Why Elon Musk Got Bullied In High School

In some ways, Musk had a tough childhood and adolescence.

He implied that it was a difficult, if not abusive, relationship when he left his father. He was beaten so badly that he was in the hospital for two weeks.

His critics have pointed out that his youth was spent in South Africa under apartheid, a brutal white supremacist regime that enforced racial segregation and advantaged the white population at every possible turn.

Details on how Musk's family benefited from or related to apartheid have remained hazy. It's interesting because it shows a blank space in the early life of a now-towering figure who has become a flashpoint in debates around wealth, inequality, and racial injustice.

That's what makes the New York Times investigation into Musk's life in South Africa so intriguing.

It's unsurprising that Musk's childhood and adolescence were marked by deep racial divides, but it's still interesting to hear him talk about it.

Melanie Cheary told the paper that most Black people they interacted with were servants.

The young Musk did, in small ways, sometimes oppose the racist norms of his environment according to the story.

Errol Musk told the newspaper that the family's children, including the junior Musk, opposed the apartheid system and took pains to plan outings with nonwhite friends so as not to endanger them by running afoul of laws around segregation.

Errol told the newspaper that South Africa was mostly better and safer back in those days.

The brother of a childhood friend of Musk recounted the most striking passage in the story.

Mr. Musk chided the student for using the anti-Black slur, but the student got bullied for doing so.

Mr. Musk was one of the few white people who attended the funeral of Mr. Mashudu.

He said that it was rare during that time.

There is a lot to unpack here.

Musk's family probably benefited from a racist system, and it's likely that he wouldn't have been able to start his career at a web startup if it weren't for that.

On the other hand, the limited anecdotes that were covered by the NYT show a young person who at times went out of his way to oppose a system that was unjust.

It is difficult to reconcile this information with the man that Musk has become.

At times in his career, Musk has presented himself as a milquetoast centrist in order to score political points for his high tech ventures.

At times, he also flirts with the fringes of the political spectrum. He was flirting with conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich and posting inaccurate analyses as he made moves to buy Twitter.

There are no headlines about the treatment of Black employees at Musk's electric carmaker, which the company has fought back against legally.

The final analysis of Musk's biography is the simplest explanation.

Musk cares about humanity as a whole, but it is willing to treat individuals badly, or even forge cynical political relationships, to gain ground on what he sees as the civilization-shifting tasks.

The risk of zooming out so far is that it focuses only on the distant future, ignoring inequality, suffering, and unfair systems here in the present.

Musk's ideas about free speech are very liberal and not nuanced, according to his classmates.

There is a dark reason that Musk is trashing his own employees.