マスク氏の父、息子の少年時代語る　ＡＦＰインタビュー

【ランゲバーンＡＦＰ＝時事】大富豪の起業家イーロン・マスク氏にとって、話題を振りまくのはお手のものだ。同氏にまつわる報道はあふれている。しかし、アパルトヘイト（人種隔離）時代の南アフリカで過ごした少年時代のことは、あまり知られていない。（写真はイーロン・マスク氏の父親エロル・マスク氏。南アフリカ・ランゲバーンの自宅にて）
　マスク氏によるツイッター買収をめぐる騒動が続く中、父親のエロル・マスク氏（７６）が、ＡＦＰのインタビューに応じた。
　エロル氏には軍隊経験がある。息子たちにも軍隊仕込みの規律を教え、「南アフリカの少年」らしく育てようとしたという。
　「厳格な父親だった。私の言うことが法律だった。（息子たちは）私から学んだ」
　「私もそうやって生きてきた。ベストを目指し、力を尽くしてきた」
　ケープタウンから１２０キロ離れた趣のある海辺の町ランゲバーンの自宅で、エロル氏はそう語った。引退する前は技術者で、不動産開発業も営んでいた。
　イーロン氏は１９７１年６月２８日、エロル氏と、カナダ出身で南ア育ちのモデル・栄養士、メイさんとの間に、首都プレトリアで生まれた。弟と妹がいる。
　両親は離婚。イーロン氏は父親と暮らすことを決め、１人で夜行列車に乗り、父親の元にやって来た。
　「ヨハネスブルク駅に行くと、９歳のイーロンが１人でにこにこしながら列車から降りてきた」と振り返った。
　だが、イーロン氏自身は、つらい子ども時代だったと折に触れ語っている。
　アパルトヘイト政策真っ盛りの中、イーロン氏は徴兵制を逃れるため、国を後にした。
　エロル氏が２０１７年、４０歳年下の継娘との間に子どもをもうけると、関係は悪化した。
　「イーロンはあまりよく思わなかった。私は人生をあるがまま受け入れているだけだ」。最終的に、関係は修復したという。

■「これぞイーロン」
　息子は常に風変わりだったと、エロル氏は話す。子どもの頃は物おじせず、いたずら好きで、大人の会話によく加わっていたと振り返る。「４歳なのに大人の輪に加わっていた」
　イーロン少年はある日、大人になったら大富豪になると宣言した。それを耳にした一人の大人は、酒を飲み、たばこをふかしながら笑った。「大人になったら分かる。そううまくいくものではない。がっかりするだろう」
　イーロン少年は「ばかなのはあなただ」と言い返したという。
　「これぞイーロンだ」と、エロル氏は言った。
　父親が自殺した同級生を傷つけるような発言をしたこともあった。相手に学校の階段から突き落とされ、入院した。
　その出来事の後、エロル氏は息子を名門男子校に転校させた。

■思いやり
　息子とは秘書を通じて連絡を取っている。
　インタビュー中にも、イーロン氏からＥメールが届いた。最近受けた目の手術の費用を負担すると言ってきたという。
　「イーロンはとても思いやりがある。イーロンが人類を救いたいと言うときは、本当にそう思っている。ただのスローガンや宣伝ではない。本気なんだ」
　エロル氏の７０歳の誕生日には、ハリウッドのスターら友人を招いてパーティーを催してくれた。
　「私は南アフリカの男だ。自分の誕生日に関心はない。でも、あれはうれしかった」
　６年前のそのパーティー以来、直接には会っていない。電話で話すこともあまりない。エロル氏は別段、変わったことではないと語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/06/14-14:09）

Elon Musk knows how to dominate a news cycle, but for all the coverage of the world's richest man, the tech billionaire's early life in apartheid-era South Africa remains sketchy.
Amid Musk's roller-coaster pursuit of Twitter, his father Errol Musk told AFP in an interview that he had tried to raise his sons as South African boys, instilling in them the same discipline he learnt in the military.
I was a strict father. My word was the law. They learnt from me, the 76-year-old said.
He said that even as a pre-schooler, Elon had set his sights on becoming the wealthiest man alive, crediting that uber-macho South African boy upbringing with driving his ambition.
It's part of the way we lived, the way I lived. We strove to be the best we could, he told AFP in an interview from his home in the quaint oceanside town of Langebaan, 120 kilometres (70 miles) from Cape Town.
I strove to be the best in the type of business that I was in, the retired engineer and property developer said.
It's sort of our make-up. So we sort of expect that.
Musk was born in Pretoria on June 28, 1971, to Errol and Maye, a Canadian model and dietitian who grew up in South Africa.
He was the oldest of three children, closely followed in age by his brother Kimbal and sister Tosca.
He left South Africa at the height of apartheid to avoid the unpopular army draft.
After his parents' acrimonious divorce, Elon decided to live with his father -- taking an overnight train alone when he moved in.
I go down to Johannesburg Station and there was this little Elon, beaming face, come up on the train by himself, nine years old, his father recalled.
Yet Elon has said on numerous occasions that he had an unhappy childhood.
As an adult, father and son suffered a major split when Errol had a child in 2017 with a stepdaughter four decades his junior.
Elon thought that was not very good. From my point of view, I take life as it comes, the elder Musk said.
But he says their relationship has since improved.
We care about each other, Errol said.
- 'Typically Elon' -
Errol says his son has always been unusual -- long before his controversial outbursts on Twitter.
As a child, Elon spoke without a filter, played pranks and often joined adult conversations, he recalled.
Even as young as four years old, he would tend to sit with adult people, said Errol.
He recounted one occasion when one man said to him, 'Hey little chap, why don't you join the kids and run around?' And he'd say, 'No, I prefer to listen to you'.
When young Elon announced that he planned to be a millionaire, his father remembered, another adult scoffed at the boy.
He remembered this man laughing, holding his drink and cigarette and saying, 'When you grow up you'll see. It's not like that... you're going to be disappointed'.
Elon responded, 'Well, I think you're stupid', said Errol.
That's typically Elon, said the father.
He also recalled a time when Elon made a hurtful comment to a schoolmate about his father's suicide.
The boy pushed Elon down a staircase at school, injuring him so badly he had to be hospitalised.
When he heard what had happened, Errol wanted to defend his son.
But I realised Elon overstepped the mark with this little boy. I had to drop it, he said.
After that incident, Errol moved Elon to the prestigious Pretoria Boys High School.
One of the school's ex-headmasters confirmed to AFP that Elon had donated one million rand ($64,500, 60,000 euros) to his alma mater.
- 'Very caring' -
The donation was organised through Musk's assistant. That's also how his father communicates with him.
During the interview with AFP, Errol received what he said was an email from Elon offering to pay for recent eye surgery.
Elon is a very caring person. He really means it when he says that he wants to save humanity. This is not a slogan or some sort of pitch. This is real.
Errol recalls his 70th birthday as another example of Elon's generosity.
I'm a South African man. I'm not concerned about my birthday. But it was very nice, said Errol.
Unbeknown to him, Elon had invited a bunch of his celebrity friends, including Hollywood stars.
During the lunch, they discussed his support for former US president Donald Trump.
They all had a good laugh at that, and how could I be so stupid as to support Trump?
That was his last physical interaction with his son, six years ago. They rarely speak on the phone -- something he says is not unusual.
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