Elon Musk doesn't want his children to takeover his tech empire; Know why

Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is the architect of Neuralink - a firm that manufactures implantable brain-computer interfaces, the CEO of microblogging site Twitter, founder of EV company Tesla, and futuristic aerospace firm SpaceX, says that he does not plan to hand over the reign of his enterprises to his children.

While self-made millionaires may focus on the future well-being and security of their kids by transferring to them their mega fortune and businesses, such a plan is certainly not on Musk's list. It's a noble goal, but Tesla's boss thinks otherwise and does not think of making that 'inevitable choice'. The founder of the high-speed transportation system, Hyperloop, may shut his kids out of the ownership stakes in his companies, according to his take at a CEO Council. 

Fortune handover to kids? A mistake! 

Billionaire Elon Musk, during an interview at The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council, clarified that he does not identify his own children as rightful heirs of his tech empire. Moreover, Musk believes that it may be a wrong approach for the executives to hand over their companies to their children, adding that more often than not, the children may not have the expertise to run the show like their fathers.

Musk has nine kids, but he's mostly spotted on social media with his 3-year-old son, X AE A-XII, whom Grimes calls his "protégé". His oldest offspring, who recently hit headlines for applying name change, made clear that she does not want to be "related to my biological father in any way, shape or form."

"I am definitely not of the school of automatically giving my kids some share of the companies, even if they have no interest or inclination or ability to manage the company," Musk said during the talk. "I think that's a mistake."

Credit: Twitter/Elon Musk

Musk, the proud owner of five successful companies, says that "succession is one of the toughest age-old problems". He has told the board members in his companies to take over should there emerge an instance that he's missing in action. 

"There are particular individuals identified that I've told the board look, 'If something happens to me unexpectedly, this is my recommendation for taking over," Musk said. "So in all cases, the board is aware of who my recommendation is," the tech entrepreneur, who became a more popular figure in the US, ahead of ex-US President Donald Trump and incumbent President Joe Biden, said.

The latter, however, acknowledged that this is an issue that he has been "wrestling with" for a long time. He also, at some point, entertained the idea of establishing "a sort of educational institution" that would control the voting shares. Musk has certainly sparked the debate about whether the kids are "manifestly unsuitable" to manage their parents' businesses, and whether or not it is justifiable to cut them out.