Errol Musk, the father of tech billionaire Elon Musk, is facing scrutiny following a New York Times investigation published on Tuesday, that detailed allegations of sexual abuse spanning over 30 years.
According to the report, five of Musk’s children and stepchildren have accused him of sexual misconduct, with the earliest allegations dating back to 1993. Family members say they have reached out to Elon Musk for help.
The New York Times report is based on court and police records, personal correspondence via mail, and interviews with over a dozen individuals close to the Musk family. It outlines years of allegations, legal interventions, and emotional trauma.
Errol Musk, 79, has denied all accusations, calling them “false and nonsense in the extreme.” He claims the allegations are fabricated by relatives motivated by Elon Musk’s wealth.
Investigations and Family Testimony
The first known accusation dates to 1993 in Pretoria, South Africa. Musk’s then-4-year-old stepdaughter told relatives he had touched her inappropriately. Police opened an investigation, but the child’s mother, Heide-Mari Bezuidenhout, later withdrew the charges as part of a divorce settlement.
But more allegations followed. In 2002, while living in a Malibu home bought by Elon Musk, the same stepdaughter, then 14, found Errol Musk sniffing her dirty underwear. A complaint was made to child protective services in California, and a restraining order was issued, according to three sources close to the family. Errol Musk denied this accusation, saying he was merely cleaning her room.
By the mid-2000s, more disturbing claims emerged. According to court documents and personal notes reviewed by The New York Times, Errol Musk was also accused of sexually abusing two daughters he had with Bezuidenhout and a stepson who died in 2006. In a 2009 interim protection order filed in South Africa, the former stepdaughter alleged that Errol Musk kissed her forcefully. She also accused him of prior abuse against other children in the family.
Despite three separate police investigations, authorities never charged or convicted Musk. Two cases were closed, and the outcome of the third remains unclear.
Elon Musk’s Silence and Family Rift
In 2017 and 2019, Errol Musk had children with his former stepdaughter, an act he later described in media interviews as “nature’s plan.” Family members dispute his claim that they had been estranged before the relationship began.
In 2022, the woman’s young son reportedly told relatives his father had groped him. Police opened a case, but prosecutors dropped it for lack of evidence.
Attention grew earlier this year after Musk appeared on the South African podcast Wide Awake, where he discussed his life but avoided mentioning controversy. That silence led Elmie Smit, the sister of his ex-wife, to speak publicly. She said her niece, Musk’s stepdaughter, was abused as early as 1993.
Elon Musk, 54, has not commented publicly on the New York Times investigation. However, the report details multiple instances in which family members reached out for him to intervene. In a 2010 letter viewed by the New York Times, a relative pleaded: “We really need your advice, help and guidance in these matters because we daily see these children suffer.” While it’s unclear if Elon read the letter, he has reportedly provided financial assistance to several family members, including his former stepsister.
In a 2017 Rolling Stone interview, Musk described his father as having done “almost every evil thing you could possibly think of.” More recently, in Walter Isaacson’s 2023 biography, Elon Musk is quoted as saying he no longer speaks with his father and once tried to keep his half-siblings in California to protect them from Errol Musk.
