The Untold Truth Of Tosca Musk, Elon's Younger Sister
Elon Musk is one of the richest people in the world, and his siblings have also managed to build a great amount of wealth themselves. The entrepreneurial family makes billions with the many businesses they own. Elon's brother and sister, Kimbal and Tosca Musk are millionaires in their own right, with the former enjoying a net worth of $500 million, upheld by money made from his company, The Kitchen Restaurant Group. The restauranteur also works alongside his billionaire brother at both Tesla and SpaceX.
Meanwhile, Tosca has an estimated net worth of around $169.4 million. The mogul mom is not only a filmmaker but also a business owner. When she isn't producing top Hallmark films, she's busy running Passionflix, a streaming service that hosts film adaptions of romance novels. Tosca's fascinating life is often overshadowed by Elon's unimaginable accomplishments, but the filmmaker's transparency regarding her life and passions will likely grab your attention.
She's been open about her complicated childhood, her interest in entrepreneurship and filmmaking, and how she's managed her busy career while being a single mom. There's a lot more to Tosca than just being Elon's younger sister. This is her untold truth.
Tosca Musk was born and raised in South Africa
Elon, Kimbal, and Tosca Musk were born in South Africa and spent their early childhood years there. Growing up, Tosca and her brothers built a strong work ethic early on by helping their mother, Maye Musk, run her dietician's office. Per The Economist, they handled the clerical duties while their busy mom worked with clients.
By all accounts, it seems that the Musk matriarch's strong work ethic produced a trio of entrepreneurs. The mother of three has been vocal about raising her children to be self-starters. "They grow up knowing you work hard, and the harder you work, the better you do and the luckier you get," Maye said in an interview with Vanity Fair. "They also had to be responsible for themselves, because they had to help me."
It seems that Tosca is appreciative of her mother's tough love because she told The Economist, "It really helped us to get a sense of independence as well as understand work ethics." Indeed. In 2022, the filmmaker wrote an essay for Sports Illustrated celebrating her mother's drive and ambition — an attribute that has continued on into the model's golden years. Describing her mom as a gutsy and unstoppable force, Tosca reflected on what she'd learned from her. "She always told us to do something important, to find a mission for why you do what you do," she wrote. "My goal is to empower women."
The mom of two cofounded a streaming service
Like her billionaire brother, Tosca Musk seems to have a knack for innovation. She co-founded Passionflix, a streaming platform that hosts movie adaptions of romance novels. The fan-focused service is home to many movies directed by Musk herself.
The entrepreneur is making waves as a woman in the male-dominated movie industry. However, Tosca's own brother, Kimbal Musk, had doubts about her career aspirations. "I did not think it was a healthy place for her," he told Wired. "It's a very sexist industry." Tosca on the other hand was relentless in her goal of shaking up Hollywood. It seems she wasn't going to let sexism prevent her from moving forward with Passionflix. "No one ever said that my potential was less than my brothers' potential just because I'm a woman," Tosca told the outlet.
It appears that the business owner is well-aware of the stigma around the content available on Passionflix. The steamy movies are filmed from the female gaze and promote the idea that women enjoy sex too. Tosca explained that, unfortunately, this message is not well-received in the film industry. She said that romance fans were written off because they're often women, and thus aren't seen as an audience that can make movies commercially successful. The achievements of Passionflix could potentially change that narrative.
Tosca Musk is a successful filmmaker
As the mastermind behind many of the films on her streaming platform, Passionflix, Tosca Musk is a successful filmmaker who has created many movies you may have heard of. If you are a Hallmark fan, you may have seen the 2011 film, "Holiday Engagement," for which she was a producer. She's also directed and produced a number of other films, many of which happen to be romances.
According to The Telegraph, Musk discovered her passion for filmmaking as a teenager. At 17, she bought her first video camera which allowed her to begin practicing her craft by making short films. Upon leaving college, she packed her bags for Hollywood and became the Magnolia films' director of development. As she told WWD, she quickly discovered the challenges of indie filmmaking. "I realized that it is really hard to do it on your own," she said. With the help of her now-billionaire brother, Elon Musk, she directed her first movie, titled "Puzzled," in 2001. However, while she acknowledged that her family can help open doors, she insisted to the outlet that it was her own hard work that made a production happen.
As she told The Telegraph, she encountered other obstacles too. "'Every time I pitched myself as a director, they chose the male director who had made one short film whereas I had far more experience," she griped. Luckily, Passionflix allows Musk to explore her full potential, without compromise.
She balances her busy career with motherhood
As a mother to two twin siblings, Isabeau and Grayson, Tosca Musk has seemingly mastered the art of being a working single mom. "Right after I had my kids, my perspective began to shift," she told The Telegraph. "I've become an even better multitasker." As an executive producer, filmmaker, and streaming platform owner, the busy entrepreneur has a lot on her plate even before parental duties are thrown into the mix. So, how does Musk manage her many businesses while parenting two little ones? According to her Instagram page, the hardworking mom often brings her children on set with her, with Isabeau and Grayson appearing to do homeschooling from their mother's workplaces.
While on set, the twins also had a small role in one of their mother's films. Musk shared a photo to Facebook of the two following their filmmaker mom's instructions. It seems the children had time for a few fun moments too because they are also pictured making silly faces for the camera. Speaking to WWD, Tosca furthermore described keeping her personal sense of style fairly casual in order to keep up with her kids — including keeping away from high heels in order to do so. "I like to be able to run around with them and play," she said.
She conceived her children through IVF
Elon and Tosca Musk have both taken a nontraditional approach to parenthood. As of May 2022, the Tesla CEO's interesting dating history has resulted in Elon fathering seven children. Meanwhile, Tosca conceived her twin children through a sperm donor and has been very vocal about her decision. In an interview with The Telegraph, the mother of two explained why she decided to start a family through in vitro fertilization. "I was 35, had just broken up with a boyfriend and recognized that my time to have children was pretty short," she explained. "And I didn't want my kids to be that much younger than my brothers' families, although they are much younger than Elon's oldest boys."
She also revealed that she consulted her family when searching for sperm donors, allowing her mom to search through sperm-donor profiles with her. "They write a letter about themselves and their families," the entrepreneur said of the submission criteria. "There's a voice recording, some play musical instruments, and others sing a song, so there's many ways to get an idea of temperament."
Tosca's little ones may harbor some big dreams because Isabeau hopes to one day be a pop star. She even got close with Grimes, Elon's former partner, who also has a passion for music. When asked about Isabeau's relationship with the quirky musician, Tosca jokingly explained, "They've met and she's helped Isabeau with a little hair dye. We're working on asking about the songwriting next."
Elon Musk often gives Tosca Musk advice
Like many younger siblings, Tosca Musk looks to her older brother for advice and inspiration. Luckily, her older brother happens to be billionaire business owner Elon Musk. In a 2020 interview with The Telegraph, she opened up about being guided by both her brothers. When asked about potentially requesting a loan from Elon to start Passionflix, Tosca responded, "He would have said no of course. If my brother just gave me the money, there's nothing to prove. But my family is so ingrained in business that both my brothers gave me a lot of advice on how to raise funds and talk to investors."
The filmmaker described her older brother as being unfazed by his fame and smarter than people may give him credit for. Explaining that she doesn't see him as eccentric, she stated, "He has brilliant ideas that he follows through on. He cares immensely about the human race and strives to solve the problems that are facing us."
Elon's younger sister may also be inspired by his approach to business. As she told WWD, watching her brother's SpaceX program encounter various setbacks before successfully launching a rocket reminded her that failure is an important part of a project's process. On a more practical level, she knows her brother is always there to support her. "I certainly get a lot of advice, which is really fantastic," she told Decider about her business-oriented family.
Tosca Musk is inspired by her mother's parenting
After Maye Musk divorced Errol Musk, the mom of three started her journey as a single mother. Despite the circumstances, Tosca, KImbal, and Elon Musk's mom still managed to provide her children with the knowledge they later used to become successful entrepreneurs. According to The Telegraph, Maye juggled multiple jobs in order to support her family. She made an effort to teach Tosca that women could accomplish the same things men could. "In my family, it was just assumed I could do everything the same as my brothers," the filmmaker revealed to the outlet.
Tosca went on to explain that she plans to raise her children to be independent. Having made sure that her children were self-sufficient, it is perhaps no surprise that Tosca wants to pass her mother's tenacity down to her little ones. Speaking to the outlet about Maye's advice that helped her in raising capital for her own ventures, she told the outlet, "When I was 10 years old, she told me, 'The worst they can say is no – but the answer is always no if you never ask.'"
In 2022, Tosca wrote an essay about her mom for Sports Illustrated where she praised Maye's patience as a parent, as well as her ability to transform. The filmmaker wrote that no matter what challenges were presented to her, Maye always found a way to adapt and thrive. "She kept tearing it all down and starting fresh," she wrote.
The business mogul experienced hardship in Canada
When the Musk family relocated to Canada, it took them quite some time to get back on their feet. Per Forbes, Maye Musk was restricted from accessing the funds generated from the sale of the family's Johannesburg home. This was due to South African money laws which blocked capital from leaving the country. Speaking about her subsequent struggles as a single mother with little money in a new country, she told The Guardian, "We used to live in a rent-controlled apartment in Toronto with Elon [Musk] on the couch. It took three weeks to clean, then I saved to buy $5 sheets." The mom of three gradually made the space a home and managed to save money along the way.
"Eventually I bought beds, then a computer, and after that chairs – you can always work on the floor," Maye explained. "I cut their hair, gave them mani-pedis, wore $19 shoes to walk the runway." In an interview for HuffPost, Maye explained that Elon decided to move to Canada first, and she and Tosca Musk later followed. She also revealed that she saved money by serving only home-cooked meals. One of Maye's clients often brought over meat that the family would divide and freeze to last through the week. Given their later success, it's hard to imagine that this billionaire family ever experienced such financial problems.
She swapped Hollywood for Georgia
In 2021, Tosca Musk revealed to Atlanta Business Chronicle (via Bizjournals) that she'd relocated to Atlanta, Georgia for better filming opportunities. She also moved her production company to the city due to its affordability infrastructure. Speaking to the publication, she elaborated on why she was drawn to Atlanta. "I just fell in love with Georgia because the people are so nice, and it was such a wonderful experience," she explained. "... The crews we've met here have been exceptional, and they've stayed with us on every movie."
The move comes after the mother of two spent years in Hollywood. She relocated to the star-studded city to launch her career, according to an interview with Wired. Musk snagged a job as a segment producer for TV Guide while she was still looking to gain experience in the film industry. It seems as though these early career opportunities allowed the aspiring director to gain the experience needed to become her own boss and to relocate her company to a location that best suits her needs.