In the sprawling constellation of Elon Musk’s contradictions—billionaire disruptor and social media brawler, father of a dozen and destroyer of norms—his relationship with the man who first called him “son” remains the most enigmatic.
Errol Musk, Elon’s father, is an engineer, a dreamer, and by most accounts, a deeply complicated man. His shadow stretches long over Elon’s origin story, filled with tales of South African grit, apartheid-era trauma, and a genius son who long ago decided his father was “a terrible human being.”
Yet in interviews, Errol has insisted otherwise. “We’ve always gotten along,” he told The New York Times, brushing off comments where he accused Elon of being a neglectful father. He later explained his words had been taken out of context—a phrase that has become as familiar to the Musk family as electric vehicles and rocket launches.
The irony is stark: Elon Musk, who has reshaped the world’s approach to energy, space, and communication, now faces a deeply human dilemma. Can a man who creates futures build a bridge back to his own past? Can he become the father he never had?
Of Pigs and Patriarchs
In Elon’s modern-day mythology, the term “pig” has surfaced as a curious cipher—used most recently to describe the GOP’s “pork-filled” spending bill, prompting his threat to form a new “America Party.” But his disdain for excess and hypocrisy seems to echo a deeper resentment.
While there’s no confirmed quote of Elon calling his father a pig, the symbolism isn’t hard to interpret. Elon has accused Errol of cruelty and recklessness. In a 2017 Rolling Stone interview, Elon referred to his father as “evil,” stating, “He was such a terrible human being. You have no idea.” The language may not include farm animals, but the disgust was vivid.
And yet, pig is a word Elon now wields publicly—sometimes for political theater, but perhaps, unconsciously, also for emotional cleansing. In the world of PAIRS (Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills), we’d call this a “projection of unresolved emotional allergy”. In layman’s terms: when the inner hurt from the past still hasn’t found its healing.
The Father’s Day Mirror
This year’s Father’s Day tips, attributed to Elon with satirical flair, remind us how fatherhood remains a recurring theme in his public persona—even when cloaked in irony. “Pick interesting names for your kids,” one tip joked. For a man who named his son X Æ A-12, that’s more autobiography than advice.
Errol, meanwhile, continues to lob paradoxical affection. He recently urged Elon and Donald Trump to reconcile—comparing their public fallout to “a man and wife arguing.” “Everybody says, ‘I’ll never make up,’ but then they do,” he mused.
It’s a telling metaphor. The elder Musk views feuds through the lens of domestic strife, not ideological rifts. If Errol sees himself as the misunderstood patriarch, Elon’s narrative casts him more as the villain in a family origin myth that’s still being rewritten.
What Healing Could Look Like
Seth Eisenberg, author of Love That Grows With You and Let It Out, and developer of the YODI relationship app, believes reconciliation is still possible—even for a father-son pair like the Musks.
“If Elon truly wants to break the cycle,” Eisenberg says, “he needs to stop trying to fix the past through conquest and invention and begin creating space for healing conversation. The skills that built Tesla won’t build trust. Repair begins with emotional safety, deep listening, and a willingness to say what’s never been said.”
Drawing from PAIRS principles, Eisenberg emphasizes a three-step emotional roadmap: 1) Empty the Emotional Jug—a structured way to express pain, anger, fear, and hope without blame; 2) Confide Emotional Allergies—acknowledging triggers shaped by past wounds; and 3) Fair Fight for Change—learning to disagree without destruction.
“It’s not about whether Errol deserves forgiveness,” Eisenberg adds. “It’s about Elon choosing the father he wants to be—for himself and his children.”
Building a Different Legacy
Elon Musk may never approve of his father’s decisions. He may never trust him, may never even speak to him again. But the work of becoming the father he never had isn’t about Errol Musk.
It’s about Elon choosing to respond—not react. To listen more than launch. And perhaps, one day, to give his own children what he so desperately longed for: a father who stayed, not just in orbit, but at home.
Because even for the man building spaceships to Mars, the longest journey is still the one that leads back to the heart.
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