Elon Musk's father Errol Musk has been in the spotlight for an interview in which he reportedly said he was not proud of his son. But now he has come out to say that he was misunderstood.
Errol Musk, 79, a retired engineer had spoken to Australian radio hosts earlier this month. One of them asked: "Your offspring is a genius. He's worth so much money and has created so many things, you can't take that away from him. Are you proud?"
His response: No.
"You know, we are a family that have been doing a lot of things for a long time, it's not as if we suddenly started doing something," Errol Musk continued.
After his comments came under media glare, he sought to explain himself.
"I didn't actually notice her (the host's) question about being proud? Errol Musk told Daily Mail Australia. "I thought she asked 'were you expecting this coming?'. It was only when I listened to the recording afterwards that I realised."
Errol Musk said his billionaire son knows it's not true that he is not proud of him. But the Tesla boss did send him a cautionary message.
''Dad, the press play you like a fiddle so please keep quiet," the Tesla boss messaged his father after the row, according to the newspaper.
Errol Musk, a South African engineer and property developer, has been reported to have a strained relationship with his son.
He had told AFP in an interview in June that he had last met his son six years ago. But he described him as a caring person who once paid for his eye surgery and organised a birthday party for him.
(With inputs from AFP)
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