Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is the richest man in the world with a net worth of over $700 billion. He's a household name—synonymous with electric cars, Mars missions, and ignoring everyone who tells him no.

That includes his own mother.

In an 2022 interview with The Times of London, 77-year-old Maye Musk admitted she once advised her son against the very moves that made him a global icon. "I told him not to do an electric car as well as rockets and he didn't listen to me," she said. "He should do whatever he wants."

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Fortunately for Elon, advice has never been a dealbreaker. Not when it came from investors, engineers—or his mom. In a 2022 post on Twitter, Musk shared that in 2009, then- Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chair Charlie Munger laid out "all the ways Tesla would fail" during a breakfast meeting. Musk said he agreed with the list—but built it anyway.

Maye Musk didn't micromanage. In a 2019 essay for CNBC, she explained her parenting approach: she taught her children to work hard, let them follow their interests, and kept her nose out unless asked. "I didn't treat them like babies or scold them," she wrote. "I never told them what to study. I didn't check their homework."

She didn't plan on raising a billionaire. She planned on raising independent adults. That's exactly what she got.

"When they wanted my advice, I gave it," she told The Times. "I am very short with my own answers." And if they didn't take it? That was fine too.

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The results speak for themselves. Elon launched Tesla and SpaceX. His brother Kimbal built a food-and-agriculture business. His sister Tosca runs her own film studio and streaming platform. And Maye? She built a career of her own, modeling into her 70s while becoming something of a legend in her own right—complete with a signature hashtag: #proudmom.

Even when it comes to Mars, she has her limits. "You have to have six months of preparation and isolation and that just doesn't appeal to me," she said. But then she added, "If my kids want me to do it, I will do it." It's hard to say no to Elon Musk—even if you're his mother.

He didn't listen when she told him to pick between cars and rockets. He didn't pivot after a legendary investor rattled off every reason he'd crash and burn. He made his own decisions—and built an empire doing it.

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Of course, not everyone's chasing Mars. Some true believers in the next wave of innovation are looking right here on Earth—at the lithium revolution powering the electric future. EnergyX is cracking the code on direct lithium extraction by pulling over 90% of lithium from brine in days instead of months. Backed by General Motors and expanding into Chile and the Smackover formation, it's a high-risk, high-reward play for investors who see the EV boom as just getting started. Think Tesla in the early days. 

Elon Musk didn't listen to his mom's or anyone else's safe advice. He didn't stop at rockets or electric cars. And if he had? He might still be rich—but not this rich.

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