Inside Elon Musk and Kimbal Musk’s relationship: the world’s richest man and his millionaire brother grew up in South Africa, started up Zip2 together … and literally wrestled to make decisions
- Tesla’s CEO may be the richest man in the world, but his younger brother Kimbal Musk gets plenty of love from mum Maye and dad Errol – so what does Elon think of him?
- Besides growing up together in South Africa, the two started Zip2; Elon later sold it for US$300 million and founded X.com, which later became PayPal
Kimbal might sit on the board of Elon’s businesses, Tesla and SpaceX, but he is a millionaire in his own right too, with his collection of restaurants and other business ventures. And while Kimbal is undoubtedly a part of Elon’s inner circle, he is aware of his eccentric older brother’s flaws too.
So, how well do they get along exactly? Here’s what we know …
What were the Musks’ childhoods like?
Kimbal said he, Elon and their cousins were always coming up with ways to make money. He said they grew up “capitalist” and when they were all together they found ways to come up with different schemes.
Elon is currently 51 years old while Kimbal is 49 and Tosca is 48.
Elon Musk was a “tough cookie”
Although Elon’s mum Maye has referred to Kimbal as the perfect child, she’s described her Tesla CEO son as always being on some sort of “quest”, as she told Vanity Fair. In one example, Maye recalled how Elon fell off a roof and needed stitches. Instead of coming home and resting, he stayed up late to read.