The Musk family is a wealthy

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n family, largely active in South Africa, the United States, and Canada. The Musks are of

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from Free Burghers, predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: ...

, Anglo-Canadian,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

, and

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

heritage. The family is known for their entrepreneurial endeavors.

History

The family traces its origins to England where the surname was adopted by Elon's paternal ancestors in the 16th century. The family was part of the small number of British immigrants to South Africa in the early-to-mid twentieth century; Elon's paternal great-grandmother was descended from Dutch

Free Burghers Free Burghers (Dutch: ''Vrijburgher'', Afrikaans: ''Vryburger'') were early European settlers at the Cape of Good Hope in the 18th century. The introduction of Free Burghers to the Cape is regarded as the beginning of a permanent settlement of ...

, while his maternal great-grandparent originated from Switzerland. His maternal grandfather moved from Canada to South Africa around 1950.

Notable members

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The Bori ...

(born 1971), entrepreneur and business magnate, CEO of

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...

, Tesla and

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. He was the richest person in the world in 2022 and

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

2021 Person of the Year. *

Errol Musk Errol Musk (born 1946) is a South African electromechanical engineer, pilot, sailor, consultant, and property developer who was once a co-owner of a Zambian emerald mine near Lake Tanganyika. He is the father of business magnate and billionaire ...

(born 1946), South African electromechanical engineer, pilot, sailor, and consultant; father of Elon Musk. Errol was a property developer in South Africa, developing locations like emerald mines. * Justine Musk (née Wilson; born 1972), Canadian author and former wife of Elon Musk. *

Kimbal Musk Kimbal Reeve Musk (born 20 September 1972) is a South African restaurateur, chef, and entrepreneur. He owns The Kitchen Restaurant Group, a collection of "community" restaurants located in Colorado, Chicago, and Indianapolis. He is the co-fo ...

(born 1972), entrepreneur, philanthropist, and restaurateur. He founded

Zip2 Zip2 was a company that provided and licensed online city guide software to newspapers. The company was founded in Palo Alto, California as Global Link Information Network in 1995, by Greg Kouri and brothers Elon and Kimbal Musk. Initially, Glo ...

in 1998 with his brother Elon Musk and later sold it to

Compaq Compaq Computer Corporation (sometimes abbreviated to CQ prior to a 2007 rebranding) was an American information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced ...

for $307 million. He is the co-founder and chairman of Big Green. *

Maye Musk Maye Musk (''née'' Haldeman; born April 19, 1948) is a model and dietitian. She has been a model for 50 years, appearing on the covers of magazines, including a ''Time'' magazine health edition, ''Women's Day'', international editions of ''V ...

(née Haldeman; born 1948), model and dietitian. She has appeared on the cover of several magazines, including a Time magazine health edition, Women's Day, and Vogue; mother of Elon Musk. *

Tosca Musk Tosca Musk (born July 20, 1974) is a South African filmmaker. She is an executive producer and director of feature films, television programs, and web content. Her work includes K. Bromberg's ''Driven'', Rachel van Dyken's ''Matchmaker's Playbook ...

(born 1974), filmmaker and sister of Elon Musk; she is the co-founder of

Passionflix Passionflix is an OTT entertainment streaming platform and production company. The platform was created and co-founded in 2017 by director and producer Tosca Musk, producer Jina Panebianco, and writer Joany Kane. Passionflix focuses on rele ...

, an OTT entertainment streaming platform and production company. *

Lyndon Rive Lyndon Rive (born 22 January 1977) is a South African businessman known as the co-founder of SolarCity, and its CEO until 2016. SolarCity is a provider of photovoltaic systems and related services. Rive co-founded SolarCity with his brother P ...

(born 1977), businessman who co-founded

SolarCity SolarCity Corporation was a publicly traded company headquartered in Fremont, California that sold and installed solar energy generation systems as well as other related products and services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers ...

and served as its CEO until 2017. He is a cousin to Elon through his mother Kaye Rive, Maye Musk's twin. * Michael Musk (born 1952), dermatologist, younger brother of Errol Musk, uncle of Elon Musk.

References

{{Reflist American families Canadian families Elon Musk American people of South African descent South African families