Behind the very successful entrepreneur, Elon Musk, is a doting mother, Maye Musk, who, like her son, is on top of what she does. Yes, the news may be plastered with the SpaceX and Tesla CEO’s name all the time but his stunning mother is worth the attention and must be celebrated, too.
Sure, the matriarch doesn’t make outrageous announcements like plans to go to Mars or go on a tweeting spree to make malicious accusations against a British caveman, but Maye has a glamorous, successful life that may shock you.
Maye was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1948, and as a child, her family moved to South Africa. At such a young age, her parents wanted their kids to understand the value of being adventurous – when she was 4, they flew around the world in a plane her dad brought from her birthplace.
That’s not all, young Maye and her family would visit the Kalahari Desert in search of the Lost City and try to follow the same path that William Leonard Hunt had taken when he stumbled upon the ruins of the mysterious land in 1885.
Together with her twin sister, Maye worked at her father’s clinic before and after going to school. She later veered her attention to fashion, which landed her modeling gigs for beauty companies in the ’60s.
That’s not all: she dipped her toes into beauty pageants, too. Maye was a 1969 Miss South Africa finalist.
The following year, she tied the knot with engineer Errol Musk and they were blessed with three children, Tosca, Kimbal, and Elon. However, their love story only lasted for nine years after they decided to divorce.
At the time, Maye made a career shift and became a dietician, initially cold-calling potential clients and doctors. For over 45 years, she has been running her business and speaking as a wellness guru, proving that this path is worth traversing.
But life as a single mother raising three children was hard — in fact, to make ends meet, she had to get five jobs, including being a University of Toronto research officer just so her kids can study there for free. Even when Elon and Kimbal launched Zip2, she went to great lengths to keep them financially afloat.
The siblings promised their mom that if they become successful, they would give her a car and a house. Soon after Compaq bought Zip2 for $307 million, they kept that promise.
As much as her kids’ careers were taking off, so was hers. On top of gracing the covers of prestigious Elle Canada and New York Magazine, Maye also saw herself in ad campaigns of big brands like Revlon, Target, and Clinique.