While Elon Musk is widely recognized as the wealthiest individual globally, his mother, Maye Musk, isn’t thrilled with that label.
In December of last year, Maye Musk appeared on Fox Business to discuss how her son is portrayed in the media.
Maye Musk clearly holds her son in high regard, taking issue with the notion that public interest in him is solely because of his wealth.
During her conversation with Fox host Stuart Varney, she expressed: “I don’t like the word wealthy or billionaire or things like that.
“Because I think it’s degrading. I think he is the genius of the world and people are loving him for that.”
While being labeled as the richest person might not seem degrading to everyone, Maye Musk has a different perspective.
She added: “When they see me, they go crazy, because I’m his mother but they love him because of what he does, and they respect him, and I am very proud of him.”
Stuart Varney asked Maye about her experience as Elon’s mother, given his numerous business ventures over the years.
She replied: “Every time I am surprised and every time I say don’t take on something else and he doesn’t listen to me and then he makes a big change.
“With this neurolink people are saying ‘why is he [doing it], I don’t want something in my head’ and I say well you are not paralyzed or you aren’t blind.
“If you are blind and you don’t want to see then you can argue the point, you don’t have to have a chip in your head.”
Despite Maye Musk’s defense, social media users were not entirely supportive of her views.
The video has resurfaced on Twitter, where many remain skeptical of her perspective on Elon Musk.
One user commented: “This is nauseating.
“People are interested in Elon because he is unfathomably rich & now because he’s jumped into bed with Trump.
“He’s not the first person to send a rocket to space, he’s not the first person to invent a car, or a robot.
“His mom has stars in her eyes, understandably.”
Another stated: “Genius of the World. Next it will be the Emperor of the World. Musk is good at raiding companies. That’s about it.”
A third pointed out: “He doesn’t design the rockets, the engines, he doesn’t do any calculations of any kind. He doesn’t program the systems, he doesn’t do market research, he has a lot of money to pay a lot of people to do that job. That doesn’t make him a genius.”
Another user harshly remarked: “Wealthy is all he is. He does not have a single redeeming characteristic. Sadly he thinks his money can buy him everything he wants. But it can’t buy him grace, humanity, love or diminish his unlikeability.”
Ouch. In the meantime, Maye Musk will have to be content with her son being recognized as the most wealthy man globally… what a predicament.