Elon Musk has found his potential successors for his five companies but his children are apparently not on the list.
The billionaire, 51, doesn’t appear to believe in hand-me-downs at least when it comes to his massive companies.
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During a recent chat with The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council, Musk said – without naming any names – that he had identified the people who could take over his companies if something happened to him.
"There are particular individuals identified that I've told the board look, 'If something happens to me unexpectedly, this is my recommendation for taking over'," he said. "So in all cases, the board is aware of who my recommendation."
The Twitter CEO said he doesn’t believe in the idea of executives handing over the reins of their companies to their children just because they’re related.
“I am definitely not of the school of automatically giving my kids some share of the companies, even if they have no interest or inclination or ability to manage the company,” Musk explained.
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“I think that’s a mistake.”
The Tesla founder has nine living children including three-year-old son, X AE A-XII, and one-year-old daughter, Exa Dark Sideræl Musk, with Canadian musician Grimes. Although Musk apparently sees his son as a ‘protégé’ according to Grimes’ cover interview with Vanity Fair, Baby X is not set to take over his father’s companies when he dies.
But perhaps that could change?
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Musk doesn’t appear to be close with all of his children as his eldest child filed to have her name changed to recognise her gender transition and to sever ties with her father.
The 19-year-old, born Xavier Alexander Musk, asked the court in April 2022 to change her gender recognition from male to female and to register a new name. The petition, which emerged in June 2022 per Reuters, reportedly said: "I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form."
Her new name was redacted in the online document. Her mother is Musk’s ex-wife Justine Wilson. The pair divorced in 2008.
Musk and Wilson had a child in 2002 who died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) aged 10 weeks in 2002. She gave birth to the couple’s twins in 2004 and triplets in 2006.
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Musk is also the father of twins who were born in November 2021 with Shivon Zilis, a Canadian venture capitalist who works in technology and artificial intelligence.
According to court documents published by Insider, the twins – whose names are unknown – were born in Austin, Texas.
Musk’s ownership of his companies Twitter, Tesla, SolarCity, SpaceC and NeuraLink came into question earlier this month after he dispelled rumours he was looking for a new Tesla CEO to replace him. He also selected a new CEO to run Twitter, NBCUniversal’s former head of global advertising and partnerships, Linda Yaccarino.
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You weren't expecting him to name one of his children as his successor, were you?
He will remain at Twitter as chief technology officer.
Hopefully there are no Succession-type sibling battles for Musk’s companies. But since we might all be on Mars by then, it would be quite a sight to behold...
Gregory Robinson