Maye Musk

Maye Haldeman was born on April 19, 1948, in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, a twin{{cite magazine|last1=Fox|first1=Emily Jane|title=How Elon Musk's Mom (and her Twin Sister) Raised the First Family of Tech|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/10/elon-musk-family-maye-musk|department=The Hive|magazine=Vanity Fair|access-date=July 20, 2017|language=en|date=October 21, 2015|archive-date=July 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716073559/http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/10/elon-musk-family-maye-musk|url-status=live}} and one of five children. Her family moved to Pretoria, South Africa, in 1950. Her parents, Winnifred Josephine "Wyn" (Fletcher) and Joshua Norman Haldeman, a former director of Technocracy Incorporated, a former Regina chiropractor and amateur archaeologist,{{cite journal |first1=Scott |last1=Haldeman |last2=Keating Jr. |first2=Joseph C. |title=Joshua N Haldeman, DC: the Canadian Years, 1926-1950 |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=172–186 |journal=The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association |date=September 1995 |pmc=2485067 }}{{cite news |last=Hall |first=Dana |title=Rocket Man: The otherworldly ambitions of Elon Musk |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2014/04/10/2014-rocket-man-the-otherworldly-ambitions-of-elon-musk/ |access-date=April 7, 2021 |newspaper=San Jose Mercury News |date=April 11, 2014 |archive-date=September 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160906062154/http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_25541126/rocket-man-otherworldy-ambitions-elon-musk |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://www.elonmusk.info/2015/03/elons-mother.html|title=Elon's Mother|website=www.elonmusk.info|access-date=December 31, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160218123134/http://www.elonmusk.info/2015/03/elons-mother.html|archive-date=February 18, 2016|url-status=dead}} were adventurous and flew the family around the world in a prop plane in 1952. She has an older brother Scott who was born around 1942 in Canada, a twin sister Kaye, who is the mother of Russ Rive, who co-founded both SuperViz in 2018 and the Brazilian interactive media design company SuperUber in 2002, and the co-founders of SolarCity, Lyndon Rive and Peter Rive, and a younger brother Angkor Lee who was born in 1955.{{cite news |last=Rive |first=Lyndon |author-link=Lyndon Rive |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/jobs/solarcitys-chief-on-a-turn-toward-the-sun.html |title=Turning Toward the Sun |work=New York Times |date=20 April 2013 |access-date=10 February 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240429044420/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/jobs/solarcitys-chief-on-a-turn-toward-the-sun.html |archive-date=29 April 2024}}{{cite news |last=Walsh |first=Bryan |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1730759_1730843_1730983,00.html |title=Solarcity |work=Time |date=17 April 2008 |access-date=10 February 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250210195704/https://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1730759_1730843_1730983,00.html |archive-date=10 February 2025}}{{cite news |url=https://vfxrio.com.br/en/russ-rive/ |title=Russ Rive - Founding Partner and CEO, SuperUber and SuperViz |work=VFXRio (vfxrio.com.br) |date=2018 |access-date=10 February 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250210201634/https://vfxrio.com.br/en/russ-rive/ |archive-date=10 February 2025}} For over 10 years, the family spent time roaming the Kalahari Desert in search of its fabled Lost City of the Kalahari. Their parents gave slide shows and talks about their journeys. "My parents were very famous, but they were never snobs," she said. Joshua Haldeman was a political activist who ran for the Canadian Parliament for the Social Credit Party of Canada, and headed the Canadian branch of the Technocracy movement.{{Cite web |last=Basen|first=Ira |title=In science we trust

|url=https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/technocracy-incorporated-elon-musk/ |access-date=2023-12-20 |website=CBC News|language=en}}

As her parents were entrepreneurs, Haldeman started working at about 8 years of age, when she would "prepare her parents monthly bulletins and photocopy newsletters, and then put the stamps on the envelopes".{{Cite web |last=Field |first=Shivaune |title=Striking At 70: Maye Musk On Entrepreneurship And Her Fearless Family |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/shivaunefield/2018/05/10/striking-at-70-maye-musk-on-entrepreneurship-her-fearless-family/ |access-date=2023-06-30 |website=Forbes |language=en |archive-date=June 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630123633/https://www.forbes.com/sites/shivaunefield/2018/05/10/striking-at-70-maye-musk-on-entrepreneurship-her-fearless-family/ |url-status=live }} By the age of 12, before and then after school, Haldeman worked as a receptionist alongside her twin sister for their father.

As a young woman, Haldeman was a finalist in the 1969 Miss South Africa beauty competition. In 1970, she married Errol Musk, a South African engineer she met in high school. They had three children: Elon Musk, Kimbal Musk, and Tosca Musk. She named Elon after her American grandfather, John Elon Haldeman (born in Illinois).{{cite AV media |date=November 15, 2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWCCcgVwNJ0 |title=Elon Musk at Montana Jobs Summit |publisher=MontanaJobsSummit |via=YouTube |access-date=November 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831184019/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWCCcgVwNJ0 |archive-date=August 31, 2021 |url-status=live}}[https://leaderpost.com/feature/elon-musk-inherited-a-lifetime-of-adventure-from-his-sask-family Before Elon Musk was thinking about Mars and electric cars, he was doing chores on a Saskatchewan farm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524080956/https://leaderpost.com/feature/elon-musk-inherited-a-lifetime-of-adventure-from-his-sask-family |date=May 24, 2021 }}, by the Regina Leader-Post (May 15, 2017)

In 1979, she divorced Errol Musk.{{Cite web|url=https://observer.com/2020/01/elon-musk-mother-maye-model-dietician-interview-book-women-self-help/|title=At 71, Elon Musk’s Model Mom, Maye Musk, Is at Her Peak as a Style Icon|date=January 7, 2020}} Two years later, Elon, who was about 10 at the time, decided to live with his father, as he had the Encyclopaedia Britannica and a computer, things which Maye could not afford to give the children as a single parent.{{Cite web |last=Cao |first=Sissi |date=2020-01-07 |title=At 71, Elon Musk's Model Mom, Maye Musk, Is at Her Peak as a Style Icon |url=https://observer.com/2020/01/elon-musk-mother-maye-model-dietician-interview-book-women-self-help/ |access-date=2023-06-30 |website=Observer |language=en-US |archive-date=June 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630122429/https://observer.com/2020/01/elon-musk-mother-maye-model-dietician-interview-book-women-self-help/ |url-status=live }} Kimbal joined Elon four years later. After graduating from high school, Elon decided to move to Canada; in 1989, six months later, Maye moved to Canada with her daughter Tosca.{{cite web |url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musks-model-mom-will-have-to-wait-for-her-model-3-2016-05-02 |title=Elon Musk's model mom will have to wait for her Model 3 |work=New York Post |via=MarketWatch |first=Kirsten |last=Fleming |date=May 2, 2016 |access-date=May 2, 2016 |archive-date=June 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180626164348/https://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musks-model-mom-will-have-to-wait-for-her-model-3-2016-05-02 |url-status=live }}

Maye earned a master's degree in dietetics from the University of the Orange Free State in South Africa. Her major was taught in Afrikaans, one of the four languages Musk now speaks. She later earned another master's degree in nutritional science from the University of Toronto.{{cite web |last=Klebnikov |first=Sergei |date=July 31, 2018 |title=Inside the Fabulous Life of Elon's Mom Maye Musk, a Supermodel Nutritionist Who Spent Her Childhood Exploring the Kalahari Desert |url=https://money.com/maye-musk-career-net-worth/ |access-date=April 26, 2021 |website= |publisher=Money |quote= |archive-date=April 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426213205/https://money.com/maye-musk-career-net-worth/ |url-status=live }} In 2023, she was given an honorary degree, a doctorate of dietetics, from the same university where she earned her master's degree.{{cite web |author= |title=Elon Musk's mother receives honorary PhD for dietetics work |work=NDTV |via=University World News |date=April 14, 2023 |access-date=2024-11-01 |url=https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20230414131643413 }}

File:Maye Musk (2).jpg

Her modelling career continued in Canada and the United States. She has appeared on boxes of Special K cereal, in Revlon ads, and in a Beyoncé video ("Haunted"). She appeared nude on both the cover of Time magazine for a health issue and the cover of New York magazine in 2011, the latter with a fake pregnant belly. She was on the cover of Elle Canada in 2012, and starred in advertisement campaigns for Target and Virgin America. In September 2017, she became CoverGirl's oldest spokesmodel at age 69, which one news story reported as "making history".{{cite web|url=http://www.elle.com/beauty/a12476808/maye-musk-is-the-newest-face-of-covergirl/|first=Summer|last=Lin|work=Elle magazine|title=This 69-Year-Old Model Is the Newest Face Of Covergirl|date=September 27, 2017|access-date=October 1, 2017|archive-date=October 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001121728/http://www.elle.com/beauty/a12476808/maye-musk-is-the-newest-face-of-covergirl/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/28/elon-musks-mom-maye-musk-just-became-covergirls-oldest-model.html|title=Elon Musk's mom Maye Musk just made history by scoring this modeling gig|first=Zameena|last=Mejia|website=CNBC|date=September 28, 2017|access-date=October 1, 2017|archive-date=October 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018060134/https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/28/elon-musks-mom-maye-musk-just-became-covergirls-oldest-model.html|url-status=live}} In 2022, at age 74, she was the oldest Sports Illustrated swimsuit model to date, appearing on the cover of the annual issue.{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2022-05-16/maye-musk-becomes-oldest-woman-on-sports-illustrated-swimsuit-cover |title=At 74, Maye Musk — yes, Elon's mom — becomes oldest Sports Illustrated swimsuit model |work=Los Angeles Times |first=Kenan |last=Draughorne |date=May 16, 2022 |access-date=May 17, 2022 |archive-date=May 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517013343/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2022-05-16/maye-musk-becomes-oldest-woman-on-sports-illustrated-swimsuit-cover |url-status=live }}

In addition to modelling, she has a business as a dietitian and gives presentations worldwide.

She wrote a memoir titled A Woman Makes a Plan: Advice for a Lifetime of Adventure, Beauty, and Success (2019).{{cite book |title=A Woman Makes a Plan: Advice for a Lifetime of Adventure, Beauty, and Success |publisher=Viking |first=Maye |last=Musk |year=2019 |isbn=978-1984878502 }} Maye had written ‘Feel Fantastic - Maye Musk's Good Health Clinic’, which was published in 1996. It enumerated healthy habits and lifestyle changes for healthy ageing.

In an interview with Forbes magazine, Musk said her greatest achievement was "having three great kids and surviving".

In 2021, she was one of the guests at Lady Kitty Spencer's wedding.{{cite news |title=The 8 most stylish guests at Lady Kitty Spencer's wedding |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/style/8-stylish-guests-lady-kitty-spencers-wedding/ |website=Telegraph |date=July 26, 2021 |last1=Abraham |first1=Tamara |access-date=August 9, 2021 |archive-date=August 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809132239/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/style/8-stylish-guests-lady-kitty-spencers-wedding/ |url-status=live }}

Maye Musk appeared alongside her son Elon on Saturday Night Live on May 8, 2021, the day before Mother's Day.{{cite AV media |date=May 9, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCF8I_X1qKI |title=Elon Musk Monologue - SNL |publisher=Saturday Night Live |via=YouTube |access-date=November 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124123550/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCF8I_X1qKI |archive-date=November 24, 2021 |url-status=live}}

In April 2023, Musk received an honorary doctorate from the University of the Free State in South Africa for her work as a dietitian.{{cite web |url=https://www.ufs.ac.za/templates/news-archive/campus-news/2023/april/honorary-doctorate-best-thing-to-happen-to-her-dr-maye-musk |title=Honorary doctorate best thing to happen to her – Dr Maye Musk |publisher=University of the Free State |date=12 April 2023 |first=Andre |last=Damons |access-date=June 30, 2023 |archive-date=June 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630150550/https://www.ufs.ac.za/templates/news-archive/campus-news/2023/april/honorary-doctorate-best-thing-to-happen-to-her-dr-maye-musk |url-status=live }}

Since at least 2023, Maye Musk has developed a large following in China, where she has "star status" and is seen as a role model. She is on billboards, magazine covers, speaking events, and she represents at least five major Chinese brands in advertising. Her image "carries an element of successful parenting, attracting a significant number of mothers among her followers". Concerns have been raised in the US that she is so close to President Trump, through her son Elon, that she may be a security risk. The FBI normally scrutinizes the foreign contacts of presidential advisers and their family members before granting security clearances, but no such clearances are known to exist for Maye. There is no evidence that she has sought to influence US Government policy, according to a New York Times article from March 2025.{{cite web |last=Hvistendahl |first=Mara |author-link=Mara Hvistendahl |title=As Musk Consolidates Power in the U.S., His Mother Is in Demand Overseas |work=The New York Times |date=March 2, 2025 |access-date=2025-03-02 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/world/asia/elon-maye-musk-world.html }}

When Maye Musk became an American citizen, she registered as Democrat. However, she said that after unnamed Democrats spoke poorly of her son, Elon Musk, she changed her party affiliation to Republican, calling the Democratic Party "malicious and dishonest".{{cite web |last= |first= |title=Elon Musk's mother says she felt 'relief' after bailing on 'malicious and dishonest' Democratic Party |work=New York Post |date=November 1, 2024 |access-date=2024-11-01 |url=https://nypost.com/2024/11/01/us-news/elon-musks-mother-says-she-felt-relief-after-bailing-on-malicious-and-dishonest-democratic-party/ }} In October 2024, Maye Musk made a post on X recommending Republican voters should be voting multiple times under false names in the 2024 presidential election, purporting that Democrats were already doing so using "illegals". She was cautioned by lawyers that her post constituted a criminal act, and that she could be legally prosecuted for criminal conspiracy if anyone followed her recommendation. She then said readers should "ignore" the post.{{cite web |last1=Lubin |first1=Rhian |title=Elon Musk's mom 'encouraged X followers to commit voter fraud' as she is fact-checked on son's platform |date=October 7, 2024 |website=The Independent |access-date=7 October 2024 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/elon-musk-donald-trump-voter-fraud-b2624678.html }}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{official website}}

{{Elon Musk}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musk, Maye}}

Category:1948 births

Category:South African female models

Category:Canadian female models

Category:People from Regina, Saskatchewan

Category:Dietitians

Category:Living people

Category:University of the Free State alumni

Category:Canadian twins

Category:University of Toronto alumni

Category:People from Pretoria

Category:IMG Models models

Category:South African people of Canadian descent

Category:South African people of American descent

Category:South African people of German descent

Category:Canadian people of American descent

Category:Canadian people of German descent

Category:Canadian emigrants to South Africa

Category:Musk family