Just found out Elon Musk actually went on Twitter to correct people about his ethnic background. Apparently everyone thought he was Afrikaner, but he's actually British/English descent. The wild part? He compared himself to J.R.R. Tolkien—who was also born in South Africa. Both ended up leaving for England, both have that British heritage thing.

Musk is obsessed with Tolkien, like he actually brings up his works all the time on social media. Even used Tolkien references when he was with Grimes or whatever. It's kind of a whole thing for him.

There's actually a difference between Afrikaner and English South African identity that most people don't realize. Afrikaners are descended from Dutch, German, and French settlers from the 1600s, speak Afrikaans, whole different cultural vibe. English South Africans trace back to 19th-century British settlers, speak English, more tied to Britain culturally. Musk was born in Pretoria in 1971, Tolkien in Bloemfontein back in 1892.

Also apparently there's been all this speculation about his upbringing and his dad's emerald mine thing, which Musk keeps saying is fake. But yeah, the ethnic background clarification seems to be what he actually wanted to set straight. Interesting how people get these details wrong about him.