Elon Musk revealed why he decided to have so many children - and it had people on social media raising their eyebrows.
In a Wall Street Journal virtual event in December 2021, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO countered arguments that population control is needed worldwide.
Addressing one of his creations, the Tesla Bot, at the WSJ’s CEO Council Summit, Musk noted that the humanoid has the potential to substitute human labour efforts.
“There are not enough people, I can’t emphasise this enough. There are not enough people,” he said. He added that there are many people that believe that the population is growing out of control, but “it’s completely the opposite.”
Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter
“If people don’t have more children, civilization is going to crumble. Mark my words,” Musk said.
People have reservations about having children over climate change concerns and inequality.
But when Musk was asked why he decided to have as many kids as he did, the father of six joked: ”I try to set a good example. Gotta practice what I preach.”
Musk has twins Xavier and Griffin, 17, triplets Kai, Saxon and Damian, 15, and X Æ A-Xii, 1. His former partner Grimes, recently revealed that the couple had a second child in secret, which they have named Y.
It has also been reported that in 2021 he fathered twins with a top executive at Neuralink, Shivon Zilis.
People on social media had mixed reactions to Musk’s sentiments. Check out some of them below.
@CNBC People cannot AFFORD children. Go tell the top 1% to have more children @elonmusk since they are the only ones who can afford them— Cathamand (@Cathamand) 1638882848
"I practice what I preach" @elonmusk 7 children was the average 200 years ago. https://t.co/Dyx2HiVHkA— Pope of Muskanity (@Pope of Muskanity) 1638886962
If @elonmusk can produce an unedited video of all of his children saying "I love you" to his face, I'll donate $400… https://t.co/6BLvkQXro5— John F. Ketamine (@John F. Ketamine) 1638894907
which people elon https://t.co/lvzZhBJqVT— Umbrella Academy Substitute Teacher (@Umbrella Academy Substitute Teacher) 1638911447
Elon Musk wants people to have more babies!! 👶 “If people don’t have more children, civilization is going to crumbl… https://t.co/lK531OIBk0— WOLF (@WOLF) 1638893610
The 50-year-old was born in Pretoria, South Africa was known to speed read the encyclopedia.
At 12 years old, he wrote the code for a video game called Blastar, which he sold to a computer magazine for $500.
“He was always different. He was my little genius boy,” his mother, Maye Musk, told TIME.
Elon Musk (@elonmusk) is TIME's 2021 Person of the Year #TIMEPOY https://t.co/8Y5BhIldNs https://t.co/B6h6rndjIh— TIME (@TIME) 1639399157
Musk is not only known for his billions, he’s known for winning NASA’s exclusive contract to land the first humans on the moon in nearly 50 years.
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.