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Who is Elon Musk’s mother, Maye?
Maye has a modeling career than spans over 50 years
MAYE Musk is the glamorous supermodel mother of Elon Musk – the richest man in the world.
Before her son Elon Musk became the infamous, polarizing figure he is today, Maye Musk had already developed a prolific modeling career.
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Who is Elon Musk's mother, Maye?
Maye Musk is a high-class fashion model, having walked for notable brands like Dolce and Gabbana during Milan Fashion Week and gracing the covers of Time magazine and Vogue.
While Maye was born in Canada, her family moved to South Africa shortly after.
Maye, who was then known as Maye Haldeman, was a finalist in the 1969 Miss South Africa beauty contest.
She married Errol Musk in 1970, then divorced him in 1979.
Maye moved back to Canada from South Africa with her three kids, as a single mom.
She earned two master’s degrees along the way, in dietetics and nutritional science, and regularly gives lectures and presentations around the country and the world.
At the age of 69 in 2018, she became the oldest Covergirl spokesperson.
"I definitely think the beauty industry is wising up," she told at the time.
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"We are seeing a lot more representation and different people. I never thought I'd be a Covergirl at almost 70."
"Covergirl is doing a lot of great stuff here," she added.
In 2024, Maye posed for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, two years after gracing the magazine's cover.
Elon Musk's scandal-hit father Errol makes wild claims Tesla CEO was neglected by mom Maye and wouldn't go to school
The registered dietician credits a "flexitarian diet" for keeping her healthy and fit.
Considered more flexible than vegetarianism, the diet focuses on primarily eating plant-based foods, while also consuming meat in moderation.
"When I got divorced [in 1979], I couldn’t afford to buy meat, fish or chicken," Musk told .
"So I had to feed my children bean stew. And as they say, they did get tired of my bean stew."
"But I did vary from it. I used different beans and lots of vegetables. [I also gave them] fruits in season."
"Of course, we could never have afforded organic or anything like that," she continued.
"You [also] get whole wheat bread… in South Africa, brown bread was subsidized by the government."
"White bread was more expensive, so we only ate brown bread."
"And of course, it kept us all in good health. And then we had cereal and fruit in the morning."
Maye says that while her hard financial times are long gone, she has continued to follow a similar diet to this day.
"I eat very well," she said.
You need to feel good about yourself when you go for a swim
Maye Musk
"To me, to keep a body healthy and skin glowing, you have to eat well. That keeps me in good health."
She also says that she does indulge from time to time.
"It would usually be something sweet because I love desserts," she explained, discussing her guilty pleasures.
Along with a healthy diet, Maye also leads an active lifestyle.
"I walk my dog three times a day, although she sniffs more than he walks," she explained.
"I do exercises at night when I FaceTime my twin sister – she lives in Canada."
"I have 30 minutes to an hour of working out at home."
She also stresses the importance of taking things slow.
"I used to work out hard, but then I would hurt myself. You can overdo things. I wanted to be extremely fit."
"And then you find out you don’t need to hurt yourself. You can just be active," she added.
Maye also offered some age-old advice for women of all ages during the interview.
"Go to the beach and look at the men," she said.
"Do the men care? Are they insecure? They will be in tiny [shorts] and…flaunting themselves, thinking they are fabulous."
"Women should do the same…you have to enjoy your time at the beach. It’s fun to do that."
"And if anyone is insulting you, send the insult right back," she added, laughing.
"It’s so bizarre that a man can insult a woman when he looks way worse than her. I don’t know why we allow that."
"And if other women are insulting you, then you don’t have to mix with them."
"But you need to feel good about yourself when you go for a swim."
Is Maye Musk married?
Maye Musk is not currently married.
She also does not have any known romantic partner.
Maye was married to Elon’s father, Errol Musk, from 1970 until 1979.
She has since described the relationship as abusive,
A few years after she divorced Errol, a South African engineer, Maye moved to Canada, where she started her business as a dietician.
Who are Maye Musk's children?
Elon Musk
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Elon Musk is famous for his galaxy-wide scope and vast ambition - but his earlier life is less well-known.
Elon's parents divorced in 1979, and beginning in 1981, he lived mainly with his father, which he later said was a "bad idea."
As a 12-year-old child he taught himself computer programming and sold the code of a video game to a PC magazine for $500 (£300).
The gifted child was severely bullied, and at 17 he moved to Canada to continue his studies.
Two years later he transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where he gained two degrees in physics and business.
At the age of 24, he moved to California to start a Ph.D. in applied physics and material science at Stanford University.
He left the program after just two days to pursue other projects.
Today, he is the founder and CEO of SpaceX, co-founder, CEO, and product architect of Tesla Motors, co-founder and chairman of SolarCity, co-chairman of Open AI, co-founder of Zip2, and the founder of X.com, which merged with PayPal.
He is also the owner of X Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of X Holdings Corp.
The company owns and operates X, formerly Twitter.
Kimbal Musk
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Kimbal Musk is currently the founder of three food companies: The Kitchen Restaurant Group, a nonprofit called Big Green, and Square Roots, an urban farming company .
The younger Musk moved to Canada from South Africa when he was a teenager where he founded Zip2 with Elon.
Kimbal later decided to devote his career to food and went on to enroll at a French Culinary Institute in New York.
He was an investor in PayPal and currently sits on the board of Tesla and SpaceX.
Tosca Musk
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Elon’s younger sister, Tosca Musk, runs a streaming service called Passionflix, which hosts movies adapted from romance novels.
In 1997, she graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BFA degree in film studies.
She has reportedly been producing movies since 2001 and has made more than 30 to date, according to her IMDb page.
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Tosca is not married, and it is unclear whether she's currently dating anyone.
She has two children, twins Isabeau and Grayson.
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