SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk may be a household name by now, but he wouldn’t be able to become that successful if it weren’t for his mom, Maye Musk. For more than 50 years, his mother has carved out a multidimensional career as a nutritionist, model, author, and speaker. She has been building her own fortune despite the success of her son, and clearly instilled a good work ethic in him; a young Elon worked a dangerous job in the lumber business before hitting it rich.

She may not have a net worth comparable to her son’s, but certainly, it is impressive. While many attribute the Musk’s family wealth to the Tesla founder’s success as an entrepreneur, and now the new Twitter owner, Maye may have been responsible for instilling the skills her son needed to help him reach such great heights. Let’s take a deeper look into how Elon Musk’s career-focused mom amassed a big fortune by herself.

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How Did Maye Musk Make Her Money?

Maye Musk is wealthy not merely because Elon Musk is considered the richest man in the world. Though she grew up in a financially stable family, she has learned to start working young. At age 12, she and her twin sister worked as receptionists for their father’s chiropractor clinic after school every day. At 15, she ventured into a career in fashion and modeling, which took off during the 1960s with ads for cosmetic brands and big companies like Colgate.

She also won several beauty pageants in her hometown, and also vied as a finalist in the 1969 Miss South Africa competition. She later began her dietician practice and managed her own nutrition business for more than 45 years as a wellness expert. She holds two master’s degrees in the field of dietetics from the University of Orange Free State in South Africa, and in nutritional science from the University of Toronto in Canada.

Fortunately, her journey did not stop there as she is now an author. She is an international best-selling author, dietitian, model, and speaker. In fact, her book, A Woman Makes A Plan, Advice for a Lifetime of Adventure, Beauty and Success, is now in over a hundred countries with more to be announced soon.

She has started her nutrition business in eight cities and three countries through speaking, consulting, counseling, writing, and media work. She has reached the peak in her field in South Africa, Canada, and the United States as the first Representative of the Consulting Dietitians of Southern Africa; President of the Consulting Dietitians of Canada; and Chair of the Nutrition Entrepreneurs, Academy of Dietetics and Nutrition.

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Aside from the positions, she also won the Outstanding Nutrition Entrepreneur Award in the USA. She was the first dietitian to be featured on a cereal box with her book, Feel Fantastic, published in 1996 and now out of print. Fortunately, her new book continues to make readers feel fantastic and motivated.

Back to her modeling career, she has had four billboards in Times Square in her 60s. At 70s, she was the oldest Covergirl for four years and is at long last a Supermodel. Recently, she is making another history in the modeling industry with her appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit issue. In the magazine, she stunned in one-piece Maygel Coronel swimsuit on the beach in Belize, where she says she’s “living the life.”

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Her website’s about page notes, “Maye Musk has reached success in the past 50+ years of her life in the nutrition and modeling fields.” Because of her thriving career, Maye has been able to fetch herself huge sums of money through the years.

Is Maye Musk Rich?

It appears that Maye Musk’s hard work and positive attitude paid off as she has achieved great success and even built her net worth up to $45 million. Her assets include real estate properties, seven cars, and two luxury cars. Her asset portfolio also includes over $10 million, and she also owns an investment portfolio of 15 stocks that are said to be valued at $9 million.

Recently, she bought a Lamborghini Aventador for $1 million. She also owns a Bugatti Chiron that cost her $3 million. Other cars she owns include a Mercedez-Benz G-Class, Volvo XC90, Tesla Model S, and a Range Rover Autobiography.

Clearly, business smarts run in the family, even if Maye doesn't need her son's funds to support her luxurious lifestyle.

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