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Adversity sometimes sets you on your way.
Elon Musk’s childhood friend died in a car crash.
The funeral was in a rural African village, and Musk was one of only a handful of white people to attend, which was completely unheard of during Apartheid.
While Musk’s childhood friend Asher Mashudu was still alive, a white student racially abused him. Asher’s brother recalls that Musk responded by mocking the student and coming to his brother’s defence. It didn’t end well.
Students bullied Musk relentlessly.
He was different.
Freakishly bright.
And “not like the rest of the kids.”
Going against social norms became a theme in Musk’s behaviour during the white supremacist regime in the 1980s. South Africa brutally enforced racial segregation, which advantaged the white population.
I’m South African-born, and ironically my brother went to the same school as Elon Musk (Pretoria Boys High), which, as he describes, created a corporal punishment culture designed to prepare you for national service.
The teachers often wouldn’t blink an eye if you were getting bullied. It was a way for you to earn your stripes. You know, taking a knock or two.
Musk was bullied and beaten to a pulp until they drew blood. It was so bad at one point he ended up in the hospital for two weeks after being thrown down some stairs.
Ironically, Musk’s former school reached out to him after his success, asking for a donation. And while reports are vague, he did send them 1 Million Rand, the equivalent of $55,000, with a cover letter saying, please never contact me again.
The former school headmaster, Bill Schroder, denies that Musk said he never wanted contact again and that students bullied him.
Bill Schroder — Source
“It’s well documented in several biographies that Elon was bullied and an unhappy schoolboy.
There is no evidence that he was poorly treated at Boys High, and when he completed his studies, he went to Canada, where his mother was living.
Elon Musk indeed did, at my request, donate R1 million. What is not true is that he disliked the country or the school so intensely that he told me not to approach him again.”
While virtues of Musk are apparent from an early age, it’s a complicated story. Musk’s family benefited from a racist system, his father, Eroll, was the Co-owner of an Emerald Mine, which took advantage of cheap labour.
Musk was born into wealth.
With that advantage, he was given a big leg up by being able to escape to North America and kickstart his illustrious career in web start-ups — SpaceX and Tesla.
If you’re on Twitter, you may see more of Musk now that he owns the Social Media giant. And with Cryptocurrencies growing in popularity, people are asking one of the World’s best entrepreneurs for his views on where everything is headed.
Buckle up, strap yourself in, and let’s get into it.
Governments Don’t Know What They’re Doing
Elon Musk believes that banks issuing digital currencies are nothing to worry about because people will gravitate to the Crypto they think will gain value.
He says the banking systems are under pressure to create a sound fiat system because if it’s too restrictive, it’ll make Crypto grow faster. So the competition is excellent for everyone.
Elon Musk — Source
“I do think there is a role for Cryptocurrency in the future, without speaking to any particular crypto coin — as a means of ensuring that the monetary system does not get corrupted entirely.
Cryptocurrency provides competition to the fiat money system. So if the fiat system becomes overly restrictive, then Crypto will grow.
Basically, the better the fiat system works, the less prominent Crypto will be, and the worse the fiat system becomes, the more Crypto will grow.”
When asked if he was concerned about the move to central bank digital currencies, Musk suggested it’s pretty embarrassing that they’re having a go at it.
He hits home the point that all money is digital anyway. Just the system the governments and the banks use is ancient.
Elon Musk — Source
“Haha, no, not really concerned (CBDCs)
I don’t think they know what they’re talking about. They’re (Governments) complaining about a few things.
Firstly almost all money is digital already.
The fiat monetary system, for practical purposes, consists of a series of heterogeneous mainframes running antiquated Cobol.
That’s the actual money system, by the way.
It’s embarrassing.
Some rickety mainframes are running ancient Cobol and doing everything in batch mode.
That’s the actual fiat monetary system.”
In plain language, Musk says that Cobol is a programming language that has been around for 60 years and has been obsolete since the 1980s.
Universities don’t even include it in their computer science curriculum — it’s that old, but for whatever reason, the government has gone with the approach of, ‘if it’s not broken — you don’t need to fix it’.
Musk says people speak out about digital currencies, but the fiat money system is digital, just executed poorly, and he says people will use the Crypto they think will gain value.
Elon Musk — Source
“The fiat money system is digital already, but not in a very good way. And whether banks create their own cryptocurrencies, I think, is somewhat irrelevant.
People will use the cryptocurrencies they think will accrue value over time and not use the ones that don’t”.
When FTX blew up, and Sam-Bankman Fried wiped away $1 Trillion off the Crypto Market through the miss handling or potential fraud of customer deposits, Elon Musk took to Twitter spaces saying that he didn’t know which Crypto would win.
Still, if you held onto Bitcoin, Ethereum or Dogecoin and didn’t keep those assets on a centralised exchange, things would probably work well for you.
Speaker — “Elon, how f*cked are we in Crypto?”
Elon Musk — Source
“Doge to the moon, I think so.
Don’t bet the farm on it, but I’m working hard on the Doge front.
I’m not an expert on Crypto, but there’s probably is a future for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Doge.
I can’t speak to the others.
If you’ve got one of those 3 in a cold wallet, not on an exchange, my guess is it works out well.
Maybe some of the other Crypto too, but I don’t know about those”
Final Thoughts
Elon Musk is a world-class problem solver in business, and when he says he’s not an expert on Crypto, I’m not buying it.
He Co-founded PayPal 20 years ago with the idea of integrating digital currency systems. Paypal sold to eBay for 1.5 billion dollars. Musk, the largest shareholder with 11.2%, made $175 million.
As a young person, he occasionally went out of his way to oppose a universally unjust system in South Africa with no personal benefit.
He was a bizarrely bright kid who was bullied brutally at school and abused by his father but somehow managed to become this juggernaut.
When I see Elon Musk, I see someone who cares immensely about humanity as a whole, but when it comes to business, he’s willing to lead people with an iron fist. Sometimes even horribly.
Elon Musk’s take on Cryptocurrencies is spot on. He knows a thing or two about improving technology. And it’s somewhat ironic that someone with his astronomical wealth criticises the same system that feeds him.
I believe he’s right.
Too many worry about government control and the impacts of government-backed digital currencies or CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies).
We’ll all gravitate towards the Crypto we trust most, providing us with the most value.
Unless you see something competitive from the government, Crypto will continue to grow in value.
This article is for informational purposes only; it should not be considered financial, tax or legal advice. You can consult a financial professional before making any significant financial decisions.