According to news on September 28, Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s father Errol Musk (Errol Musk) is very dissatisfied with his son’s new biography. He felt the biography was overly dramatic and wrongly cast him as a villain. Furthermore, he had no intention of reading the entire book, although he had seen some excerpts.

Errol is a South African engineer who was involved in managing emerald mines. He is one of the central figures in "The Biography of Elon Musk", but he has also caused a lot of controversy. Biographer Walter Isaacson's book details Musk's family relationships, with Musk and other family members claiming Errol bullied and belittled Musk. However, Errol has repeatedly denied these claims in the past.

In the biography, Isaacson describes how Musk's fraught relationship with his father shaped his personality and outlook on life. He portrayed Errol as Darth Vader and Musk as Luke Skywalker, with Errol's mental influence on Musk being seen as "a danger that needs to be constantly combated."

Errol's name appears more than 120 times in the book, but Errol said he has no plans to read the entire book except for excerpts sent to him by reporters and friends.

"Why would I want to read someone else's terrible interpretation of this story? Of course there's something about Musk and his wife and his kids and everything that has nothing to do with me. I don't want to read something that has nothing to do with me," Errol asked in a phone interview.

Errol, 77, also said he only had one phone conversation with Isaacson, and he did not believe Isaacson had an accurate understanding of his life and personality based on that conversation alone. However, Isaacson wrote in the book that he had a three-hour meeting with Errol and had a series of follow-up communications by phone and email over the past two years.

Errol believed that the biography exaggerated his son's life and falsely portrayed him as the villain in his son's story. He said Isaacson writes stories that people like to hear. "People wanted to read about poor little Pip and little Oliver Twist," Errol explained, referring to the novels "Great Expectations" and "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens. He continued: "They are my sons and I am described as 'Dr. Jekyll,' which is not true. It's a good read but not necessarily accurate."

Isaacson wrote in his biography that Errol had "the nature of Dr. Jekyll", that is, having two distinct personalities at the same time (dual personality). The book mentions Musk's experience living with his father as a teenager. Isaacson writes: "Errol sometimes seemed happy and fun, but occasionally he became dark, abusive, full of fantasy and intrigue."

Musk has made similar comments in the past. In a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone, he called his father "a terrible man" and said: "My father would orchestrate evil plans. He would conspire evil."

Errol was also criticized for his affair with his former stepdaughter Jana Bezuidenhout. After divorcing Jana's mother, the two had two children. In Musk's biography, Isaacson writes that Musk was concerned about his father's "undue attention" to his stepdaughter when she was 15. Errol denied the claims, saying he cared equally for all children.

"It's been said in the media, 'I got my stepdaughter pregnant,' but that's completely different," Errol said, adding that his former stepdaughter was in her thirties when she gave birth. "These reports are ridiculous and an absolute joke. I mean, women are not forced to get pregnant. Women have the right to do it."

Bezuidenhout did not respond to requests for comment about Musk's biography and her relationship with Errol.

After Isaacson's book was published earlier this month, Errol confirmed that Isaacson called him to get his reaction to the biography. "I told him he was being grandstanding and he laughed." Errol added that Isaacson told him he hoped he could eventually repair his relationship with his children.

"I am their father, not their friend"

Isaacson writes in the book that Musk and his brother Kimbal Musk have cut ties with their father, but Errol denies this.

"I sent Kimbal a birthday greeting the other day when he had his birthday," Errol said. "He wrote me back and said, 'Thanks, Dad.'" Errol added that he had spoken to Musk's office hours before we discussed funding for a conference Musk planned to travel to Florida in November.

"My relationship with my sons is like my father's relationship with me," Errol said. "In other words, we're men, we don't hang out together. They're my kids, I'm their dad, I'm not their friend."

Isaacson, Musk and Kimbal did not respond to requests for comment.

Although Errol claimed not to have read Musk's biography in its entirety, he pointed to instances in the book where Isaacson's description did not match his understanding of his son, including a scene in which Musk argued with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates after he learned he was shorting Tesla stock.

"I was very surprised because I knew Musk wouldn't do that. He's very tenacious," Errol said, adding that he had never heard of such an altercation before. "By the way, it's very difficult for Musk to talk at length. He likes to be simple and direct."