A woman researcing her family tree was surprised to learn she was related to the world’s richest man – but he probably won’t be popping round for tea.
Marshall Robinson and his sister Shane live in a fishing port in Lanchashire, a long way from the White House and Mar-a-Lago.
But they are second cousins of Elon Musk, who now finds himself at the heart of the US government as well as potentially pioneering humanity’s expansion to Mars.
Marshall, 86, said: ‘I have never been in touch but one of the family did send him a social media message and he just said: ‘”What do you want?” That was it.’
Musk has spoken fondly in the past of his grandmother Cora Amelia Robinson, who was born in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, in August 1923.
She married Walter Musk in 1944 and moved to South Africa where they had a son, Elon’s father Errol, who himself went on to have Elon, his brother Kimbal, and sister Tosca.
Marshall, who now lives in Fleetwood, shares great-grandparents with Elon, as his grandfather is Cora’s brother Kenneth Robinson.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘I’ve never met Elon. I met his father in South Africa when I was in the merchant navy a long time ago.’
‘I’m shocked that I’ve now got a link to the White House. I obviously knew we were related because of the name Musk which is Scottish.’
But he didn’t have the warmest of words, saying ‘I think he’s stupid with all the things he comes out with’.
His sister Shane said she wouldn’t go so far as to say Musk had shunned them, but ‘he hasn’t shown any interest in us from what I know’.
She decided against getting in touch herself as she thought he would not want to hear from his ‘poor relations’.
Although she has not met Elon either, she did meet her great-aunt Cora on a visit to the UK 20 years ago, who was with Elon’s brother at the time.
After searching Kimbal’s name, she was shocked when her computer ‘lit up’ with results about Elon, which was when she was related to the billionaire, who she described as ‘very intelligent’.
Metro has contacted Elon Musk for comment.
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