11 Facts About Model Maye Musk
From her striking, silvery-white hair to her sophisticated smile, Maye Musk is proof that glamour only improves with age. The 69-year-old is proudly CoverGirl's oldest spokesmodel - but she also happens to be an educated nutritionist and a mother to billionaire inventor Elon Musk.
Here's what you need to know about this fabulous and powerful woman in her prime.
1. She inherited her ambition from her parents.
Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, on April 19, 1948, Musk has a twin sister named Kaye and is one of five children to parents Joshua and Wyn Haldeman, who had a successful chiropractic business and a strong sense of adventure. While the family traveled often, their home was in South Africa. In 1952, when Musk was only four years old, her adventurous parents flew the family 22,000 miles around the world in a plane her father had brought in pieces from Canada, according to The New York Times.
Growing up, Musk and her family would roam the Kalahari Desert in search of a fabled Lost City. She and her siblings would sleep with sleeping bags pulled over their heads "so the hyenas wouldn’t eat our faces." From these map-making, adventuring parents, Musk found her confidence to pursue a career in the world of fashion.
2. She began her modeling career in South Africa at the age of 15.
Musk began her modeling career at the age of 15 in Pretoria and Johannesburg, blossoming into a successful model who worked on weekends and took part in runway shoots and catalogs, according to The New York Times. The teenager was also a finalist in the 1969 Miss South Africa beauty competition and became a popular model in the 1960s.
3. She met her husband Errol Musk in high school and they were married for nine years.
In high school, Musk met an engineer named Errol Musk, who would later become her husband. The couple were married in 1970 and their first son Elon was born one year later, followed shortly thereafter by their son Kimbal, and their daughter, Tosca. After nearly 10 years of marriage, Maye and Errol divorced in 1979. At the age of 42, Musk moved with her three children from Johannesburg in South Africa to Toronto in 1989, according to Business Insider.