ELON Musk’s dad has claimed that the tech tycoon had an often tense working relationship with his younger brother Kimbal when they were making their way in the world.
Elon, 52, and Kimbal, 51, took their first steps together in the tech business when they founded groundbreaking online maps firm Zip2 in Silicon Valley in 1995.
The software firm was sold to IT giant Compaq for $307 million in 1999.
Kimbal was also an early investor in Elon’s online financial services firm X.com, which later became PayPal, and currently serves on the Tesla board.
Giving a behind-the-scenes peek into the brothers’ rise to the top, their dad Errol Musk, 77, revealed that Elon would sometimes upset clients with his aloof manner.
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It would then fall to Kimbal - now a restaurateur and chef - to put things right, the retired electromechanical engineer said.
Errol exclusively told The U.S. Sun, “They cover for each other always, but there have been screaming matches when Elon pissed off a client or two in the early days.
“Kimbal would scream, ‘I speak to clients, not you!’
“Elon never meant to, but he could make clients feel unliked, or even tell clients their ideas are no good.”
Errol said it led to Kimbal sometimes losing his cool with the Tesla CEO for being rude.
“Elon is better now. But he had a quick manner,” Errol said.
“Someone came to him with a complaint, an excuse, a request, a question, some info, or some great news.
“Elon would inevitably just nod and turn away. No response.
“People thought he didn't like them, was angry at them, or was unimpressed by them. You get the idea?
“When this came to light, that some poor sod wanted to kill him or herself because Elon 'rejected' him or her, Kimbal would hit the roof.
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“Somewhat screaming at Elon, he would say, ‘FFS, send these people to me! Don't try and handle this stuff!’
“Of course, Elon was always surprised. He never 'didn't like someone.'
"He'd defend himself, 'What'd I do?'"
They cover for each other always, but there have been screaming matches when Elon pissed off a client or two in the early days.
Errol Musk
Elon has previously disputed claims made in Ashlee Vance’s biography of the world’s richest man that Errol had provided him and Kimbal money to help them start Zip2.
Kimbal currently runs The Kitchen Restaurant Group, which has locations in Boulder, Denver, and Chicago, and a non-profit called Big Green focused on teaching children about food.
He is also on the board of his brother’s Tesla electric vehicle company and was a director at Elon’s SpaceX rocket manufacturing firm until 2022.
Kimbal discussed his and Elon’s close relationship growing up and their start in tech together on the popular Lex Fridman podcast earlier this month.
The dad of three agreed that he and Elon complement each other, with his strength on the social side and putting people together, while his brother is an “engineering genius.”
He also described the moment the brothers realized how revolutionary Zip2’s then-novel door-to-door directions system was going to be before it was sold to Compaq and merged into Yahoo Maps in 1999.
Kimbal said, “I don’t think people understand, before this moment you could not be told your directions… and all of a sudden you could.
“It wasn’t a little thing.”
Speaking from his home in South Africa this week, Errol said that he always insisted that his sons should have a close relationship.
“Your brother and sister is the closest living creature to you,” he said. “Alienation is totally verboten.
“The boys grew up with me as a twosome versus me until they finished high school.
“On many travels abroad, especially, they had to behave and think for each other.
“I was always there, but I was not a nanny.
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“By the age of 10, even earlier, they were quite independent, but having each other's backs was a great thing. I encouraged this.
“I pointed out often that one's brother or sister is the closest thing to you (‘You might need a kidney!’) so it is absolutely essential to keep very close to each other. They listened.
“I've known many families where the siblings hate each other. So stupid.”
Both Elon and Kimbal have a difficult relationship with their father, which was highlighted in an autobiography of the X owner by author Walter Isaacson last year.
Speaking about his dad, Kimbal told Lex Fridman, “He is still alive but I’m not connected to him.
“The phrase I used to have is that he taught me what not to do, so I still actually learned a lot.
“What kind of human being not to be, what kind of actions not to take.”
