I discovered something interesting the other day. Kimbal Musk, Elon Musk's brother, posted a rather fierce critique on X against Trump regarding his tariff policy. The guy wrote that no one would have believed Trump would be the president to impose the highest taxes in generations. Not a bad stance for someone who owns 700 million dollars.

What struck me is that Elon Musk's brother doesn't seem to be following the same path as his younger sibling. While everyone knows Elon and his rocket and electric car projects, Kimbal focuses on environmental and social issues. At 52, he still wears his cowboy hat, which makes him quite recognizable.

The two brothers do share quite a few things in common. Both born in Pretoria, they inherited the same square jaw, the same straight nose, and green eyes. Both hold South African, Canadian, and American nationalities. But contrary to what one might think, there hasn't been any heat between them despite their differences of opinion. The Musks are said to love each other madly.

Their family history might explain this solidarity. With their younger sister Tosca, they experienced a difficult childhood marked by parental violence. Their mother Maya had to divorce in 1979 to protect them. After that, the family emigrated first to Canada, then to the United States.

It was there that the two brothers launched Zip2, an enterprise software startup for the Internet. In 1999, they sold the thing for 307 million dollars to Compaq. A good start for two young entrepreneurs. Since then, their paths diverged, but Elon Musk's brother continued building his empire in a different way, more focused on social and environmental impact.