BILLIONAIRE and businessman Elon Musk has shared a glimpse into his childhood emotional struggles and how they shaped his life.

Amid multiple companies boycotting Musk’s social media platform X following his anti-semitic comments, the CEO spoke at the DealBook Summit 2023 on many topics.

Elon Musk has reveal his struggles with mental health, starting in childhood and triggered by years of bullying and abuseCredit: EPA

The CEO also attributes his early-in-life woes to his innate intelligence and the complex reading materials he consumed at a young ageCredit: Errol Musk

Musk opened up about what he described as an “existential crisis” he experienced at the age of 12, where he contemplated the meaning of life and experienced thoughts of suicide.

“It is all pointless? Why not just commit suicide? Why exist?” he recalled his past thoughts.

He explained that much of his younger reading material was complex, religious texts and German philosophy, which might have lent itself to an early questioning of life.

The man has been acknowledged as possessing a genius-level intellect, having taught himself how to code in three days and selling his first video game when he was 12.

It was not until he read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams that he began finding that life’s purpose is not so concrete.

Instead, it was about exploring that meaning itself.

“My motivation then was, well, my life is really finite,” he said.

“But if we can expand the scope and scale of consciousness then we are better able to figure out what questions to ask about the answer that is the universe,”

“Maybe we can find out what is the meaning of life,” he said of asking the right questions.

Musk also expressed his mind to be a “very wild storm,” where thoughts are constantly spinning around.

He explained that childhood bullying greatly impacted his mental process.

Maye Musk, Elon Musk’s mother, has also spoken out about how alleged abuse by her husband was a detriment to Musk.

The billionaire explained in his interview that despite challenges and poor mental health, he has learned how to channel it to productive means.

“These demons of the mind are, for the most part, harnessed to productive ends,” he said.

“Once in a while, they, you know, go wrong.”

COMMENT GONE WRONG

Musk’s insight into his mental health comes as he is facing backlash for comments made on X.

He replied to a post that claimed Jewish communities have been “pushing hatred” against white people.

The CEO agreed with this post in a reply, saying: “You have said the actual truth.”

He followed up by writing that “the [Anti-Defamation League] unjustly attacks the majority of the West, despite the majority of the West supporting the Jewish people and Israel.

“This is because they cannot, by their own tenets, criticize the minority groups who are their primary threat. It is not right and needs to stop.”

After the tweet was put out to the public, Apple, IBM, and Disney completely pulled their ads from the platform.

And Airbnb, Amazon, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and Netflix decided to limit or pause advertising.

Due to these companies shutting out X, the platform stands to lose $75 million by the end of this year, according to The New York Times.

Musk has since expressed that the advertisement boycott could
“kill the company.”

“What this advertising boycott is gonna do is it’s gonna kill the company,” he said.

“That is what everybody on Earth will know.

“We’ll be gone, and it’ll be gone because of an advertiser boycott.”

He has shown remorse for his words but does not plan on harping on the issue.

Musk said that looking back, he wishes he simply hadn’t replied to the message.

“Essentially, I handed a loaded gun to those who hate me, and arguably to those are antisemitic, and for that, I’m quite sorry. That was not my intention,” Musk said.

However, the Tesla CEO insisted that despite his recent trip to Israel, he was not on “an apology tour” and does not mind being the object of contempt.