It seems Elon Musk may have been born and raised on our shores but he couldn’t wait to cut ties with South Africa after heading to Canada at the age of 17.

A new book by Ashlee Vance covers the life and times of the Silicon Valley billionaire and he hasn’t exactly showered our education system in glory. Musk began high school at Bryanston High but, after a series of unfortunate incidents, left and headed to Pretoria High. First up here’s BizNews talking about his time in Bryanston:

Not fitting in resulted in him being mercilessly bullied by a gang of schoolboy thugs. One brutal incident involved the future billionaire being kicked in the head while sitting at the top of some stairs – and beaten so badly when he hit the bottom he needed reconstructive surgery.

Not that he eventually became enamoured with his second high school who found that out via a large payday:

The Pretoria school discovered as much when it asked for a donation towards a new stadium. Musk duly sent R1m – on the proviso the school agree to never contact him again.

If I had a million rand for every person who had asked me to never contact them again I’d be laughing all the way to an early retirement.

I imagine his old school will be left with a bit of egg on the face following this news going public. Then again they probably have a new stadium to soften the blow so all’s well that ends well.

Thanks Andrew

[source:biznews]