No one is unfamiliar with the name Elon Musk, a South African inventor, businessman and billionaire. He is known as the founder of SpaceX and co-founder of Tesla Motors and PayPal. However, few people know that the person behind Elon’s resounding success is the hard work of his wife Maye Musk .
She is also behind the success of her two other children, film director Tosca Musk and restaurateur and businessman Kimbal Musk.
At 71 years old, Maye Musk is still a sought-after model and regularly “runs shows”. Although this is no longer strange in the fashion industry, Mrs. Maye is still an exception because her charming, attractive and sharp beauty still makes many girls admire. Maye Musk’s luxurious and noble beauty has appeared in Virgin America’s promotional campaign, the cover of New York magazine or Beyonce’s Haunted MV.
Adventurous childhood life and modeling career
Maye Musk, born in 1948, is originally from Canada but immigrated to South Africa with her parents in a private plane. In 1952, when she was just 4 years old, she flew 22,000 miles around the world with her parents, according to the New York Times. Growing up, Maye and her family roamed the Kalahari Desert in search of the “Lost City.” It was thanks to these adventurous parents that she found the confidence to pursue a career in the fashion world.
She started her modeling career at the age of 15. Maye Musk even participated in Miss South Africa and reached the final round. Although she did not achieve the highest position, her images were sought after and invited by many companies. Her modeling career was on the rise, but suddenly at the age of 21, she left the spotlight and married Errol Musk, an engineer. The two have 3 extremely beautiful children together.
Her marriage to Errol did not last long, after nearly 10 years of marriage, Maye and Errol divorced in 1979. At the age of 31, Maye Musk became a single mother raising 3 young children. After the divorce, she was penniless even though Errol’s family was wealthy.
The Dark Ages in Maye Musk’s Life
In 1989, Maye Musk moved her family from South Africa to Toronto. This was also the most difficult time of Maye’s life. At times, she had to work five jobs at the same time to make money to raise her children: from working at a grocery store and laundry, working as a researcher for the University of Toronto, teaching at a nutrition school to modeling. Maye once told the Huffington Post: “After my divorce, I struggled to make ends meet and raise three children. Poverty makes you work hard.”
Perhaps for each member of the Musk family, no one can forget that dark time. When Maye was 41 years old, the modeling career was no longer “hot” anymore, she had to struggle to earn money for rent and school fees for her children in many different ways. During this time, her family did not even have money to buy meat for dinner.
One of Maye’s customers, a slaughterhouse owner, took pity on her and decided to provide her family with a huge chunk of meat every month. Maye would cut the meat into four pieces to eat for four weeks.
Plus, Maye was so busy with work that she couldn’t go on dates or see another man. “If we split the bill, I knew my kids might not have anything to eat that week,” she said.
Meanwhile, her children also did their part to support the family. Tosca worked at a high-end grocery store while in school, and Maye Musk helped Elon get a job at Microsoft.
Maye studied nutrition at the University of Pretoria in South Africa and went on to earn two master’s degrees in the field, one from Orange State University in South Africa and one from the University of Toronto in Canada. As a nutritionist, Maye Musk always stocked up on healthy foods like milk and bread. However, since she didn’t have much time to cook, Kimbal became the main cook in the family.
Success and life at the age of seventy is ancient
With extraordinary efforts, Maye Musk’s family finally overcame the most difficult period. She led her family to success: an empire named Elon Musk, a famous restaurant chain owner Kimbal Musk and Tosca Musk – a television producer with many prestigious awards.
Today, Maye Musk still maintains a healthy diet, partly to stay in shape and partly to maintain her longevity. “The secret to longevity is to eat well,” Maye says.
At 71, she is still energetic and youthful despite her gray hair. In an interview with the Daily Mail , Maye Musk said: “I will continue to work as long as people want to hire me. I have no plans to retire. When I go to shoots, young models are excited to meet me. It shows that they can have a long and successful career.”
Looking at Maye Musk, a beauty at the peak of her beauty, no one would imagine that her life has gone through many ups and downs. Although she is a slim woman, she has overcome difficulties and raised 3 children to adulthood. It is a great and extraordinary thing that makes everyone admire.