Errol Musk, father of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has been accused of sexually abusing at least five of his children and stepchildren over a span of more than three decades, according to an investigation published Tuesday.
Documents and interviews obtained by The New York Times, reveal the earliest allegation dates to 1993, when Musk’s four-year-old stepdaughter told relatives he touched her inappropriately at the family’s Pretoria home. A decade later, she alleged she caught him “sniffing her dirty underwear.”
Other claims include allegations from Musk’s daughters and a stepson. In 2022, his five-year-old son told authorities that Musk groped him, though prosecutors later dropped the case for insufficient evidence.
Family members say they repeatedly tried to raise the alarm. In 2010, relatives wrote to Elon Musk in a five-page letter obtained by reporters: “We daily see these children suffer.”
Law enforcement has opened three separate investigations into the claims, two of which were closed without charges. The status of the third remains unclear.
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| Elon Musk with, from left, half-sisters Alexandra and Asha Rose Musk, and stepsister Jana Bezuidenhout |
Musk, 79, has denied wrongdoing. “There was no evidence because this is nonsense,” he told The New York Times, calling the allegations “false and nonsense in the extreme.” He accused relatives of “putting the children up to say false things” as part of an attempt to extort his son.
The elder Musk is also on record defending his relationship with his stepdaughter Jana Bezuidenhout, which resulted in two children, as “completely normal.”
Elon Musk has not commented publicly on the latest accusations. In earlier interviews, however, he described his father as a “deeply malevolent figure,” adding, “Almost every crime you can possibly think of, he has done. Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of.”
No criminal convictions have resulted from the allegations, and legal experts note that statutes of limitation could complicate prosecution of decades-old claims.