Just found out Elon Musk actually cleared up something about his South African roots that most people get wrong. He posted back in 2024 that he's got British/English heritage, not Afrikaner background like everyone assumes. Pretty interesting because he drew a comparison to JRR Tolkien, who was also born in South Africa but had English parents.

Musk was born in Pretoria in 1971, and apparently Tolkien's work has been a big deal for him - even influenced his whole thing with Grimes. The thing is, there's a real difference between English South Africans and Afrikaners (who descended from Dutch/German/French settlers). Seems like Musk wanted to set the record straight since people were misunderstanding his actual background.

Also learned his childhood in South Africa was pretty rough - like that wilderness survival camp thing at 12 he called a 'Lord of the Flies' situation. And yeah, there's all that stuff about his dad and the emerald mine rumors that he keeps saying is fake. Anyway, interesting how someone as prominent as Elon Musk still has to clarify basic facts about where he's actually from.