"He [Elon] decided, after the recent threats against him, that I need protection as well … If they kidnap one of us, it will be the quickest $20 million anybody's ever made in their life," Errol Musk said, sharing his fears that "something might happen to Elon, even though he has about 100 security guards around him."
Errol Musk also told journalists that his son's team enhanced security measures — including a high-tech camera system, an electric fence, and around-the-clock monitoring by guards — at his home in South Africa in December 2022. The modifications cost around $14,600, the billionaire said.
Errol Musk, the father of tech billionaire Elon Musk who spent his early life in apartheid-era South Africa, poses for a portrait at his house Langebaan, South Africa on May 26, 2022. (Photo by GIANLUIGI GUERCIA / AFP)
© AFP 2023 / GIANLUIGI GUERCIA
Musk noted last month that a stalker followed a car carrying one of his children in Los Angeles and then blocked the vehicle from moving by climbing onto its hood. The Twitter CEO supposed that the person acted this way because he thought Musk himself was in the car. In a few hours, Musk posted a video footage showing a car with a driver inside and asked Twitter users if they could recognize them.
In December 2022, Musk permanently banned the Twitter account of Jack Sweeney, a student from Florida who ran the @elonjet account, which was sharing information about the location of Musk's private plane using publicly available information. Musk dubbed the account's data "assassination coordinates" that threatened his security.
Before banning the account, the tech mogul offered Sweeney $5,000 for voluntarily deleting it, but the student asked for 10 times more.
Musk finalized the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in late October 2022.