Elon’s sister, Tosca Musk, claimed Errol Musk would sometimes lecture his children and call them “worthless, pathetic, making scarring and evil comments, not allowing you to leave”.
“His mood could change on a dime. Everything could be super, then within a second he would be vicious and spewing abuse,” Tosca Musk said in the Musk-endorsed biography.
Errol Musk has been a regular guest on news and talk shows this year as his son entered US politics, leading the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to slash federal spending.
He said that his son was “not cut out for politics” in February.