Elon Musk "always wanted" Coco Pops as a child, but his family couldn't afford them.
The 53-year-old businessman is the richest man in the world now with a reported net worth of $218 billion thanks to his tech companies Tesla and SpaceX but his mother Maye, 76, has recalled that he would often yearn for the chocolate cereal while she managed the tight budget as she brought the family up in South Africa.
Maye told Fox News Digital: "When I got divorced [in 1979], I couldn’t afford to buy meat, fish or chicken. So I had to feed my children bean stew. And as they say, they did get tired of my bean stew. But I did vary from it. I used different beans and lots of vegetables. [I also gave them] fruits in season. Of course, we could never have afforded organic or anything like that.
"You [also] get whole wheat bread… in South Africa, brown bread was subsidized by the government. White bread was more expensive, so we only ate brown bread. And of course, it kept us all in good health. And then we had cereal and fruit in the morning.
"I remember Elon saying, ‘I always wanted Coco Pops, but we only got Raisin Bran.' Well, the thing is, Coco Pops were more expensive and less nutritious, so that’s what [my children] got. And if they complained, I didn’t listen."
These days, Maye - who divorced from Elon's father Errol in 1979 - is able to "eat very well" and believes that a good diet is the key to looking young.
She said: "I eat very well. To me, to keep a body healthy and skin glowing, you have to eat well. That keeps me in good health… [When my children visit], we usually send out for meat, fish or chicken. Tosca and Kimbal really love cooking. So I always have delicious home-cooked meals.."
