Elon Musk Gifts His Dad a Bentley Flying Spur Instead of a Tesla

The Musk Family and the Art of Big Decisions

Errol Musk has always been open about his family's wealth and the unique challenges that come with it. In a recent appearance on "VladTV," he shared insights into his life, including apartheid-era South Africa, multiple home invasions, and raising seven children. Among these stories was an unexpected detail — the car his billionaire son, Elon Musk, had bought him.

A Tesla Was Too Much Hassle

Errol explained that Elon initially wanted to give him a Tesla, but logistical issues made it impractical. "It was originally going to be a Tesla which was going to be sent out here, but the price was astronomical," he said. South Africa’s limited service infrastructure made electric vehicles difficult to maintain, so Errol decided against it. "We’re not set up at all for anything like that, so I thought ‘no, I don’t want to be outside service range.’"

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Despite the initial plan, the idea of a Tesla didn’t work out. When the family suggested a more modest option like a Jeep, Errol wasn’t impressed. "So they said, well why don’t you get a Jeep or something," he recalled. "So I said I don’t want a Jeep. I want something decent." He later clarified that he wasn’t dismissing Jeeps themselves, just his own preference.

Elon Said 'Sure'

What Errol actually wanted was a Bentley — and Elon didn’t hesitate. "So they said, 'Well, what do you want?' I said, 'I want a Bentley,'” Errol recalled. "Elon said, 'Sure, Bentley.' So there’s a Bentley in my garage now, a Bentley Flying Spur." However, the car is still waiting to be registered. "It’s very nice," Errol said. "I haven’t put the number plates on yet."

The Flying Spur isn’t a small gesture. Starting around $250,000 and climbing past $400,000 fully loaded, it features a twin-turbo V8 hybrid powertrain that delivers up to 771 horsepower. It’s the kind of car built for comfort and convenience, not for plugging in every 200 miles.

He Didn’t Get Rich by Waiting for Permission

Errol marveled at his son’s ability to see the future before others believed in it. From newspapers moving online in 1995 to robots eventually outperforming other products, Elon has always had a knack for spotting opportunities early. This same instinct turned a $600,000 domain name into PayPal and $100 million in rocket parts into SpaceX.

Most people don’t get a front-row seat to that kind of foresight until the company is already worth a trillion dollars.

Immersed: Building the Future of Work

Immersed, a spatial computing startup, is trying to close that gap by letting investors get in early. The company is building what it calls the "next desktop" in AR/VR and is developing the Visor headset, backed by Qualcomm. Early backers include former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger and former college football star Tim Tebow.

Whether Immersed becomes the next Tesla or a cautionary tale is hard to say from the outside. But if there’s one lesson from the Musk family’s trajectory, it’s that the real money was made by those who moved before the outcome was obvious.

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