Maye Musk Praises Elon's Extraordinary Talent as a Kid: 'I Called You My Encyclopedia'

Maye Musk publicly praised her son Elon's memory in a tweet on X. She revealed the world's wealthiest person was her encyclopedia as he remembered everything he read. In a matter of hours, the quoted post gathered more than 644,000 views.

The 78-year-old model, dietitian and bestselling author was responding to her son's own advice on the platform. Elon Musk had replied to Arizona-based astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy with a brief formula for learning: 'Read books, talk to people & iterate rapidly with hardware & software.'

Maye quote-tweeted him and added: 'When you were young, I called you my encyclopedia, because everything you read you remembered. That's a talent you cannot learn. Proud mom.'

The post follows a pattern. In February, she wrote that 'Elon was my Grok from the age he could read encyclopedias, as he remembered all the facts,' Benzinga noted. Grok is the chatbot built by xAI, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company. Her son responded to that post with a heart emoji.

During a 2021 CBS This Morning appearance promoting her memoir A Woman Makes a Plan, Maye said she knew Elon was a 'genius' at the age of three. She added a caveat. 'But you still don't know if he's going to do great things. Because many geniuses end up in a basement being a genius but not applying it.'

Elon Musk, who turns 55 on 28 June, did not end up in a basement. He built an empire spanning electric vehicles, rocket launches, artificial intelligence and brain-computer interfaces — all from a childhood spent in Pretoria, South Africa, devouring encyclopaedias.

Musk's Fortune Nears £662bn as SpaceX IPO Looms

Forbes estimates Elon Musk's net worth at roughly £662 billion ($834 billion) as of June 2026, making him the first person in history to cross the $800 billion threshold. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index places the figure closer to £558 billion ($703 billion) as of 7 June. The gap comes down to how each outlet values his private holdings, particularly SpaceX and xAI.

In February, SpaceX completed its acquisition of xAI — the artificial intelligence company behind the Grok chatbot and the X social media platform — in what CNBC called the largest merger of all time. The combined entity was valued at £992 billion ($1.25 trillion), with SpaceX accounting for £794 billion ($1 trillion) and xAI for £198 billion ($250 billion).

That deal set the stage for what is expected to be the largest initial public offering in history. The company is targeting a valuation of up to £1.39 trillion ($1.75 trillion) and could raise as much as £39.7 billion ($50 billion).

Tesla, where Musk serves as chief executive, remains the most visible piece of his corporate empire, though its share of his total wealth has shrunk. The electric vehicle maker reported a 16 per cent year-over-year drop in vehicle deliveries in early January and posted its first annual revenue decline on record. Musk also holds stakes in Neuralink, the brain-computer interface company, and The Boring Company.

Maye Musk's Own Reinvention Ahead of New Memoir

Maye Musk's career has stretched across modelling, nutrition science and publishing. Born in Canada and raised in South Africa, she holds a doctorate in dietetics and has served as both a CoverGirl ambassador and Dior Beauty spokesperson. She raised Elon and his siblings, Kimbal and Tosca, as a single mother after her 1979 divorce from their father, businessman Errol Musk.

Her first memoir, A Woman Makes a Plan, became a bestseller translated into 36 languages. A second book, Timeless: The Art of Reinvention and Resilience at Any Age, is scheduled for release on 15 September 2026. The recent string of personal posts about her son's early brilliance comes as the book's publicity cycle ramps up.